Wanted: 33 smart people for top posts
Library image. Photo: Getty Images
Monday March 30 2009
PRESTIGIOUS hi-tech research jobs at Ireland's biggest university are going a-begging, despite the economic crisis and rising unemployment.
The School of Computer Science and Informatics (CSI) at UCD is finding it difficult to attract enough high-calibre interest for 33 vacancies.
Professors at the school have turned to the media to try to fill 23 PhD posts, eight post-doctoral positions, and two research assistant posts.
"It may surprise you to hear that we are finding it difficult to fill these positions with suitable candidates," said CSI research officer, Dr Nicola Stokes
"So we are anxious to explore new ways of connecting with potential researchers, both in academia and industry.
"We also feel that research job creation in ICT is a positive story that will help to balance out the doom and gloom of recent months.
"We are looking for really smart people. These people are out there, and some of them have lost their jobs, and we are wondering why they are not coming through," she said.
The jobs are to be filled this year, and there is a prospect of more PhD positions opening up when the next round of Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) research funding is released in the next few weeks.
The PhD positions are for four years, with fees paid for the researchers' ongoing studies, as well as an annual tax-free salary of about €18,000.
The school is hoping to reach out to graduates working in ICT-related industries who are thinking about coming back to college to upskill.
Hard-won
In the past 18 months, the CSI school has attracted a range of hard-won research funding from within Ireland and the EU.
CSI has created some commercial spin-offs from its research work, including the award-winning 'ChangingWorlds', set up by UCD Professor Barry Smyth. This transformed the burgeoning area of online personalisation and was recently sold to the US software firm Amdocs for €47m.
- Katherine Donnelly
