merrion street

The Minister for Research and Innovation, Mr. Seán Sherlock T.D., today [Monday] announced funding of €4.3 million at the launch of the Clinical and Translational Research Scholars Programme (CTRSP), an exciting PhD programme developed by the partner institutes of Molecular Medicine Ireland to prepare science graduates for jobs in Ireland’s knowledge economy.

Speaking at the launch, Minister Sherlock said: "I strongly believe this new Clinical and Translational Research Scholars Programme is very important on a number of strategic levels. It will deliver more scientists in Ireland who are undertaking innovative patient- and disease-focused research, and then crucially bringing their findings from the bench to the clinic - for the ultimate benefit of our population’s health."

"I am delighted to see further tangible evidence of how Ireland’s higher education sector, in developing this type of programme, is delivering for our enterprise needs.

"For me, a major source of encouragement to be taken from CTRSP is the strong focus on commercialisation. There is a critical need to translate our research discoveries into commercial outputs resulting in the creation of high quality jobs for this economy," Minister Sherlock added." The CTRSP is a four year PhD programme being run in NUI Galway, UCC, Trinity College and UCD with the aim of producing graduates trained to translate patient and disease-focused research into clinically effective and commercial applications. The programme has been carefully developed with the assistance of the Irish Medicines Board and companies such as Amgen, Pfizer, Creganna-Tactx and Merrion Pharmaceuticals, ensuring the training will be relevant and effective to the needs of Irish industry in the health sector. Twenty science graduates have enrolled on the programme following a competitive selection process. The CTRSP is being funded through Cycle 5 of the Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions (PRTLI), and will entail an investment of €4.317 million by the state in the four host institutions. One of the objectives of PRTLI Cycle 5 is to enhance PhD education and training, to deliver PhDs with skillsets for working across the spectrum of the private and public sectors.

By enhancing human capital output and developing the skills base, this cycle of PRTLI investment will improve the provision of entrepreneurship and management training skills on scientific and engineering doctoral programmes in our higher education institutions, through a range of Structured PhD programmes that will develop the skills sets of PhDs across key areas of the economy – such as Pharma, ICT, Medical Technology, Energy and Translational Research and underpinning areas such as engineering, physics and chemistry.