Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys TD and Minister of State for Training, Skills, Innovation, Research and Development, John Halligan TD, have announced an investment of over €100 million in six new SFI Centres for Research Training. The SFI Centres for Research Training programme, the first postgraduate training programme run by Science Foundation Ireland, will provide training for 700 postgraduate students in areas of nationally and internationally identified future skills needs of digital, data and ICT.
FutureNeuro investigators David Henshall, Gianpiero Cavalleri, Orla Hardimann, Jochen Prehn and Catherine Mooney are all involved the SFI Centre for Research Training in Genomics Data Science.
The SFI Centre for Research Training in Genomics Data Science will train a generation of highly skilled PhD graduates to harness the collective potential of genomics and data science. This unique and intensive PhD programme will graduate individuals with rich and varied career opportunities and, through them, have transformative scientific, economic and societal impacts in Ireland and further afield.
Prof. Gianpiero Cavalleri, FutureNeuro Deputy Director and co-applicant on the Genomics Training Centre said:
“This centre combines expertise across Irish research institutes to train the next generation of Irish data scientists, who will help integrate genomics in to everyday life in Ireland”
‘Genomics’ – the branch of science that relates to genomes and the study of how genomes control the behaviour of cells and organisms – has undergone a revolution driven by new technologies that generate rich data sets on an enormous scale. Genomics is now both a fascinating area of fundamental science and a field with profound real-world impacts across a broad range of areas from human health to agriculture and food production. For example, in neurology, by identifying genes that contribute to diseases such as epilepsy and ALS, genomics is providing a window to the biology of these conditions. By understanding how genomes control cells in our central nervous system, and how this control can sometimes go wrong, we provide the platform for novel treatments. For this reason, genomics is a key feature of FutureNeuro.
The SFI Centres for Research Training are now open for recruitment, and postgraduate students across the country are encouraged to apply for this innovative programme which will build on research excellence in Ireland.
The deadline for the first cohort of students is March 20th 2019. If you are interested in applying or learning more about the new Genomics Research Centre, please visit the Genomics Training Centre website. Please contact the relevant FutureNeuro investigator if you are interested in developing a project with them.
