Teagasc Walsh Scholarship

Teagasc and University College Cork are offering a fully funded PhD / Research Masters opportunity in Gut microbiome and probiotics through the Walsh Scholars Programme. The project title is “Milkybiotics: Priming the Gut for Good Bacteria” and focuses on how milk-derived ingredients and co-products can improve probiotic colonisation and support gut health.

The research sits at the intersection of biology, chemistry, and nutrition, with strong links to microbiology, dairy science, food chemistry, fermentation, glycomics, molecular biology, and cell biology. The project will investigate bacterial attachment to intestinal cells, intestinal cell responses, and the potential of dairy by-products as functional ingredients for next-generation probiotic products.

Supervision is by Dr Hickey at Teagasc and Dr O’Callaghan at University College Cork. The successful candidate will be registered at UCC and based at the Teagasc Food Research Centre, Moorepark, Co. Cork, Ireland. The environment includes microbiology, genomics, process engineering, fermentation, and food innovation facilities, with access to specialist expertise and culture collections.

Funding is provided for a 4-year PhD and includes a €25,000 annual stipend plus university fees covered up to €5,750 per annum. Applicants should have a strong academic background in a relevant discipline such as microbiology, dairy, food science, or a related area, and should meet UCC postgraduate entry and English language requirements where applicable.

The application deadline is 5:00 pm on Friday 29 May 2026. Applicants must complete the online application form and submit a CV and a 1–2 page statement of motivation and research fit. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to interview in early June 2026.