Soon students and faculty of IIT-Madras will have ample opportunity to engage in research activities with one of Ireland’s oldest publicly-funded comprehensive universities, University College Cork (UCC). A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in January between the two institutions which would facilitate research collaborations in specific areas, such as Ocean engineering, Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Energy Engineering, Future emerging technology and Biotechnology/ Bioengineering.
UCC and the Cork region have a strong tradition of science and innovation stretching from Robert Boyle (Boyle’s Law) and George Boole (UCC’s first professor of mathematics and founder of Boolean Algebra) to the Tyndall National Institute for ICT, Nano-technology and Photonics.
Who are the students who will benefit by this MoU? Says Dr. Shepard, Co-ordinator, UCC, Ireland, “The exchange will be two-way. In the first instance, the programme will be open to research students (Ph.D scholars). But, we envisage that this will be extended to those in the final year of their B.Tech degrees. In principle, the two-way movement is open at every level after the MoU. We are currently investigating the best ways to maximise this.”
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How easy is it to study in Ireland?
University College of Cork was only one of the 15 participants in an education fair held at The Park, Chennai, recently to facilitate an interaction between Indian students wishing to study in Ireland and representatives of various colleges and universities.
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A student would have to spend on an average between €5,000 and €10,000 a year on living expenses and fees. There are options for part-time work for students engaged in full-time study for at least a year, internships and placements. It may also be possible to stay back in Ireland after completing the course of study for the purpose of seeking employment under the Irish Third Level Graduate Scheme.
Ten fully-funded government of Ireland scholarships have been awarded this year to students pursuing one-year masters degrees. These are from University College Dublin, National University of Ireland Galway, Trinity College Dublin and Dublin City University. The universities’ websites have the details of how to apply for these scholarships. Apart from these there are partial and full scholarships for undergraduate programmes.