Funded PhD Scholarship Opportunities in Marine Renewable Energy (Ireland)

SFI Centre for Marine Renewable Energy Ireland (MaREI)

Ireland is in one of the best locations in the world in terms of Marine Renewable Energy (MRE) resources, but requires enabling science and technology to access these resources.   Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) is funding a €29 million Centre for Marine Renewable Energy Ireland (MaREI), hosted by University College Cork (UCC). More information is available at www.marei.ie   

The Centre is a cluster of key university and industrial partners dedicated to solving the main scientific, technical and socio-economic challenges related to ocean energy.  MaREI is shared between third-level institutions in Cork, Galway, Limerick, Maynooth and Dublin in collaboration with 45 industry partners.  MaREI has access to state-of-the-art laboratories, advanced computational models, and considerable research capability in the basic, applied and social sciences.  MaREI will educate and train the next generation of engineers and scientists for Irish industry, and will build upon and promote Ireland’s excellent track record in the MRE field. 

MaREI’s scientific research programme is organized into four Platform Themes focusing on wave energy devices, marine electro-gas, informatics tools, and cost reduction.  A series of Targeted Projects involving 45 industry partners will also be undertaken.  The Targeted Projects are organized into the five Spokes: marine renewable energy devices; novel materials for MRE systems; power take-off and energy storage for MRE; operations support engineering; and MRE decision support and data management.  The industry partners cover the spectrum from Irish SMEs to Multinational Corporations. 

MaREI will deliver substantial economic and societal impacts. Being industry-centred, MaREI will develop an innovation environment that will yield intellectual property, high potential start-up companies and jobs to support Ireland’s economy.   There will be direct beneficial impact on the establishment of secure, competitive, sustainable energy supply in Ireland.  Societal impact will include a route to achieving binding renewable energy targets for Ireland and an approach to maximising the value and security of Ireland’s national renewable energy portfolio. 

The establishment of MaREI will enable the emerging MRE industry in Ireland to grow to sufficient scale that it supplies energy and expertise to both indigenous and export markets.  MaREI currently employs 60 people, including approximately 40 PhD students, and is funded by a total budget of €29 million from Science Foundation Ireland and our industrial partners. 

The attached further particulars describe two funded PhD projects in composite materials and structural testing at University College Cork, with starting dates in Spring 2015

MaREI PhD Scholarship Particulars (897kB)