Background
This PhD offers an exciting opportunity to conduct innovative research to support the development of more attractive dairy farm workplaces. The social sustainability of dairy farm workplaces, incorporating factors such as working hours, work/ life balance and people management, is a major challenge for many farms. It is considered an increasingly important domain with the intense workload on farms contributing to increased levels of stress and difficulties for farmers in maintaining an adequate quality of life. Meanwhile, these same farmers are placing greater emphasis on work/ life balance and increased family time, and creating a more sustainable workload will be essential to attract young people to farm.
The objective of this project is to design and evaluate the requirements of future dairy farm workplaces. The research has three overarching aims:
- Co-design benchmarks for a ‘socially sustainable workplace’ on dairy farms
- Implement and evaluate strategies to achieve the ‘socially sustainable workplace’ benchmarks on selected dairy farms
- Develop an understanding of how dairy farmers’ adoption and engagement with socially sustainable practices can be increased in order to achieve the ‘socially sustainable workplace’ benchmarks
The outcomes of this project will have a positive effect on the key social indicators on farms including labour efficiency, people attraction and retention, quality of life, and health and safety. In addition, the project will show what can be achieved on farms from a social perspective; showing that dairy farming can be an attractive career for young people.
Requirements
Applicants should have a first or upper second-class honours primary degree (or the equivalent) in an appropriate discipline (e.g. Agricultural Science, Business Management, Design Thinking or other relevant degree). The successful candidate should be enthusiastic and self-motivated and be prepared to work independently and as part of team. A minimum level of competency in English is required. Please see the following link with regard to English Language requirements (https://www.ucc.ie/en/study/comparison/english/).
Award
The PhD scholarship is a joint research project between Teagasc Moorepark and Cork University Business School (University College Cork; UCC). The candidate will be based at Teagasc Moorepark and will be registered at UCC under the primary supervision of Dr Conor Hogan (Teagasc) and Dr Mary O’Shaughnessy (UCC). The scholarship funding is €31,000 per annum and comprises of university fees of up to a maximum of €6,000 and flat rate stipend of €25,000 is tenable for 4 years. The successful applicant will receive tailored guidance on their research, be part of UCC’s research-focused school community and the Teagasc research community. Training modules will be provided by UCC.
Further Information
Please contact either of the following for more information:
Dr. Conor Hogan, Teagasc, Animal and Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, Moorepark, Co. Cork.
Email: [email protected]
Dr. Mary O’Shaughnessy, Cork University Business School, University College Cork, Co. Cork.
Email: [email protected]
Professor. Joe Bogue, Cork University Business School, University College Cork, Co. Cork.
Email: [email protected]
Dr Lana Repar, Cork University Business School, University College Cork, Co. Cork.
Email: [email protected]
Application Procedure and closing date
Interested candidates should submit a CV and a cover letter, outlining your interest and relevant experience, by email to both Dr Conor Hogan and Dr Mary O’Shaughnessy before 5pm on the 26th of June, 2024. Please include ‘People in Dairy PhD ref number 2024032’ in the email subject line.