University College Cork - National University of Ireland, Cork
AC-10: Support for Sustainability Research

- The UCC Green Campus Living Laboratory Seed Fund offers a full financial scholarship to cover the fees and stiped of a Masters by Research student, one scholarship is available per annum. Research proposals must support the sustainability goals outlined in UCC’s Sustainability Strategy 2016, the key recommendations outlined in the UCC Climate Assembly Report, and the priorities of UCC’s Academic Strategy. Projects that advance our Green Labs and Plastic Free UCC programmes, that aim to reduce carbon emissions, or that embed sustainability within the Connected Curriculum, are particularly welcome.
https://www.ucc.ie/en/greencampus/research/seed-fund/

An example of a Masters by Research Thesis produced by a student funded by the UCC Green Campus Living Laboratory Seed fund is available to download here: https://cora.ucc.ie/handle/10468/11852

- Cork University Business School provide financial scholarships for students to take the MSc in Food Security Policy & Management. This masters programme has a strong emphasis on sustainable food systems, food security, and requires students to undertake an Applied Food Security Research Project (FE6516). The scholarship is open for applications from students of all disciplines.
https://www.ucc.ie/en/scholarships/postgraduate/blschpg/b-lpgmscfsawards/

- UNEP GEMS/Water Capacity Development Centre offers reduced tuition fees for students from developing countries who undertake the MSc Freshwater Monitoring and Assessment. Sponsored students have tuition fees reduced from the normal rate of €16,020 (Non-EU Rate) to €1750. In addition UCC GEMS/Water CDC also offers a financial bursary of €500 to students from developing countries who undertake the masters programme. The masters programme focuses on global capacity development for SDG 6.3 and includes a significant research element in the form of a research Dissertation in Freshwater Quality Monitoring & Assessment (EV6010).
https://www.ucc.ie/en/gemscdc/onlinecourses/

- The School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences offers the ‘Delap Prize for Postgraduate Research’ annually. The prize is awarded to the best peer-reviewed academic paper (including review papers) accepted for publication in a given academic year by a registered/recently graduated postgraduate student.
https://www.ucc.ie/en/bees/current/studentprizes/

UCC Green Campus Living Laboratory Seed Fund is an annual call for research and demonstration projects that promote the use of UCC as a living laboratory. The call is for projects that utilise the knowledge and research capabilities of the Institution’s students and staff to solve issues relating to its infrastructure and practices. A Living Laboratory project should aim to:
- Solve a real-life problem
- Be based on a partnership among key stakeholders, often crossing disciplinary and/or sectoral boundaries
- Trial and test ideas in real life settings in order to further refine solutions proposed
- Share data and findings generated openly.
The fund finances Research Masters projects (€28,000), and demonstration projects (up to €10,000). Research masters projects should be interdisciplinary in nature and be supervised by one or more of UCC’s academic staff. Demonstration projects must include an element of learning and research. For either project type, proposals must support the sustainability goals outlined in UCC’s Sustainability Strategy 2016, the key recommendations outlined in the UCC Climate Assembly Report, and the priorities of UCC’s Academic Strategy. Projects that advance our Green Labs and Plastic Free UCC programmes, that aim to reduce carbon emissions, or that embed sustainability within the Connected Curriculum, are particularly welcome.
https://www.ucc.ie/en/greencampus/research/seed-fund/

The UCC ‘Regulation on Academic Promotions to Senior Lectureships’ was adopted by the Governing Body in Dec 2018. A copy is attached or it is available to view here:
https://www.ucc.ie/en/media/support/ocla/governingbody/documents/RegulationonAcademicPromotionstoSeniorLectureships-FINAL(2018).pdf
“Appendix C: Criteria for Promotion to Senior Lecturer” recognises the following criteria:
- Creation and/or implementation of substantial multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary or collaborative teaching/training facilities/programmes/training programmes in the clinical setting
- Local, national or international recognition for contributions to multidisciplinary programmes
- Substantial involvement in initiating and sustaining interdisciplinary, inter-institutional and international high quality research collaborations that have delivered defined outcomes and impact

The UCC Research Support Office and the UCC Library provide a wide range of supports for researchers, many of which are applicable to sustainability research.
https://libguides.ucc.ie/researchsupport/home

Examples:

The VP for Research has appointed a full time Research Grants Coordinator to support the research activities of the Environmental research Institute, including proposal writing, grant applications and funding acquisitions. http://research.ucc.ie/profiles/V001/S.Monteiro@ucc.ie

The Boole Library research support portal provides a Subject Support Function which is searchable by theme or discipline. e.g. Environmental Science or Ecology. This then brings you to supports such as library data bases and data repositories, and guidance on systematic reviews. https://libguides.ucc.ie/ecology

The Boole Library has also developed an extensive sustainability programme to make its operations more sustainable. https://libguides.ucc.ie/librarysustainability/welcome