Join enviroCORE

Research Positions

If you would like to join our research centre as either a post-graduate student or as a post-doctoral fellow, check out our current vacancies.

SETU Carlow provides funding for 3-5 MSc positions each year under the Presidents  Award Scheme. These programs are usually announced between April-May each year and are advertised on our vacancies page.

Funded post-graduate and/or post-doctoral positions can arise at any time during the year where grant applications are successful, so check out our vacancies page on a regular basis.

We are also happy to host short term visits (2 weeks-1 year) from existing researchers in other institutes and countries.  If you would like to arrange a short term visit please contact the appropriate PI directly or contact the enviroCORE leader (Dr. Thomae Kakouli-Duarte).

Current Research Students

View details of our enviroCORE-current-research-students

Funding Opportunities

If you have a project idea and are interested in seeking funding to come to work on your idea in enviroCORE please contact the most suitable principle investigator directly or contact the enviroCORE leader (Dr. Thomae Kakouli-Duarte).  You can find their contact details on our Team page. There are a number of possible funding bodies that you can apply to in order to fund your project.

Post-graduate funding opportunities:

• SETU Carlow President’s Awards – SETU Carlow provides funding for 4-5 MSc positions each year under the Presidents Award Scheme. These programs are usually announced between April-May each year and are advertised on our vacancies page at the following link.

• Irish Research Council – the Irish Research Council Government of Ireland Post Graduate Scholarship Scheme. This scheme provides funding for Irish and International students to study to PhD level in an Irish research Institution. Please find more information on this scheme at the following link .

• Institutes of Technology, Ireland (IOTI) Postgraduate Fellowship Scheme– the IOTI has provided post-graduate funding for up to 2 years to researchers from disciplines including: science, engineering, technology, economic and social sciences and the humanities. Please find more information on this scheme at the following link .

• Teagasc – operates a post-graduate fellowship programme to support science and technology focused research in the fields of agriculture, food and related disciplines. Please find more information on this scheme at the following link.

• Department of Education and Skills – has traditionally provided a number of scholarships for postgraduate students. Please find more information on this scheme at the following link.

• Central Remedial Clinic – offers the annual Ciaran Barry postgraduate research scholarship for a student with a disability. Please find more information on this scheme at the following        .

• Health Research Board – the HRB provides funding for postgraduate and postdoctoral health- related researchers. Please find more information on this scheme at the following          .

• O’Reilly Foundation – sponsors scholars to undertake postgraduate education in a discipline and university of their choice. Please find more information on this scheme at the following link.

• Fulbright Irish Student Awards – are grants for Irish citizens or E.U. citizens resident in the Republic of Ireland for three or more years to complete post-graduate research in the United States for a period of 4 months / 1 semester, up to 1 year. Fulbright Student Awardees go to the United States to complete a Masters or PhD at a US institution or to conduct research as part of a current post-graduate program in Ireland or the E.U. Please find more information on this scheme at the following link.

Post-Doctoral Fellowship funding opportunities

• The Irish Research Council – funds excellent researchers across all disciplines and encourages interdisciplinary research and engagement with enterprise.  The Council facilitates the career development of researchers by funding those at an early stage of their research career to associate with established research teams who have achieved international recognition for their work. They operate two schemes:

1. The Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme provides funding across all disciplines for early-career researchers based in Ireland for periods of between one and two years.
2. The Enterprise Partnership Programme provides funding for early career researchers working in partnership with academia and industry.

Please find more information on this scheme at the following link.

• Enterprise Ireland – provides a range of direct funding and other supports to postdoctoral researchers. The Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Fund aims to convert the outputs of state funded research into innovative new products, services and companies. The scheme supports researchers in Higher Education Institutions to undertake research that has the potential to result in the commercialisation of new innovations by way of licenses to improve the competitiveness of Irish Industry or through the spin out of new start-up ventures. Please find more information on this scheme at the following link.

Senior Post-doctoral and Independent Researcher funding opportunities:

Science Foundation Ireland (SFI):

• The SFI Starting Investigator Research Grant (SIRG) –programme aims to support excellent postdoctoral researchers (less than 7 years beyond their PhD) who wish to take steps towards a fully independent research career. Please find more information on this scheme at the following link.

• The SFI Career Development Award (CDA) –aims to support early and mid-career researchers who already hold a salaried, independent research post and who are looking to expand their research activities. This scheme is open the researchers more than 3 years, but less than 12 years beyond their PhD). Please find more information on this scheme at the following link.

• The SFI President of Ireland Young Researcher Award (PIYRA) – programme recognises outstanding engineers and scientists who, early in their careers, have already demonstrated or shown exceptional potential for leadership at the frontiers of knowledge. This programme currently operates on a rolling call basis. Please find more information on the following link.

• The SFI Industry Fellowship Programme develops and supports academic partnerships with industry. The purpose of the Industry Fellowship programme is to facilitate the bi-directional movement of academic and industry researchers. Fellowships can be awarded to academic researchers wishing to spend time in industry worldwide and to individuals from industry anywhere in the world (including Ireland) wishing to spend time in an eligible Irish Research Body. Please find more information on the following link.

• The SFI Technology Innovation Development Award (TIDA) programme recognises outstanding engineers and scientists who, early in their careers, have already demonstrated or shown exceptional potential for leadership at the frontiers of knowledge. This programme currently operates on a rolling call basis. Please find more information on the following link.

European Research Council (ERC):

• Starting Research Grants – This program is suitable for researchers of any nationality with 2-7 years of experience since completion of PhD and scientific track record showing great promise. The research must be conducted in a public or private research organisation located in one of the EU Member State. The scheme provides funding of up to € 1.5 million over a period of up to 5 years. Please find more information on the following link.

• ERC Consolidator Grants – are designed to support researchers at the stage when they are consolidating their own independent research team or programme. The scheme also strengthens independent and excellent new individual research teams that have been recently created. This scheme is suitable for researchers of any nationality with over 7 and up to 12 years of experience since completion of PhD and scientific track record showing great promise. The research must be conducted in a public or private research organisation located in one of the EU Member State. The scheme provides funding of up to €2 million over a period of up to 5 years. Please find more information on the following link.

• ERC Advanced Grants – allow exceptional established research leaders of any nationality and any age to pursue ground-breaking, high-risk projects that open new directions in their respective research fields or other domains. The ERC Advanced Grant funding targets researchers who have already established themselves as independent research leaders in their own right. The research field can be in any field of science, engineering and scholarship. Applicants can be of any nationality and age, must be scientifically independent and have a recent research track-record and profile which identifies them as leaders in their respective field(s) of research. The research must be conducted in a public or private research organisation located in one of the EU Member State. The scheme provides funding of up to €2.5 million over a period of up to 5 years. Please find more information on the following link.

• ERC Proof of Concept Scheme – is a funding scheme open to researchers who have already been awarded an ERC grant. Its purpose is to help ERC grantees explore the innovation potential of their research or support commercialisation of the results of their ERC-funded research. More than one Proof of Concept Grant may be awarded per ERC funded frontier research project but only one Proof of Concept project may be running at any one time for the same ERC frontier research project. The research must be conducted in a public or private research organisation located in one of the EU Member State. The scheme provides funding of up to €150,000 over a period of up to 18 months. Please find more information on the following link.

 Other Funding Possibilities:

• Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions – Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions – Individual Fellowships (IF) Individual Fellowships are funded by the EU. This scheme funds researchers looking to enhance their career development and prospects by working abroad. Researchers from other EU member states or from any other country can apply for funding to come to work in Ireland. Researchers in enviroCORE are happy to discuss possible Marie Sklodowska-Curie  Fellowship possibilities with you. There are two types of Fellowships:

1. European Fellowships. These are held in the EU or associated countries and are open to researchers either coming to Europe or moving within Europe. These fellowships can help you to restart your research career after a break (such as parental leave) and can also help reintegrate researchers coming back to Europe.
2. Global Fellowships. These Fellowships fund secondments outside Europe for researchers based in the EU or associated countries. There is a mandatory one-year return period. European and Global Fellowships can also include a secondment period of up to 3 or 6 months in another organisation in Europe, where this would boost the impact of the fellowship. Please find more information on the following link.

• Fulbright Awards

The Fulbright Irish Citizen Awards provide grants for Irish citizens and E.U. citizens who have been resident in the Republic of Ireland for three or more years to complete postdoctoral or professional research or lecturing for a period of 3 months up to 1 year. Please find more information on the following link.

enviroCORE Alumni

Name: Dr. Sagar Chhabra.

Current Position: Post-doctoral Fellow University of Saskatchewan, Canada.

Years in enviroCORE: 2012, 2008-2012.

Title of Thesis: Soil metagenome analysis and bacterial ecology of a low-input tillage agroecosystem.

Dr Chhabra worked as a Research Assistant in a collaborative research project between University College Cork, Teagasc Oakpark, and SETU Carlow which was funded by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (DAFF), Ireland.  He was also involved in another project jointly funded by Science Foundation Ireland and Enterprise Ireland, testing the commercial potential of microbial biofertilisers in Irish crops.  In 2010, Dr Chhabra received a Walsh Postgraduate Fellowship from Teagasc.  He explained “that the support from all the staff and supervisors at SETU Carlow was excellent and assisted me to learn the necessary skills to develop my career to date.”

After returning to India, Dr Chhabra joined the Sam Higginbottom Institute of Agriculture, Technology & Sciences as Assistant Professor, where he taught microbiology to undergraduate and postgraduate students at the Department of Microbiology and Fermentation Technology. To strengthen his research career, he recently joined the University of Saskatchewan, Canada as a Post-doctoral Fellow, working on a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada project which is involved in understanding soil microbiology at oil.

Name: Dr. Xuemei Liu.

Current Position:  CEO, MicroGen Biotech Ltd.

Years in enviroCORE: 2008, 2002-2008.

Title of Thesis: Development and application of biosensor technologies for the biodegradation of environmental pollutants.

Dr. Xuemei Liu successfully completed her PhD at SETU Carlow in the area of whole cell microbial biosensors for detecting PCB degradation in soils and sediments. Upon completion of her PhD she worked as a research scientist for Wyeth Medical developing immuno-therapies for auto-immmune diseases and was based in the Conway Institute in UCD. When Wyeth was bought out by Pfizer she moved her research to their facility in Grange Castle.

Dr. Liu  gave up her position in Pfizer to set up her own biotech company, MicroGen Biotech Ltd. MicroGen is a research-orientated spin-out company from SETU Carlow that provides bioremediation solutions for cleaning  contaminated soil, groundwater and toxic sediment. MicroGen is growing fast and along with secure investment from both Irish and foreign investors, has recently signed a number of partnership agreements with state owned environmental organisations in China.

Name: Dr. Niamh Gilmartin.

Current Position: Research Fellow in the Biomedical Diagnostics Institute based in DCU.

Years in enviroCORE: 2004, 2000-2004.

Title of Thesis: Biodegradation of PCBs: characterisation of a Rhodococcus strain and possible function of a glutathione S-transferase (BphK) from Burkholderia LB400.

Dr Niamh Gilmartin completed her PhD at SETU Carlow in the area of bioremediation (using bacteria to break down pollutants in the environment) under the supervision of Dr David Dowling. After completing her PhD she spend two years at the Université Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg in France working in a similar area to her PhD studies. On returning to Ireland her research direction changed as she started working with Prof Richard O’Kennedy in DCU on antibody production and immunoassay development. Since May 2012, Niamh is working as a Research Fellow in the Biomedical Diagnostics Institute based in DCU which is focused on the development of new point of care diagnostic devices for use in the diagnosis of cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Name: Dr. Clare Whelan.

Current Position: Research and Development Scientist, Enfer Scientific.

Years in enviroCORE: 2002, 1998-2002.

Title of Thesis: Construction and analysis of GM bacteria with re-regulated expression of bph genes.

After completing a BSc in Industrial Biology, she remained at SETU Carlow to carry out a PhD entitled ‘Genetic Manipulation of a Genetically Modified Pseudomonas with Potential for Bioremediation’.  Clare says “My PhD was part of a larger EU funded project which gave me a wide range of learning experiences in the field of molecular environmental microbiology.  I gained great experiences, not only technically but also working with collaborators as part of a larger team.” 

She now works in the Research and Development Department of Enfer Scientific, developing new diagnostic tests for the veterinary field.  In Enfer, she has been able to broaden her skills base using new equipment and techniques in a fast paced development process.  Even within her current industrial position, she has managed to keep a grip on her academic roots and has published a number of papers on work carried out in Enfer.  Enfer Scientific’s facility is in Naas, which enabled her to be based back in Carlow, close to her family and educational roots.

enviroCORE Alumni

View details of other enviroCORE Alumni