A NATIONAL DOCTORAL PROGRAMME FOR STRUCTURED PHD TRAINING

The Environment Graduate Programme (EGP) is a national, inter-institutional, multi-disciplinary structured PhD programme, designed to facilitate the graduation of highly qualified and experienced researchers in the area of environment. An award of €11.5 million through Cycle Four of the Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions funded twenty-one PhD student places and fourteen postdoctoral fellows. Students within the EGP are registered at six of Ireland's third- level Institutions (National University of Ireland Galway; University College Cork; Cork Institute of Technology; University of Limerick; University of Dublin, Trinity College and National University of Ireland Maynooth). Registration began in 2007 and the first students are due to complete their programmes by 2010.  The core component of the programme is the advancement of knowledge through original research. Taught modules are integrated to this programme of activities, and cover both generic and transferable skills development and discipline specific modules. This will foster enhanced intellectual and creative capacities, resulting in internationally competitive doctoral graduates who are adaptable and capable, with a wide range of career options.  Environmental Quality, Climate Change and Ecosystems and Biodiversity are the chosen themes of the EGP, with Environmental Informatics and Modelling, Environmental Risk Assessment, Environmental Engineering and Technologies and Impact and Response Analyses acting as cross-cutting research activities. Graduates shall be from the traditional fields of Natural and Social Sciences as well as Engineering.  This inter-institutional graduate school allows for shared access to world-class infrastructure, and provides a forum for sharing good practice in researcher education and development of research careers. An active network of academics from around Ireland is co-operating in the development of high-level, specialist courses, and, a national committee with input from all project partners manages the teaching and learning aspect. To date, this structured PhD programme has attracted high calibre students from national universities and from overseas.