The aim of this scheme is to encourage outstanding students from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland to cross the border to undertake postgraduate study and experience life in the other Irish jurisdiction. This year, Universities Ireland will offer four scholarships, each worth €25,000, to students who have been accepted to undertake a recognised Master’s Degree or are entering the first year of a PhD programme at a university in the island of Ireland that is not in the same jurisdiction as the university where they have previously studied.
Strict eligibility rules apply – please read the Guidance for Applicants carefully.
The winners of the 2024 North/South Postgraduate Scholarships are:
Charlie Keogh, Meath is completing a Master of Laws in Law and Technology at Queen’s University Belfast
Isabel Williams, Kerry is completing a Master of Science in Applied Developmental Psychology at Queen’s University Belfast
James Kane, Down is completing a International and Comparative Law (LL.M.) in Trinity College Dublin
Nina-CheneChambers, Tyrone is completing an MA in Gender, Globalisation and Rights in University of Galway
The winners of the 2023 North/South Postgraduate Scholarships are:
Katie Houlihan, Kildare is completing a Master of Science in Psychological Sciences in Law at Queen’s University Belfast
Niamh Twomey, Clare is completing a PhD in English at Queen’s University Belfast
Orla Kelly, Derry is completing a MSc Human Nutrition and Dietetics in University College Cork
Ronan McElvogue, Tyrone is completing PhD in Quantum Technologies at University College Dublin
The winners of the 2022 North/South Postgraduate Scholarships are:
Catherine Quinn, Galway is completing a Masters in Law at Queen’s University Belfast
Hannah McKeown, Belfast is completing a Masters in Project Management in University College Dublin
Penny McGovern, Westport is completing a MA in Film at Queen’s University Belfast
Rosalind Skillen, Belfast is completing a MSc in Environmental Policy at University College Dublin
The winners of the 2021 North/South Postgraduate Scholarships are:
Aidan O’Riain, Cellbridge, Co Kildare is completing a MSc in Experimental Medicine at Queen’s University Belfast
Bridget Moylan, Tulsk, Co Roscommon is completing a MSc in International Public Policy at Queen’s University Belfast
Joanna Gallagher, Holywood, Co Down is completing a MSc in Food Security Policy and Management at University College Cork
Aoife O’Reilly, Belfast, Co Antrim is completing a MA in Music Therapy at University of Limerick
Eoghan Kelly, Garrison, Co Fermanagh is completing a PhD in Politics at Queen’s University Belfast
The winners of the 2020 North/South Postgraduate Scholarships are:
Ciara Grogan, Bray, Co Wicklow is completing a Msc. Leadership for Sustainable Development in Queen’s University Belfast
Cormac Keenan, Derry is completing a MA in History at Dublin City University
David Monaghan, Gorey, Co Wexford is completing a MA in Animation at Ulster University
Jenny Douglas, Richhill, Co Armagh is completing M.Phil in International Peace Studies at Trinity College Dublin
The winners of the 2019 North/South Postgraduate Scholarships are:
Rebekah Crossan, Derry is completing an MPhil in Modern Irish History in TCD
Alexander Cupples, Loughbrickland is completing a MA in the Beginnings of Irish Christianity in UCC
Siobhan Kelly, Dublin is completing a MA in Arts Management in QUB
Clare Lyons, Dublin is completing an MFA in Photography in UU
Peter Bothwell, Carrickfergus is completing an MSc in Comparative Social Change in TCD and UCD
The winners of the 2018 North/South Postgraduate Scholarships are:
Billy Vaughan, Dublin is completing a MA Global Security and Borders in QUB
The main aim of this course is to make us fundamentally re-evaluate how we think about international borders, and their role in the global system of population movement. Recent events such as the Mediterranean migration crisis and the controversy surrounding the US-Mexico border are analysed to show how popular discourse surrounding borders translates into actual policy. The course also includes a “Borders Internship” with organisations whose workload consists of working on issues pertaining to borders. The interns spend a number of months compiling a report for their placement organisation based on independent primary research.
Claire Morrison, Ballynahinch is completing a PhD in Philosophy in TCD.
The focus of her PhD project is on how Irishmen working in the Chinese Customs Service between 1859 and 1949 presented and interpreted their identity. The majority of the Irishmen in Chinese government service were from Ulster, hired to the Customs Service as British citizens, largely as a result of Hart’s involvement and his reliance on personal connections to hire men. However, with the partition of Ireland, choosing to identify as British, Irish or from Ulster took on a new significance.
Grace O’Mahony is completing a MsC in Bioinformatics and Computational Genomics in QUB.
The vision of this particular MSc course is to find unique solutions to clinical and biological problems. ‘Big data’ can provide the key to unlocking the cause and development of various diseases, such as cancer. Analysing data produced from the biomedical science setting also offers the prospect of developing new drugs and therapies to prevent and treat prevalent conditions and diseases in the Irish population. The final aspect of the masters is a research project that may be undertaken in either the Centre for Cancer Research and Cell Biology or the Centre for Experimental Medicine in Queen’s University.
Tiarnán Ó Muilleoir is completing a MA in Sociology in UCD.
This research and writing – which is historically focused – is premised on the sort of all-Ireland breadth of perspective, investigating both economic similarities and divergences between Northern Ireland and the South over the modern era,that would be enriched by such an experience. This research, which he has already presented at various conferences independently, and had some of it published online and in journals, is a project in the lineage of ‘historical sociology’, aimed at describing and explaining the divergent economic and social trajectories of Ulster and the rest of Ireland from the early modern plantations until partition.
The winners of the 2017 North/South Postgraduate Scholarships are:
Miceal Canavan , Derry
Miceal is a University of Cambridge Law graduate. He is commencing a M. Sc. in International Politics at Trinity College Dublin. This course focuses on how states collaborate with one another at an international level and how this reflects and shapes their domestic politics. Due to Brexit and instability at Stormont, the all-Ireland political relationship will be reshaped over the course of the next 5 – 10 years and Miceal plans to contribute by identifying and analysing the critical challenges, developing potential solutions and participating in the ongoing public debate.
Helen Stonehouse, Dublin
Helen is a psychology graduate from the Open University in Ireland and a Classics graduate from Trinity College Dublin. She is commencing a MSc in Applied Behaviour Analysis in Queen’s University Belfast. Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) is the application of the science of behaviour. It is a scientific approach to solving socially significant issues. It has become a well-established treatment for autism, and is used to teach socially significant behaviours and reduce challenging behaviours. Helen shall research variations in Applied Behaviour Analysis services in home and community settings across the island of Ireland. Specifically, she will investigate the relationship between knowledge of Applied Behaviour Analysis and attitudes towards it as a treatment for autism. I will seek to establish perceptions of Applied Behavior Analysis and the importance of evidence based practice in the treatment of autism.
Mary Hassan,Derry
Mary is a Common & Civil Law with Hispanic Studies graduate form Queen’s University Belfast. She is commencing a MSc in World Heritage Conservation at University College Dublin(PT). This MSc focuses on international protections, biodiversity, conservation and sustainability practices. It teaches in such a way that the international instruments take centre stage, which is going to be incredibly important going forward after Brexit.
Mary will be researching into natural heritage sites, biodiversity concerns and matters of sustainability that cross borders. With Brexit coming into play, and thereby one side being protected by European environmental legislation and the other not covered by its protections, it is more important than ever to explore what international legislative instruments and options we have on a cross border basis which could potentially be evoked.
Seán Fearon, Newry
Seán is a Politics, Philosophy and Economics graduate from Queen’s University Belfast. He is commencing a MA in International Political Economy at University College Dublin he has decided to commit himself to the study of political economy which will transform my personal understanding of this field of study and its relevance as a field of study which promises to illuminate and assuage so much of the pressing concerns held by his own community in the ‘border corridor’, and indeed the entire island. The International Political Economy course at UCD offers comprehensive training in wedding the two indivisible elements of political science and economics together, and provides instruction in how to apply this thinking to an all-island context.
The winners of the 2016 North/South Postgraduate Scholarships are:
Adam Bradley, Bangor, Co. Down
Adam is a Trinity College Dublin music graduate. He is commencing a MRes in Arts and Humanities (Composition) in Queen’s University Belfast. The MRes will explore the conceptual barriers between popular and classical/contemporary music, the common view of them as separate entities, and how this may affect music in Ireland.
Jonathan Green, Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh
Jonathan is a Queen’s University Belfast graduate of Law. He is commencing a LLM in Trinity College Dublin. This LLM will allow him to research and develop a thesis on the development of environmental law on an all-Ireland basis.
Yvanne Kennedy, Celbridge, Co. Kildare
Yvanne is a University College Dublin Law graduate. She is commencing a LLM (Human Rights & Criminal Justice) in Queen’s University Belfast. She will complete her research dissertation in the area of penal reform, looking at the positive implications of early intervention, education, and restorative practices.
Carmen Ortiz Granero, Belfast, Co. Antrim
Carmenis a Queen’s University Belfast English graduate and holds a MSc TESOL from there also. She is commencing a PhD in Philosophy in Trinity College Dublin. This research project will analyse the factors responsible for the language-related challenges experienced by non-native English students in Irish institutions, as well as the multimodal teaching and learning practices that may overcome those difficulties in intensive English language programmes designed specifically for non-native international students by the Centre for English Language Learning and Teaching (CELLT), which might be regarded as a model of language programme for other institutions.
The winners of the 2015 North/South Postgraduate Scholarships were:
Christina Kenny, Dundalk, Co Louth
Christine is a University College Dublin Science Graduate. She is commencing a PhD at Queen’s University Belfast titled ‘effect of antibiotic treatment on airway microbial community composition in patients with Cystic Fibrosis’. The PhD will investigate and explore the effect of antibiotic treatment on airway microbial community composition in patients with Cystic Fibrosis, a genetically inherited condition.
Donal Lynch, Innishannon, Co Cork
Donal is a University College Cork Engineering Graduate. He is commencing a PhD at Queen’s University Belfast in Advanced Mechanical Engineering where he hopes his postgraduate study will help to make a contribution to the development of Ireland on an all-island level. Some of the challenges include maintaining a reliable and uninterrupted power supply, increasing renewable energy development, ensuring the sustainability of the transport sector and improving the natural environment and living standards in Ireland North and South.
Aoife McGlynn, Omagh, Co Tyrone
Aoife is a University of Ulster Fine Arts Graduate. She is commencing a MA Film Studies: History, Theory Practice at Trinity College Dublin. This course is a unique opportunity to embark upon a detailed investigation into the intellectual currents and aesthetic concerns surrounding the study of film. From the outset, questions of history, theory and context combine with issues of close analysis and interpretation to provide a course that is both rigorous and rewarding. Optional introductory modules in screenwriting, creative documentary and editing allow students to balance film theory with practice.
Ciara Rushe, Cookstown, Co Tyrone
Ciara is a Queen’s University Belfast Geography Graduate. She is commencing a MSc in Business and Management at Trinity College Dublin. This course is designed specifically for those who have a primary undergraduate degree in a subject that is not related to business. The programme is designed to complement a foundation degree and to bring added value, knowledge and skills required for leading and managing in today’s complex business environment.