Written answers

Tuesday, 15 June 2021

Department of Education and Skills

Third Level Education

Photo of Rose Conway-WalshRose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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1047. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of annual new enrolments on research masters and PhD courses for the most recent year available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30935/21]

Photo of Simon HarrisSimon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Postgraduate education delivered by higher education institutions is critical to Ireland’s research system. In addition to contributing to knowledge, postgraduate researcher education drives participants to develop their own research skills that can be applied in a range of environments, in academia or industry, at home or abroad.

Figures from the HEA show that first year enrolments of postgraduate researchers (that is Research Masters and PhD students) have increased by 451 from 2,314 in the 2018/19 academic year to 2,765 in the 2019/20 academic year. This means that we have exceeded the Innovation 2020 targeted increase of 500 enrolments from the 2013/14 baseline (Action 3.5).

It is imperative that we continue to develop a pipeline of research talent if Ireland is to realise its ambitions under the new Programme for Government and Project Ireland 2040 and my officials will be exploring this as part of the development of the next National Research and Innovation Strategy currently underway at my department.

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