Your funding options explored

Help from your university

Several of the higher education institutions in Ireland offer postgraduate funding on a competitive basis. However, they do so mainly for research degrees, in order to attract the best possible candidates. Individual institutions will have details of the types of funding they provide – these may be attached to a particular course or given to those students undergoing financial hardship. The University of Ulster offers a special loan to its full-time postgraduate students, which covers tuition fees.

University awards

Many universities offer scholarships and bursaries to postgraduate students: check the university’s websites for details. You should also check individual departments, which may, for example, have funding awarded to research teams (particularly in science and engineering). Universities or individual departments may also advertise separately (in the press or on departmental notice boards) funding opportunities that have become available closer to the start of the academic year. Applications for university funding are often made at the same time as for academic places on a specific funding application form.

Cross-border funding

Cross-border funding is available from Universities Ireland, a body promoting collaboration between universities in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Bursaries of around €20,000/£14,000 are available to students undertaking a recognised Master’s course (taught or research) in the other Irish jurisdiction and requiring them to relocate. They were also open to students crossing the border to do the first year of a PhD. These scholarships are in areas of particular relevance to business and industry. Six bursaries were offered in 2008. Further information is available from www.universitiesireland.ie.

Examples of university awards

National University of Ireland: Awards for Graduates
Scholarships funded by bequests to the University or through the University’s own resources. Full details are in the NUI Awards booklet published annually and available on the publications section of their website www.nui.ie.

NUI Maynooth: Hume Awards
The National University of Ireland Maynooth is offering 30 John & Pat Hume Scholarships, valued at €10,000 per year. These research scholarships are offered only to students intending to pursue a full-time PhD. 

Trinity College Dublin: Ussher Awards
Postgraduate Ussher Fellowships are awarded competitively on academic merit. The fellowship fully covers EU and non-EU fees and provides an annual maintenance of €16,000 for three years. The fellowship is unrelated to teaching.

UCD: Ad Astra Awards
The Ad Astra Research Scholarships are intended to underline UCD’s commitment to research excellence and to attract and retain the very best PhD students from all disciplines. Awards are advertised by each individual UCD Graduate School.

Help from the government

Republic of Ireland
In the Republic, both the Higher Education Grants Scheme (HEG) and the Vocational Education Committees’ Scholarship Scheme (VEC Scheme) cover approved full-time postgraduate courses of at least one year’s duration.

Students who received an Irish local authority grant for their undergraduate studies can have this extended to cover one full-time postgraduate course in Ireland, limited to a maximum of two years. This will cover fees and possibly a contribution towards subsistence. To apply for renewal of your grant, you should write to your Local Authority when you have completed your primary degree. Grant assistance is paid for postgraduate study in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland only.

Information on eligibility conditions, including closing date, and application forms are available from the appropriate local authority or Vocational Education Committee.

Further information is available from the Department of Education and Science (www.education.ie) and the Higher Education Authority website (www.studentfinance.ie).

Northern Ireland
In Northern Ireland, in general, there is no mandatory support for postgraduate study. Postgraduate students may be able to apply for help through the college or university they will be attending under the Access to Learning Fund and the Additional Fee Support Scheme. An overview of and guidance on available funding in Northern Ireland can be found on the Department for Employment and Learning website (www.delni.gov.uk).

The Department for Employment and Learning makes two kinds of postgraduate research studentships: DEL studentships for research (MPhil, DPhil, PhD) and CAST awards (Co-operative Awards in Science and Technology). CAST awards specifically support students working on research projects at Northern Ireland universities and involve a collaborating body in industry. The maintenance element is £12,600 pounds.

Generally, these studentships last for three years and cover a maintenance allowance and fees. The maintenance allowance for 2008–09 is £12,940. To be eligible for their awards you must have been a resident in the UK – or, for fees-only awards, elsewhere in the EU – for three years before applying. 

Forms are made available by NI universities from March with a closing date generally in mid-May but check with the academic department in your institution of choice. Applicants will be selected by their School and notified by the Postgraduate Office of the outcome within 6–8 weeks of the closing date for awards.

For students in Northern Ireland, the Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) could pay for extra course costs incurred as a direct result of a disability – for advice, contact SKILL at www.skillni.org.uk. 

Further information is available from the Northern Ireland Education and Library Boards (www.education-support.org.uk) and Student Finance NI (www.studentfinanceni.co.uk ).

Help from your employer

In technological, scientific and, sometimes, business areas, funding may occasionally be made available for a research topic of interest to employers. This funding is normally applied for at department level and through research teams rather than by individuals. Some students may make personal arrangements to have part-time study fees paid for by their employers. If you’re in work and thinking about a postgraduate course related to your current career, consider asking your employer whether they would pay at least part of the costs. Ensure you present your request in a way that highlights the benefits that your employer would derive from your study.

Some of the more expensive taught postgraduate programmes, such as the MBA, are more likely to be undertaken by those with some career work experience. In this case you are likely to be better placed to access additional funding and perhaps support from your employer, particularly for relevant professional courses.

Help from elsewhere

You may need to approach financial institutions to access additional support – some may have designated study loans.

You may consider working part-time to fund your studies, but do be aware that it is less easy to absorb part-time work into the demands of a taught postgraduate course than it may have been on undergraduate programmes. Research students may be offered opportunities to undertake tutorial work, exam marking etc, as part of what is already a demanding academic work schedule.

Further information

Your Careers Service will have publicity on its notice boards and website about funding opportunities announced by grant-awarding bodies and institutions, and you can discuss your options with a careers adviser. 
If your funding application is unsuccessful, do bear in mind the ever-increasing provision of part-time and distance learning options and investigate these.

We would like to thank Colette Aungier, Careers Adviser, Trinity College Dublin, for her help with this article.

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