Background
The VistaMilk Research Ireland research centre (www.vistamilk.ie), which has been operating out of Teagasc Moorepark since 2018, is entering its second 6-year phase (2024-2030). The VistaMilk Research Ireland Centre aims to be an agent of growth for the Irish dairy industry by being a world leader in fundamental and translational research for precision pasture-based dairying. VistaMilk’s vision for Phase II will advance the construction of a federated set of digital shadows, each representing a module in the soil-to-gut pathway but with the ability for upstream and downstream communication and interaction – a system-of-systems. Such an integrated collection of independent systems for the dairy sector will enable whole system scenario modelling of a multitude of features and perturbations such as climate change adaptation, policy, farm advice, and research/hypothesis generation, the scale of which has never before been achieved. The outcome is informed direction and policy on how best to tackle Ireland’s unique challenges.
VistaMilk represents a unique collaboration between 13 Agri-Food and ICT research institutes and leading Irish/multinational food and ICT companies. The Centre is hosted by Teagasc, the national agency with responsibility for agriculture and food research.
The Centre consists of one Director and 11 co-applicants (applicant group; 42% female) with skillsets in agriculture (soil, pasture breeding and management, animal breeding and management), food (processing and food for health), sensing, communications, social and behavioural sciences and analytics. The applicant group are supported by 64 funded investigators (FIs; 42% female) from 13 institutes and industry collaborators; opportunities will be created to expand this academic and industry team through the 6-year term. Over the next 6 years, VistaMilk will hire a total of 162 research staff comprising 3 MSc, 77 PhD, 64 Post-doctoral researchers, and 20 research assistants.
Research Study
In this research you will work as part of the VistaMilk2 Impact Platform, investigating the market level (consumer) factors relevant to the acceptability and adoption of production and supply based enhancements across the dairy value chain. Informed by relevant theories underpinning the psychological and social acceptability of sustainability and health enhancements of dairy products, you will consider the market level implications of proposed dairy industry developments emerging across the VistaMilk thematic areas. By engaging with consumers and researchers you will understand consumer sensemaking of developments within the diary sector at both a societal and product level. You will work closely with researchers across the VistaMilk centre employing a combination of qualitative and biometric techniques to understand consumer level implications to drive impact.
Requirements
We are seeking a passionate and motivated individual with a strong academic background and good interpersonal skills. You should hold at least an honours degree in a relevant discipline relating to psychology, social-psychology, marketing, agri-business or communications. A Master’s degree is highly desirable as is an aptitude for both qualitative and quantitative research methods. If English is not your first language you will need to satisfy the English language requirement:
- IELTS: 6.5 - with no individual section lower than 6.0
- TOEFL: 90 - with minimum scores as follows: Listening- 20; Reading - 19; Speaking - 21; Writing – 20
Award
This prestigious four-year PhD Scholarship offers a generous annual stipend of €25,000, along with a fee contribution of €5,500 per annum. This funding is provided as part of the VistaMilk Research Ireland research centre, in collaboration with UCC and Teagasc. The scholarship will start in October 2025.
Further Information
For more details about this exciting opportunity, please contact PhD project supervisors:
- Prof. Mary McCarthy, Department of Marketing & Management, Cork University Business School, UCC. Phone: +353 (0) 21 4902075 Email: [email protected]
- Dr Sean Tanner, Department of Management & Marketing, Cork University Business School. UCC. Phone +353 (0)21 490 2791; Email: [email protected]
Applications
To apply, please complete the application form at the following link: https://forms.gle/F1GZLvR1GmZmS5rj6. As part of the application, you will be asked to provide a:
- copy of your CV (max 2 pages)
- short research proposal (max 500 words)
- summary proposed research design (max 500 words)
- motivation statement (max 400 words)
The deadline for receipt of applications is 17:00 (local time) on the 21st of April 2025. Applications received after this time will not be considered.
Any queries can be sent to [email protected].
Shortlisted candidates will be invited for an interview shortly thereafter.