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Page 1: DkIT Landscape Postgraduate Scholarships 2020€¦ · DkIT Landscape Postgraduate Scholarships 2020 ... with a target of 110 postgraduate researchers. To this end applications are

Dundalk Institute of Technology

Landscape Postgraduate Scholarships 2020

DkIT Landscape Postgraduate Scholarships 2020

Fully funded Three Year PhD Studentships - Support for higher education landscape

reforms Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) is one of the leading research intensive Institutes of Technology with over €55M in research funding having been secured by the Institute within its prioritised research areas from both national and international sources. DkIT carries out translational research across ICT, Health, Ageing, Energy, Environment and Creative Arts domains with an emphasis on excellence and impact. One of the strategic goals of the institute is to further enhance its research performance with a particular emphasis on growing the number of registered postgraduate research students within the Institute. Dundalk Institute of Technology recently secured significant funding from the Higher Education Authority (HEA) and the Department of Education and Skills, through the “Support for higher education landscape reforms” 2019 funding call, with an emphasis on enhancing postgraduate research provision and growing its number of postgraduate researchers at level 10, within the Midlands, East and North Dublin (MEND) cluster region. At present there are in excess of 80 PhD researchers now carrying out translational research within DkIT with a strategic aim to grow this number, over the coming two to three years, with a target of 110 postgraduate researchers. To this end applications are now invited for 11 fully funded three year PhD Studentships at Dundalk Institute of Technology which will be supported through the secured HEA Landscape funding. Successful applicants will be registered as full time postgraduate research students in the DCU-DkIT Graduate School. Each PhD position will be located on the DkIT campus and the PhD Degree will be awarded by Dublin City University. Funding Each successful candidate shall receive a postgraduate stipend of €16,000 per annum, plus fees and a contribution to their direct research project costs. The duration of each PhD studentship is 3 years. Terms and conditions will apply. Application process Please send a copy of your CV and a cover letter to [email protected] no later than 4 pm on Friday April 24th 2020. Please use “Landscape PhD application <insert Project Reference>” in the subject title. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to interview. Please note, due to the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic, it is envisioned that all interviews will be conducted remotely via phone or video conferencing. Informal inquiries on each project should be sent to the Project Supervisors listed below. Please note, canvassing will render an applicant ineligible.

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Dundalk Institute of Technology

Landscape Postgraduate Scholarships 2020

Opportunities in Science and Engineering Biological Sciences

Position Reference LPhD12

Project title Unravelling the molecular mechanism of inactivation of BK channels by the novel regulatory ƴ subunit - LINGO1

Project Supervisor Prof. Mark Hollywood

Informal Enquiries [email protected] or [email protected]

Eligibility Criteria: Essential Desirable

Qualifications

2:1 Honours Degree (or equivalent) in Physiology, biochemistry, or appropriate biological science subject

First Class Honours Degree in Physiology

Project Description

This project focuses on a transmembrane protein that is upregulated in the cerebellum of patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Essential Tremor (ET). Patients with additional copies of this gene also present with tremor. We hypothesized that protein in question is a novel regulatory BK channel subunit and previous work conducted by the Smooth Muscle Research Centre suggest that the protein examined is a novel regulator of BK channels which causes a ‘functional knockdown’ of these currents and may contribute to the tremor associated with increased levels of this protein. The current project will examine (i) the precise biophysical mechanism underlying inactivation (ii) the interacting residues in BK and the protein responsible for inactivation and (iii) ascertain if an anti-protein neutralising antibody can prevent inactivation and reverse the ‘functional’ knockdown of BK channels.

Page 3: DkIT Landscape Postgraduate Scholarships 2020€¦ · DkIT Landscape Postgraduate Scholarships 2020 ... with a target of 110 postgraduate researchers. To this end applications are

Dundalk Institute of Technology

Landscape Postgraduate Scholarships 2020

Environmental Science

Position Reference LPhD14

Project title SEQUESTER - Sediment quantities- Understanding Sediment temporal environment records

Project Supervisor Prof. Eleanor Jennings

Informal Enquiries [email protected]

Eligibility Criteria: Essential Desirable

Qualifications

2.1 degree award in Geography, Environmental Sciences, Biology, Geology or a related subject

A recognised masters degree in environmental, climatic change or geology

Experience/Knowledge

A full clean driving licence

Good IT skills

Good data handling and analysis skills

A good appreciation of environmental matters including water quality, biodiversity and climate change.

Be able to work on their own and organise their own work timetable

Strong communication, social media and interpersonal skills.

Analytical laboratory experience

A knowledge and understanding of carbon cycling and peatlands

A track record of working with environmental issues

Project Description

Lakes play a critical role by providing archives of past environmental information for the surrounding catchment and the lake itself. Lake basins accumulate organic sediments and thus are also an important sink in the global carbon cycle. This project will use palaeolimnological techniques to examine physical, chemical, and biological information preserved in sediment profiles from Lough Feeagh in the Burrishoole catchment, Co. Mayo. Post-glacial and Holocene environmental changes will be reconstructed at centennial and millennial time-scales as a parallel for the history of fish populations being examined (using eDNA) in BEYOND 2020 (https://www.dkit.ie/beyond-2020). Following training, the successful student will analyse sediment physical and geochemical measurements, as well as biological fossils (diatoms), to shed light on

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Dundalk Institute of Technology

Landscape Postgraduate Scholarships 2020

long-term climate-induced catchment and lake productivity change and to discriminate between in-lake and catchment-derived sediment sources. This study will feed into ongoing work at Burrishoole by integrating the longer sediment temporal context (geoscience) with ongoing catchment high frequency monitoring and ecology projects

Position Reference LPhD09

Project title RETINA- Remote Sensing of Global Surface Waters

Project Supervisor Prof. Eleanor Jennings

Informal Enquiries [email protected]

Eligibility Criteria: Essential Desirable

Qualifications

2.1 degree award in Environmental Sciences, Environmental Engineering or related subject

A masters degree in environmental science, climatic change or statistics

Experience/Knowledge

High level of mathematical,

data handling and analysis

skills.

Knowledge of freshwater

science.

Be able to work on own initiative and organise own work timetable

Strong communication, social media and interpersonal skills

Experience in use of R or Matlab

Knowledge of lake physics

Knowledge of climate change effects

on freshwater systems

EU driving licence

Project Description

Climate change is considered one of the most severe threats to lake ecosystems worldwide. Some of the primary physical responses of lakes to climatic variations are those which occur at the lake surface, including changes in ice cover, lake surface water temperature, lake colour (a proxy for trophic status), and water level/extent; known collectively as Lake Essential Climate Variables (ECV’s). These lake surface conditions have changed dramatically in recent decades and, consequently, have had numerous implications for lake ecosystems as well as the ecosystem services they provide. To date, however, such climate change responses

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Dundalk Institute of Technology

Landscape Postgraduate Scholarships 2020

in lakes, including their interactions, have only been studied on a site-by-site basis. Only recently have initiatives to observe these Lake ECV’s at a global scale commenced. Specifically, as part of the European Space Agency’s Climate Change Initiative (CCI), the Lakes CCI project is currently generating the first consistent and long-term time-series from lakes worldwide covering all Lake ECV’s. These satellite-data have great potential to provide a comprehensive and consistent picture of the world’s lakes, as well as their responses to climatic variations. This project (RETINA) will take advantage of these novel satellite observations and investigate the effects of climate change on Lake ECV’s worldwide. The project will include training in 1: analysis of satellite observations of Lake ECV’s, 2: manipulation of large datasets from Lakes CCI, and 3: advanced statistical methods for analysing global datasets. The outputs will provide improved knowledge on how climatic change affects lake ecosystems and the ecosystem services that they provide

Physical Sciences

Position Reference LPhD17

Project title ONDEMAND: Bioinspired in vivo sensing and release of therapeutics

Project Supervisor Dr. Tim McCormac

Informal Enquiries [email protected]

Eligibility Criteria: Essential Desirable

Qualifications Min 2:1 honours degree in Chemistry

1st Class Honours degree in Chemistry

Experience/Knowledge Detailed knowledge of inorganic and physical chemistry

Synthetic chemistry, electrochemistry

Project Description

ONDEMAND aims to create an advanced drug delivery system, initially focused on breast cancer, that can either travel through the circulatory system and specifically bind to a cancer cell target, or be implanted for long term delivery. On demand release of the payload will be achieved through a ground-breaking electric field driven release mechanism. The optimum drug release profile will be informed by measuring the concentration of biomarkers that correlate with treatment efficacy using a sensor with ultrahigh sensitivity. This personalised medicine approach, i.e., nanoformulated chemotherapeutics coupled to analysis will deliver therapy that is optimised for an individual patient, leading to improved patient outcomes at a lower cost and drive innovation in the Irish pharmaceutical sector.

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Dundalk Institute of Technology

Landscape Postgraduate Scholarships 2020

Position Reference LPhD21

Project title SensInBatt - CO2 Sensor Implantation in batteries

Project Supervisor Dr. Tim McCormac

Informal Enquiries [email protected]

Eligibility Criteria: Essential Desirable

Qualifications Min 2:1 honours degree in Chemistry

1st Class Honours degree in Chemistry

Experience/Knowledge Detailed knowledge of inorganic and physical chemistry

Synthetic chemistry, electrochemistry

Project Description

Our overall objective is to develop a sensor able to determine the internal state of the lithium ion battery, through an in operando diagnosis, improving its reliability and durability allowing it’s performance to be optimised with inducing damage as the battery ages. The project is firmly focused on practical application and transference of the strategy to real prototypes will enable the creation of the smart batteries envisioned in Battery 2030+. It will also serve as proof of concept and initial kick for the incorporation of more complex sensors, capable of determining multi-parameters in a single unit of analysis

Engineering

Position Reference LPhD11

Project title Performance analysis of an impulse turbine for oscillating water column wave energy devices

Project Supervisor Dr. Fergal O’Rourke

Informal Enquiries [email protected]

Eligibility Criteria: Essential Desirable

Qualifications

BEng Hons 2.1 in: Mechanical

Engineering

Civil Engineering

MEng/MSc 2.1 in: Mechanical Engineering

Civil Engineering

Energy Engineering

Page 7: DkIT Landscape Postgraduate Scholarships 2020€¦ · DkIT Landscape Postgraduate Scholarships 2020 ... with a target of 110 postgraduate researchers. To this end applications are

Dundalk Institute of Technology

Landscape Postgraduate Scholarships 2020

Energy Engineering

Physics

or Similar

Physics

or Similar

Research Masters

Experience/Knowledge

Computational Fluid Dynamics

Design of Experiments

Ocean Energy

Ocean Engineering

Publication outputs in ocean energy

Research Experience in similar domain

Project Description

Wave energy is one of the most abundant sources of renewable energy. Over the last decades, researchers have been investigating and defining different methods for power extraction from ocean wave motion. One device commonly proposed is the Oscillating Water Column (OWC), using this device the wave energy is converted to oscillating pneumatic energy in a chamber with a turbine duct attached. The principle of operation of an OWC produces a pressure difference between the internal chamber and the atmospheric conditions and as a result bi-directional airflow is developed. This study proposes to analyse various critical flow conditions of an impulse turbine for the application of an OWC wave energy converter. Computational fluid dynamic (CFD) models will be developed to study the flow regime present in an OWC turbine duct. While traditional CFD studies of OWC turbines have focused on over simplistic steady flow and quasi-steady flow models, this study will aim to develop a transient unsteady flow approach to modelling the system. In order to validate the CFD models of the OWC, it is proposed to design and build a laboratory test facility to experimentally investigate the bi-directional flow field of an OWC turbine duct. This work will involve a number of key engineering disciplines, such as design of structures and control mechanisms, design of a control program capable of recreating flow conditions from real sea wave data as well as other input signals, and data logging programs to record measured data (pressure, velocity, torque etc.).

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Dundalk Institute of Technology

Landscape Postgraduate Scholarships 2020

ICT

Position Reference LPhD18

Project title A mechanism for trusting unknown entities

Project Supervisor Dr. Gilbert Regan

Informal Enquiries [email protected]

Eligibility Criteria: Essential Desirable

Qualifications Honours degree 2.1 or above (or equivalent in computing science. A minimum English language level of IELTS score 6.5 (or equivalent) with no element below 6.0, is required

Experience/Knowledge Some knowledge of artificial

Intelligence, Trust Management and

Risk Management

Project Description The importance of trust is indisputable in the majority of contemporary communication platforms. However, most of the trust management systems are designed to build trust between entities based on their transaction history. However this does not apply in the case of unknown Cyber Physical Systems. Therefore, new research is needed to identify an optimum approach that will allow systems to efficiently and effectively trust unknown CPSs. This project proposal aims to develop such an approach, which is central to the research focus of the Regulated Software Research Centre (RSRC) based in DkIT.

Position Reference LPhD19

Project title

Developing an adaptive best practice software development operating procedure to include all aspects of the agile development and testing required to achieve regulatory compliance in the medical device industry

Project Supervisor Prof. Fergal McCaffrey

Informal Enquiries [email protected]

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Dundalk Institute of Technology

Landscape Postgraduate Scholarships 2020

Eligibility Criteria: Essential Desirable

Qualifications

Min 2:1 honours degree in Computing or Engineering discipline

Experience/Knowledge

Knowledge of the software development lifecycle Good oral and written skills

Experience of performing software

development or software testing

within Industry

Project Description

The medical device (MD) industry has been identified, by the IDA, EI and SFI, as a key growth sector for the Irish economy. At present the Irish MD industry is still largely focused upon manufacturing. However, ICT forms a major part of the MD sector globally, and now significantly more organisations within Ireland are performing medical device software development. The objective of this project to develop an adaptive (based upon what combination of standards are required) best practice software development operating procedure to include all aspects of development and testing that are required to achieve regulatory compliance in the medical device industry. Central to the development of this research will be performance of trial assessments within a number of MD companies.

Page 10: DkIT Landscape Postgraduate Scholarships 2020€¦ · DkIT Landscape Postgraduate Scholarships 2020 ... with a target of 110 postgraduate researchers. To this end applications are

Dundalk Institute of Technology

Landscape Postgraduate Scholarships 2020

Opportunities in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

Business and Economics

Position Reference LPhD13

Project title A critical exploration of women’s entrepreneurship policy and access to finance on the Island of Ireland: A Cross border ecosystems approach,

Project Supervisor Prof. Colette Henry

Informal Enquiries [email protected]

Eligibility Criteria: Essential Desirable

Qualifications

Min 2:1 honours degree in a related discipline (i.e, Business, Entrepreneurship, Economics, Policy)

Masters degree in a related discipline

Experience/Knowledge Demonstrable interest in entrepreneurship policy and research

Research experience in

entrepreneurship/policy

Project Description

A country’s entrepreneurship ecosystem is critical to economic development. Research shows that the entrepreneurial ecosystem is highly gendered; that not all ecosystem components are equally accessible to men and women, and that such accessibility differs from country to country. This research project aims to critically explore entrepreneurship policy and access to finance for women entrepreneurs on the island of Ireland, a peripheral region of Europe, where women continue to be significantly under-represented in new venture creation activity in comparison to men. By investigating and comparing existing entrepreneurship policies and their related finance programmes on a cross border basis, in two linked yet separate economies - Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland - it is intended to contribute to the current body of knowledge by highlighting embedded gender biases and helping to create equality in key ecosystem components (specifically entrepreneurship policy and entrepreneurial finance).

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Dundalk Institute of Technology

Landscape Postgraduate Scholarships 2020

Social Sciences

Position Reference LPhD15

Project title Non -Pharmacological treatment: An exploration of the effects of human-robot interactions

Project Supervisor Dr. Lucia Carragher

Informal Enquiries [email protected]

Eligibility Criteria: Essential Desirable

Qualifications

Min 2:1 honours degree in a discipline relevant to health services research

Ideally, candidates should have at least one year’s practical experience in their area od qualification

Experience/Knowledge Experience working in health/social care

Project Description

The number of people living with dementia is steadily increasing as more live longer into old age. With up to 90% of people with dementia experiencing behavioral and psychological symptoms including agitation, unusual motor behavior, apathy, anxiety, depression, disinhibition, delusions, and changes in sleep and appetite, there will be an increased demand for care. Prolonged lack of stimulation can be particularly detrimental to people with dementia, as it magnifies the apathy, boredom, depression, and loneliness that often accompany the progression of dementia. To maintain high quality of care high, and to contain costs of care, innovative solutions are urgently needed.

While advancements in artificial intelligence offer new possibilities, uptake of robotic technology remains low. At present, outside of some experimental projects. Nursing homes in Ireland have little or no experience of social robots. This study will trial the social robot PARO in both a nursing home and community settings. PARO, a Japanese companion robot shaped like a baby harp seal, has five types of kinds of sensors: tactile, light, audition, temperature, and posture, with which it can perceive people and its environment.

The overall aim of this study is to increase levels of engagement of people with dementia to positively impact their quality of life and wellbeing. It will explore how persons with dementia interact with PARO and the affective, behavioural, and physiological outcomes of robot therapy for people with dementia in different setting.

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Dundalk Institute of Technology

Landscape Postgraduate Scholarships 2020

History

Position Reference LPhD20

Project title Cartography and the landed estates of North County Louth

Project Supervisor Dr. Annaleigh Margey

Informal Enquiries [email protected]

Eligibility Criteria: Essential Desirable

Qualifications

Min 2:1 honours degree in History, Archaeology or Historical Geography

Experience/Knowledge Demonstrable organisational skills

Experience in academic research

at undergraduate or postgraduate

level

Experience in archival research

Experience in web applications

Project Description

This project seeks to explore the cartographic history and cultural landscape of the landed estates of North County Louth. In the aftermath of the successive plantations and wars of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, landownership in Ireland became firmly rooted in the hands of “big” landlords who owned vast estates in multiple locations across Ireland, County Louth, with its proximity to Dublin became a central part of this network of estates with multiple landowners obtaining large pockets of land across the country. These landlords were responsible for urban and rural growth, agricultural development, industrial growth and the ordering of landscape, being encapsulated in maps. Maps became both a product of and tool in estate development, as landlords sought visuals for their estate plans. As a result, estate mapping was at the forefront of cartographic outputs for eighteenth century Ireland with estate maps still being produced into the early nineteenth century. Many estate owners commissioned maps of the lands in County Louth. These maps are extant in the estate paper collections in the Louth County Archive, the National Library of Ireland and the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. This project will assess both the extent and scope of the surviving map evidence. It will catalogue the maps before exploring their content to ascertain the evidence of archaeological landscapes, changing cultural landscapes and estate management for the Dundalk and Louth baronies


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