GRS - PhD Programmes

Dublin Institute of Technology Graduate Research School - PhD Programmes

DIT at A Glance • One of the largest higher education institutions in Ireland with over 10% of student population • In the top 3% of world university rankings (Times Higher Education and QS Rankings) • Voted Institute of the Year (The Sunday Times, 2011) • Autonomous Institution with statutory awarding powers for career focussed and professional degrees from Bachelor to Doctorate Level • Four Colleges xx

Arts and Tourism

xx

Business

xx

Engineering and Built Environment

xx

Sciences and Health

• Use-inspired, globally relevant research accounting for 20% of the licenses and options in Ireland • Four Research Themes xx

Environment and Health

xx

Information and Media Technologies

xx

New Materials and Technologies

xx

Society, Culture and Enterprise

Introduction to PhD Programmes Structured PhD programmes are specified programmes of education and training that are research-based and include activities that support the acquisition of a range of relevant specialist and transferrable skills.

At DIT we have four thematic Structured PhD programmes: •

New Materials & Technologies

•

Information & Media Technologies

•

Environment & Health

•

Society, Culture & Enterprise

New Materials and Technologies

Information and Media Technologies

Environment and Health

Society, Culture and Enterprise

As a graduate student on one of these programmes you will complete your specialised research project in interdisciplinary research environments and simultaneously develop a range of discipline specific and transferrable skills and competencies utilizable by industry and the professions. All graduate students complete transferrable skills modules during the 4 year programme including Communication Skills, Ethics & Social Understanding, Personal effectiveness, Team-working & leadership, Entrepreneurship & Innovation and Professional & Career Management. All graduate students also complete discipline specific modules which are tailored to their individual research projects.

How to Apply All interested applicants are invited to complete an Expression of Interest available at www.dit.ie/graduateresearchschool.

New Materials and Technologies Graduate Students on DIT’s Structured PhD Programme, New Materials and Technologies, address research questions across the boundaries of Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Engineering with a strong focus on technologies. Our students collaborate within DIT and with Ireland’s National PhD platforms such as the National Biophotonics & Imagining Platform and the Integrated NanoScience Platform for Ireland. DIT research in this area encompasses: •

Radiation Biology

•

Environmental Toxicology

•

Holography & Interferometry

•

Nanomaterials

•

Nonotoxicology

•

Smart Coatings

•

Therapeutics & Drug Delivery

•

Biospectroscopy

Information and Media Technologies Graduate Students on DIT’s Structured PhD Programme, Information and Media Technologies specialise in information and communications technology across •

Computing

•

Gaming Technology

•

Digital Media

•

Electrical Engineering

•

Wireless Communication

•

Electronic Engineering

•

Telecommunications

•

Software & Entertainment Applications

Our students collaborate nationally and internationally and also participate in Ireland’s National PhD platforms such as the Telecommunication Graduate Initiative. Technologies developed by DIT researchers and graduate students are licensed through Hothouse, our award-winning technology transfer office and include ChiPs, a mobile application for learners of Chinese and Tunepal, Shazam and Spotify which have been listed by the Sunday Times in the top 20 cultural apps for the iPhone.

Environment and Health Graduate Students on DIT’s Structured PhD Programme, Environment and Health develop evidence-based interventions addressing environmental health problems with a strong focus on real solutions to global challenges.

The specific areas of research focus include: •

Lifestyle & Policy

•

Water Quality

•

Air Quality

•

Radiation & Noise

•

Bio-monitoring

•

Energy

•

Food Quality & Safety

The research programme is augmented by cross-cutting activities including Policy and Technology Development. Our students collaborate within DIT and with Ireland’s Health Service Executive and Dublin City Council, the University of Ulster and the Institute of Public Health in Ireland and also participate in Ireland’s National PhD platforms such as the Agri-Food Graduate Development Programme and the Graduate Education Programme for Energy.

Society, Culture and Enterprise Graduate Students on DIT’s Structured PhD Programme, Society, Culture and Enterprise, pursue research projects across the areas of business, social and public policy and creative arts and media. DIT research in this area encompasses •

Creative & Performing Arts

•

Social Care

•

Education Policy

•

Justice & Human Rights

•

Enterprise & Entrepreneurship

•

Consumer Studies

•

Business and Society

Our students collaborate nationally and internationally and also participate in Ireland’s National PhD platforms such as the Graduate School for Creative Arts & Media (GradCAM). GradCam is Ireland’s leading centre for doctoral research across design, visual and performing arts, media practice and historical and theoretical discourses.

Why DIT Dublin Institute of Technology is a modern technological university providing professional education to doctoral level. It blends the academic excellence of a traditional university with career-focussed learning, discovery and the application of knowledge. DIT actively encourages and supports the development of new business ventures and continuing professional development opportunities and our structured PhD programme delivers professional transferable skills as well as research training within a disciplinary framework.

As a graduate student you will have access to leading experts, state of the art equipment and facilities and will be encouraged to publish and present your research findings at international fora. You will be part of the research community and a member of our Graduate Research School where you will interact with other staff and students to make your time in DIT a truly memorable one.

Innovation@DIT – where Science meets Industry Research at DIT addresses key issues of national and global strategic importance. Across the Institute our researchers and graduate students are working hard to develop innovative solutions to next generation problems and translating their research into the development of new products, processes and policies.

DIT has recorded some major successes over the last decade, including a significant rise in the number and level of competitive awards nationally and internationally, strong achievements in citation recognition for the excellence of our research and in commercialisation activity which is more than comparable to the world’s best.

Internships We strongly encourage PhD student mobility between DIT and enterprise but also between DIT and other Higher Education Institutions through internships and work-placements. These internships add value to the final thesis and can involve participation in a doctoral course or academic research at a recognized national or international university or scientific institution or enterprise.

Education in Ireland Ireland’s worldwide reputation for high quality education is built on the solid foundation of commitment to

Supportive learning environment - Dedicated international offices work closely with academic,

excellence. Ireland is a beautiful island, combining contemporary modern cities with an unspoilt countryside,

administrative and specialist staff to fully support students throughout their time in Ireland. Through these

cityscapes steeped in history and a rich natural habitat. Renowned for friendliness, our safe English-speaking

support structures, students receive direct access to information, facilities, services and staff.

country offers the warmest of welcomes to students from all over the world.

Innovative and creative culture - Ireland is a land rich in cultural heritage with a history of world-leading A friendly, safe country - And it is not just us saying it! Ireland was voted by Lonely Planet as the world’s friendliest

innovation. From the flamboyance of Oscar Wilde to mould-breaking James Joyce, from the pioneering

country in 2008 and 2010 and was ranked 12th in the 2009 Global Peace Index. Our hospitable nature coupled

quantum physics of John Bell to Nobel Laureate Ernest Walton, Ireland’s unique innovative and creative culture

with an unrivalled sense of fun ensures living in Ireland is an unforgettable experience. The island’s varied

is an integral part of the Irish experience.

environment is ideal for many outdoor pursuits such as climbing, water sports and all kinds of ball and team sports. It’s easy to explore Europe from an Irish base with low-cost, frequent flights making trips affordable.

Distinguished graduates - Ireland’s graduates are innovators in their fields, leaders in their communities and ambassadors for excellence all around the world. Qualifications earned and connections made in Ireland

English-speaking country - Ireland is an English-speaking country with close cultural, economic and educational

deliver a passport to success.

links to the rest of the English-speaking world, especially the UK — our next door neighbour — and the USA. With 36% of the population under the age of 25, Ireland is one of the most exciting places in the English-speaking

Leading global companies in Ireland - Companies who require a skilled, educated and highly capable

world to be a student.

workforce to drive their success choose to locate in Ireland. Ireland has welcomed Google, Facebook, Pfizer, Apple, Intel to name just a few — all of whom chose Ireland as their European base.

Internationally recognised qualifications and extensive choice - Irish higher education institutions and qualifications are recognised world-wide for excellence, delivering world-class innovative learning in many disciplines. Students can choose from an extensive range of courses to meet their needs in highly respected business schools, centres of scientific and technology excellence as well as renowned language, humanities and arts faculties.

DIT Research Centres Antenna & High Frequency Research Centre

Centre for Elastomer Research

The Antenna & High Frequency Research Centre

The Centre for Elastomer Research has the unique

specialises in the analysis, design and measurement

capability of producing reliable viscoelastic data

of antennas and associated devices for wireless

for characterising the multi-axial physical properties

communications and medical applications. With decades

of

of applied research experience it has built an international

Hyperelastic and Viscoelastic Material Behaviour

elastomers.

Current

research

interests

are:

reputation for innovative futuristic concepts and solutions

including Elastomer Fatigue, Stress Softening and

to contemporary industrial challenges.

Stress Relaxation; Biomedical Applications; Advanced

w: www.ahfr.dit.ie

Foams; Swelling Phenomenon.

w: www.dit.ie/cer Applied Intelligence Research Centre The Applied Intelligence Research Centre researches the

Consumption & Leisure Studies Group

application of computational intelligence technologies

As many DIT researchers are engaging in consumer-

to real world problems. The core competencies of the

related research, evolving media-based technologies

AIRC include machine learning, language technologies,

and sport and recreation-based research, we recognise

intelligent agents and data analytics.

a number of shared interests around the shaping of

w: www.comp.dit.ie/aigroup

contemporary consumer Ireland. The Consumption

Business Society & Sustainability Research Centre

researching in the areas of consumption, consumer

The Centre is committed to critical and creative analysis and

society, media studies, and sport and leisure studies.

reflection on the impacts of business on the wider society

w: www.dit.ie/cls

and Leisure Studies group brings together academics

and the impact of the wider society on business. Central to these impacts is the theme of sustainability understood not only in its ecological sense but also in the sense of the ability of business to maintain ethical and political legitimacy through creating value in the long-term.

w: www.dit.ie/bss

Communications Network Research Institute

Centre for Social & Educational Research

Dublin Energy Lab

Food & Health Research Centre

The centre specialises in developing innovative

The Centre for Social and Educational Research is a

The Dublin Energy Lab is a leading energy related

Research in the Food and Health Research Centre

technologies to support the delivery of real-time service

dynamic and innovative research centre which seeks

research and development laboratory which conducts

is interdisciplinary and applied and is both industry

such as VoIP and video streaming on wireless networks,

to improve the quality of life of children, family and

research across a range of disciplines with key efforts

and policy relevant. The cross-disciplinary team of

specifically IEEE 802.11 or Wi-Fi networks. Researchers

society. It aims to impact on social and educational

organised into themes of electrical power; energy

researchers focuses on six thematic areas of functional

are investigating resource aware routing techniques,

policies and practices through the provision of accurate

policy; solar energy; zero emissions buildings; energy

foods and nutraceuticals, post-harvest and non-thermal

measurements of the characteristics of 802.11 wireless

research data. The centre has a well-established track

demand analysis and forecasting; life cycle assessment.

technologies, food product development and culinary

links, interference mitigation, multi-radio hardware

record of research in five classified research themes:

w: www.dit.ie/dublinenergylab/

innovation, food safety and diagnostic tools, small

platforms, rate selection, output power optimization,

Juvenile Crime and Youth Justice; Media Literacies;

and fragmentation threshold tuning.

Early Childhood Education; Higher Education Policy;

The Digital Media Centre

w: www.cnri.dit.ie

Social Care.

The Digital Media Centre is a multidisciplinary group

w: www.cser.ie

which focuses on research and commercial projects

Graduate School of Creative Arts & Media

in the field of Information and Communication

GradCAM is a collaborative initiative of national and

Centre for Research in Engineering Surface

molecule biotechnology, human health and nutrition.

w: www.dit.ie/fhrc/

Technology

Centre for Transcultural Research & Media Practice

Technologies for the following areas: culture &

all-island significance which builds on the expertise of

The Centre for Research in Engineering Surface

The Centre for Transcultural Research and Media

heritage; language learning; multimedia interaction;

Dublin Institute of Technology, the National College

Technology is the only dedicated surface coatings

Practice

spatially aware computing; digital heritage and

of Art & Design, University of Ulster, and Institute of Art,

laboratory in Ireland. The major research activities

postgraduate and research environment, dedicated

machine learning.

Design and Technology, DĂşn Laoghaire. GradCam

of the group are in the areas of nanotechnology,

to scholarly and public understandings of migration

w: www.dmc.dit.ie/

delivers PhD training and research in a broad spectrum

ceramics for functional applications semiconductors,

and globalization, media and civil society activism,

photocatalysis, self-cleaning probes and anti-bacterial

post-conflict/border zones and transcultural identity

Electrical Power Research Centre

practice across the arts, creative media content and

functional coatings.

formations in Ireland and beyond. The Centre

The Electrical Power Research Centre provides a world

service development, and the technical, critical,

w: www.crestdit.com

promotes the use of ethnographic and documentary

class energy interface facility to sustain and advance

theoretical and historical underpinnings of these

modes of practice in social research, utilising new and

leading research in power quality conditioning and in

disciplines/practices.

established media technologies.

integration of wind and solar energy to the network.

w: www.gradcam.ie/

w: www.ctmp.ie

w: http://eleceng.dit.ie/eprg

offers

a

distinctive,

interdisciplinary

of creative practice including design practice,

Industrial Engineering Optics Centre

Photonics Research Centre

The Industrial Engineering Optics Centre specialises

The Photonics Research Centre undertakes research

in holographic and interferometric techniques and

in a number of areas of photonics with a particular

has developed novel technologies with applications

emphasis on optical sensing. Its primary research areas

in

are: Fiber Optic Sensors and its Applications; Fiber Optic

product

authentication,

sensing,

vibration

measurement and optical device fabrication.

Systems for Sensing Applications; Smart Fiber Structures;

w: www.ieo.dit.ie

Liquid crystal filters for sensing applications; Modelling of Optical Waveguides; Photonic Integrated Circuits.

Inorganic Pharma & Biomimetic Research Centre

w: www.aoc.dit.ie/

Researchers at the Inorganic Pharma and Biomimetic Research novel

Centre

materials

for

synthetise

and

applications

as

characterise diverse

as

Radiation & Environmental Science Centre The centre specialises in radiation biology and

pharmaceuticals, drug delivery, molecular recognition,

environmental

toxicology.

Non-targeted

(non-

biomimetic chemistry and supramolecular chemistry.

DNA) effects such as bystander effects, genomic

w: www.dit.ie/ipbrc/

instability and adaptive responses are the main focus.

Translational research and the use of vibrational

Nanolab

spectroscopy as a diagnostic tool for cancer and

The Nanolab research centre has unparalleled expertise

for the identification of biochemical markers are also

in state of the art nano material characterisation and

investigated.

the analysis of the interaction of Nanomaterials with

w: www.dit.ie/resc/

biological systems. Its researchers explore standards and methods for the characterisation of nanomaterials including the toxicity and biocompatibility of a variety of nanomaterials such as carbonaceous, polymeric, metallic and composite nano material systems.

w: www.dit.ie/nanolab/

Graduate Research School Dublin Institute of Technology 143-149 Rathmines Road Dublin 6 Ireland Tel. +353 1 4023374 F. +353 1 4023393 W. www.dit.ie/graduateresearchschool