Pilot Fiscal Council Collaborative PhD Scholarship Programme
The Fiscal Council is offering support for a partial PhD Scholarship Programme for research in the area of fiscal policy. This pilot collaborative programme will entail both financial and supervisory support for the successful candidate.
This collaborative programme aims to benefit both the postgraduate researcher, as well as the Council and Secretariat. The successful PhD student will pursue their studies and research, while benefitting from engagement with the Fiscal Council and its Secretariat, and contributing to the Council’s research agenda in terms of contributing to sound management of the economy and public finances. The Council and Secretariat hope to benefit from novel cutting-edge research that can inform our understanding of fiscal policy and enhance the delivery of our mandate.
Applications sought must show evidence of clear plans for research in areas of relevance to the Council’s ongoing work programme. Specifically, this means research in the areas of fiscal sustainability, long-term fiscal forecasting, and the interaction between demographics and the public finances.
This is, at least during the pilot, intended as a partial scholarship. The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council will pay half of the value of annual course fees and levies to an eligible Irish higher education institution for each of up to a maximum of four academic years.[1] The scholarship also includes an annual stipend of €12,500.
Candidates may hold their Fiscal Council scholarship in conjunction with other scholarship awards or part-time employment arrangements provided that there is nothing in the terms and conditions of the additional scheme(s)/contract(s) preventing this.
The annual renewal of scholarship funding will be subject to confirmation of satisfactory progress by your PhD supervisors and compliance with university academic requirements.
To apply
Those interested in applying should submit an application via the Application Portal by the 9 June 2023 in addition to emailing their research proposal to admin@fiscalcouncil.ie.
All applications require that you have an academic supervisor that has already expressed a willingness to guide your research. The Fiscal Council is not able to assist applicants in finding an academic supervisor for their application.
Applicants must be an EU national (including the Republic of Ireland) or a national of Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Switzerland or the United Kingdom and have been ordinarily resident in an EU member state (including the Republic of Ireland) or Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Switzerland or the United Kingdom for a continuous period of three of the five years preceding 1 September 2023.
Decision process
The Fiscal Council will assess applications on the basis of the submission material provided to it and those awarded will be selected based on merit.
The Council’s outcome decision will be provided by 16 June 2023.
The award start date will be 1 September 2023.
[1] These institutions are: Maynooth University; National University of Ireland, Galway; University College Cork; University College Dublin; University of Dublin, Trinity College; and University of Limerick. An annual limit of €4,000 will apply to the value of course fees covered.