Potential PhD students
If you are interested in doing a PhD and want to give yourself the opportunity to experience high-quality teaching and research, we welcome the best people – from all backgrounds, domestically and internationally – to do so in Ireland.
Irish research programmes maximise the employability of doctoral graduates across a broad range of employment sectors by ensuring that the acquisition of discipline-specific knowledge is complemented by the development of transferable skills. Institutions in Ireland have also embraced an increasing diversity of academic and professional routes to doctoral attainment including collaborative and inter-sectoral approaches, as well as provision for student mobility.
Why do a PhD?
You can make a difference
The doctoral degree is positioned at Level 10 on the National Framework of Qualifications and this degree will only be awarded where the outcome of the research makes an original and substantial contribution to knowledge.
Accomplish your career goals
Holding a PhD qualification makes you very attractive to employers looking to fill higher-level, research-driven positions. With a PhD you will be qualified for more jobs, and will have more career options than you would with a bachelor's or master's degree. It is worth noting that the vast majority of PhD graduates pursue a career outside academia.
Fulfil a journey of personal development
A PhD will develop your talents toward strategic impact whether your goals are:
- Personal: You will demonstrate enhanced resilience, confidence, and become more articulate, strategic, deliberative/non-reactive.
- Intellectual: You will be trained in critical appraisal, succinct communication, write cogently and fluently (to order if necessary), absorb, digest and synthesise a broad array of material, quick and efficient mastery of a complex brief, identify and focus on key issues/core problems.
- Professional: You will learn how to effectively manage your time, workload and resources. Working with and managing colleagues, improving your ability to take the long view, and achieve strategic focus and perspective.
Why do a PhD in Ireland?
As well as the many reasons to take on PhD education, Ireland is a fantastic country to study in for the following reasons:
- Academic legacy – Ireland provides quality and specialised education with three sectors of education: the university sector, the technological sector and the colleges of education. Ireland is also home to some of the top 200 universities in the world.
- Research opportunities – Universities in Ireland are some of the top research institutes in the world. PhD students have the opportunity to be part of world- renowned research programmes in Ireland.
- Career opportunities – Ireland has a busy job market that offers post-study work opportunities for graduates in almost all fields. IT, Engineering and Food and Agriculture are some of the most popular careers in Ireland.
- History and culture – Ireland is steeped in culture with beautiful historical buildings as well a thriving culture of arts, sport, music, dance and language.
- It is an EU country – Ireland’s proximity to the rest of Europe makes it a popular study destination. Ireland is about an hour or two away from most major European cities.
Would you like to know more?
Have a look at our frequently asked questions or learn more about the journey to earning your PhD.