Irish Cancer Society Ph.D. Scholarship Programme 2025

Introduction

The Irish Cancer Society is now accepting applications for our Ph.D. Scholarship Programme 2025

Through the public's generous support, the Irish Cancer Society funds research in line with our mission to ensure fewer people get cancer, and those that do have better outcomes. We always keep people affected by cancer at the heart of everything we do. 

The purpose of this funding call is to offer excellent graduates the opportunity to conduct postgraduate training in cancer research, with a focus on our strategic priorities.

This call is open to graduates of a relevant background (e.g., translational, biomedical, clinical, nursing, psychology, dietetics, occupational therapy, radiology, genetic counselling, physiotherapy, speech and language therapy etc.). The scholarship is available for HRB-approved host institutions in the Republic of Ireland, further described in the call guidance document.

During the programme, the Scholar will undertake general and cancer-specific training while participating in a structured Ph.D. programme, and will have the opportunity to gain experience at an international research institution through a mobility element. Please see the guidance document and the FAQs document below for more information on strategic cancer research and project eligibility.

It is the responsibility of the student to identify an appropriate supervisor as well as to think of and discuss their proposed project with the supervisor prior to submission.

Project Eligibility

This scholarship is specifically intended to fund research that is aligned with the Society’s Strategy (2020-2025) and Research Roadmap.

Proposed projects must be cancer research that address the strategic priorities of the Irish Cancer Society. These areas are described below:

• Strategic priorities is a crosscutting theme, which seeks to specifically foster and grow research into areas of high unmet need in cancer. For example, cancers which have not benefitted from the huge strides in outcome seen in some malignancies (metastatic disease, rare cancers and cancers with poor response or outcomes); the unmet needs of children, adolescents, and young adults affected by cancer; tackling misinformation and disinformation in cancer; addressing the needs of under-represented groups of people (e.g., Travelling community, ethnic and language minority communities, migrant communities, communities with socio-economic or mental health challenges, or any other socially excluded group). 

The stream of your project can be either Translational, Clinical or Survivorship Research. The best application out of these three streams will be awarded. It is important you choose the right stream(s) on both your ‘Intention to Submit’ application and full application. 

Funding and Duration

The total value of the Irish Cancer Society Ph.D. Scholarship 2025 is €180,000. This budget should cover the costs for stipend, fees, running costs, equipment, training, dissemination and travel, mobility placement, and Public and Patient Partnership elements. For more details pertaining to the budget, please see Appendix 1. 

The scholarship will last 3 to 4 years at a full-time capacity or at a part-time capacity, over a maximum of 8 years.

Please note the following budget stipulations that are specific to this Scholarship Call: 

• Ph.D. stipend is funded at a minimum rate of €22,000 per year.
• A minimum provision of €1,500 must be allocated to support Public and Patient Partnership in the proposed research project.
• Funding of €5,000 is ring-fenced for a mobility element.
• Costs for attendance of conferences must be included for each year of this Scholarship in the Travel and Dissemination budget. Costs for presentation of research from this scholarship must be included for at least 1 year (e.g., poster printing).

Detailed budget guidelines are available in Appendix 1 (part of the Application Guidelines for this award), available to download below. 

Submission and Key Dates

All ‘Intention to Submit’ applications must be emailed to grants@irishcancer.ie with the subject line “Intention to Submit_Scholarship_First Name_Last Name” and in PDF format. 

Full applications must be submitted through the Irish Cancer Society Gateway Grant Tracker online system, by registering at the following address: https://grants.cancer.ie

Please note: The above dates are provisional and subject to change at the discretion of the Irish Cancer Society.

Please note: the purpose of the ‘Intention to Submit’ form is to allow us to anticipate the number of full applications that we will receive, and to aid the Society in selecting the most appropriate peer reviewers. This form is not peer-reviewed or used in the decision-making process for this award. Applicants who fail to submit their intention to submit form by 3pm Wednesday 5th March may not be invited to submit a full application.

For any queries relating to this call, please contact grants@irishcancer.ie