Trinity has the second highest number of postgraduate researchers in Ireland with 1,591 students enrolled in postgraduate research for 2016/2017.
The Higher Education Authority (HEA) has today published research showing that University College Dublin (UCD) ranks highest on the list of Irish institutions with postgraduate researchers, a,t 1,742. University College Cork (UCC) and National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) follow closely with 1,321 and 1,246 postgraduate researchers enrolled respectively. Maynooth University (MU) had the lowest enrolment level at 437 students engaged in postgraduate research.
In an analysis of PhD graduate outcomes, the HEA factsheet showed that over two-thirds of PhD graduates in 2016 have found employment in Ireland. All PhD graduates in 2016 that engaged in Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries and Veterinary studies secured a job in the country. Information, Communications, and Technology PhD graduates were the most likely to be employed overseas (24%), followed by Health and Welfare (22%).
Arts and Humanities PhD graduates were the least likely to immediately find employment in Ireland, with only 56% employed domestically. The cohort was also the most likely to be seeking employment, with 21% still searching for jobs.
The HEA factsheet notes that: “While manufacturing industries employ 30% of Engineering, Manufacturing and Construction PhD graduates and 28% of Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Statistics PhD graduates, a higher percentage of these graduates – 36% of Engineering, Manufacturing and Construction and 37 % of Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Statistics graduates – work in non-market services.”
Postgraduate research is predominantly (81%) focused in the Republic of Ireland’s seven universities. The remainder is spread across fourteen Institutes of Technology (15%) and three colleges (4%) for the 2016/2017 academic year.
Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Statistics was the most popular field of postgraduate research in the 2016/2017 academic year, accounting for 22% of postgraduate research. Health and Welfare (18%), Engineering, Manufacturing, and Construction (14%), and Arts and Humanities (12%) also saw significant involvement, while Services amounted to only 1% of all postgraduate research.
Postgraduate researchers were split evenly along gender lines. Slightly more women (4,945) enrolled in postgraduate research in Ireland in 2016 than men (4,857).
