Co-Centre for Climate+ Biodiversity + Water PhD scholarship

About the Project

Applications are invited from suitably qualified candidates for full-time funded PhD scholarship starting in autumn/winter 2026 affiliated to the Irish Centre for High-End Computing (ICHEC) and the School of Computer Science at the University of Galway. The PhD is funded through the tri-jurisdictional Co-Centre for Climate + Biodiversity + Water (Climate + Co-Centre) funded by Research Ireland, Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) across Ireland, Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

University of Galway

Located in the vibrant cultural city of Galway in the west of Ireland, the University of Galway has a distinguished reputation for teaching and research excellence.

For information on moving to Ireland please see www.euraxess.ie.

Detailed Project Description

This is a full time PhD position within the Co-Centre for Climate + Biodiversity + Water. The Co-Centre brings together 14 higher education and research institutions across Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Great Britain, with the vision to be a home of research, innovation, and policy development across the interlinked challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, and water.

You will be placed at the Irish Centre for High-End Computing (ICHEC in Dublin or Galway) and supervised by Dr. Paul Nolan, with co-supervision at the School of Computer Science.

The role will support and enable research across the Co-Centre through close collaboration with project partners and the development and provision of large climate datasets and derived climate products. The successful candidate will contribute to the following activities:

• Supporting research across the Co-Centre through the provision of tailored climate datasets and derived products (e.g., evapotranspiration and soil moisture deficits)
• Evaluating and applying bias-correction techniques for regional climate projections using regional reanalysis products and gridded observational datasets.
• Using regional climate models (RCMs), such as WRF, ICON, and MPAS-RCM, to dynamically downscale 20CRv3 global reanalysis data. This work will include very high-resolution simulations of extreme events, factual and counterfactual experiments, and long-term regional climate simulations.

Living allowance (Stipend): €25,000 per annum, [tax-exempt scholarship award]

University fees: fully covered

Start date: Autumn/winter 2026

Academic Entry Requirements: We welcome applicants with a strong MSc/MA from a high-ranking university in computer science, physics, mathematics, environmental/climate science, or related fields. You should be ambitious, creative, and motivated to lead climate solutions using a highly computational and interdisciplinary approach to research. Having experience of complex problem solving projects, that require strong computational requirements are desirable (Programming, Machine Learning, Large Scale Data Processing).

To Apply for the Scholarship: Please send the following (with subject title “ICHEC Co-Centre PhD 2026 - your name”),

• A 1-page research proposal articulating your understanding and ideas on the PhD topic, with evidence from your own personal experience related to the topic (see “What will be your focus?”)
• Your examination transcripts
• Your Curriculum Vitae
• A 1-page cover letter including names and contact details of two referees

Contact Name: Dr. Paul Nolan

Contact Email: paul.nolan@ichec.ie

Application Deadline: 30 October 2026 and time 17:00 (Irish time 24hr format)

Primary Supervisor name: Dr. Paul Nolan, ICHEC