A Successful Applicant in 2007 Dr. Colm Cunniffe

Background an My history with IRCSET Primary Degree: Bachelor of Technology in Information Technology & Telecommunications, University of Limerick 2002 Ph.D from the Electronic and Computer Engineering Department University of Limerick 2007 Applied for IRCSET postgraduate scholarship in 2002 and was unsuccessful having been placed in the “C” category. Applied for IRCSET second call postgraduate scholarship that same year with no edits and was placed in the A+ category, however only people in the A++ category were awarded scholarships Postgraduate funded by Enterprise Ireland Tuesday, October 20, 20152Dr. Colm Cunniffe

IRCSET Postdoc Proposal Applied for IRCEST Postdoc in January 2008 and was successful Call opened in December 2007 Worked on the proposal between December and January Closed at the end of January 2008 A lot of thought Reviewed by Mentor and Colleagues The results were out in May 2008 Tuesday, October 20, 20153Dr. Colm Cunniffe

Application Details Application is online Four parts to application –Applicant Details –Proposed Research Document –Host Organisation Details –Referees Tuesday, October 20, 20154Dr. Colm Cunniffe

Applicant Details Title is very specific, and includes buzz words “nano” and “next generation” The proposal is a follow on from a sub set of my Ph.D work which won best paper award at a conference The abstract includes specifics to the literature review –Outlines what has been done –What will be done –The benefits of this research Third level education:- keep this section short but include title of FYP research and note any awards or distinctions Tie in public private collaborations with other relevant academic details. Tuesday, October 20, 20155Dr. Colm Cunniffe

Applicant Details Why are you staying in the same institute? –We all know every university has specialised scientific equipment such as SEM TEM AFM etc. –What equipment do you have that isn’t available in any other institute –This includes specialised or even customised equipment that you may have developed over the last few years for your Ph.D –What expertise are in your group that you may need? Tuesday, October 20, 20156Dr. Colm Cunniffe

Applicant Details –I only gave one reference –Employment details:- short and relevant –Publications Select carefully Say what your contribution was Some of it can be repetitive but it may be necessary If you are not the first author say why If there are several people listed as authors say why If you did all of the work on the paper, say so and state why other authors are listed (this shows independent research) I stated that it was the policy of our research group to list the supervisors name first on the paper and other authors were listed as part of our internal review process Tuesday, October 20, 20157Dr. Colm Cunniffe

Proposed Research Document –Project outline:- Include all requested headings Aims:- short and precise Background –Well defined –Use figures if required, they are allowed and don’t count towards the word count Outline –Where the problem is –What you will do –Benefits of this research Justification –Give details of the benefits of this research in the grater scheme of things. How this research may have a knock on benefit to other areas. Tuesday, October 20, 20158Dr. Colm Cunniffe

Proposed Research Document Milestones –Break them up and detail them, 1-3 months, 3-6 months, 7-15 months, months and 7-24 months for dissemination of results. Impact of work –Give an application of your research and the benefits Tuesday, October 20, 20159Dr. Colm Cunniffe

Reference and Lab Report References and lab reports –List the number of publication and break them down specifying book chapters, patents, journal and conferences publications –Highlight any awards received for best papers especially if it is related to the proposed research Reference –Supervisor should reiterate any distinctions or awards you have received during your past academic career –Supervisor should also reiterate the number of publications you have Tuesday, October 20, Dr. Colm Cunniffe

My Thoughts on Success Good publication history Good lab report Good reference Include images where necessary, they take up space but are not included in the word count Select included journals carefully Practice writing funding applications Brainstorming Review papers for journals and conferences Tuesday, October 20, Dr. Colm Cunniffe

Thank You Tuesday, October 20, Dr. Colm Cunniffe