CARDI announces funding for future leaders in ageing research

The Centre for Ageing Research and Development in Ireland (CARDI) today (Mon 20 January, 2014) launches a new call for future leaders in ageing research. It will fund up to three research fellows covering their salary for three years and £50,000 each for research expenses.

The new call is the second in its Leadership programme which aims to support high quality research into ageing. The call is open to candidates from the EU who have two to seven years postdoctoral experience and the support of a Northern Ireland University. The CARDI Fellows will study a topic related to healthy ageing and take part in training and development activities to build up their independence and leadership.

Two CARDI Fellows announced

CARDI also announces today the appointment of two successful fellows who were selected from the first Leadership call in September 2013: Dr Aisling O’Halloran, a post doctoral fellow in health research with TILDA (The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing) at Trinity College Dublin and Dr. Mark O’Doherty, a postdoctoral research fellow from the UKCRC Centre of Excellence for Public Health, Queen’s University Belfast.

Dr O’Halloran and Dr O’Doherty will research the closely related topics of ‘Frailty in Ireland, north and south’ and‘Understanding disability and frailty and how they are reported in older adults in different jurisdictions and their contribution to inequalities in health’, respectively. Both come to the CARDI Leadership Programme with strong experience in the areas of healthy ageing and factors that contribute to frailty and disability in old age. The funding they will receive as part of the programme will help them build on this experience and to strengthen their skills and knowledge in the area of ageing research.

Fostering a strong research community

“We are delighted to announce the funding of two successful candidates from our first Leadership call and look forward to receiving high quality nominations for this call,” said CARDI Co-Chair Professor Davis Coakley. “This innovative programme seeks to select and support outstanding scholars to carry out excellent research and to develop all aspects of their research including knowledge translation.

 “By investing directly in these fellows we aim to foster a strong community of researchers in ageing who will conduct innovative policy-relevant research that can help meet the needs of our rapidly ageing population,” said Professor Coakley.

The CARDI Leadership Programme in Ageing Research is funded by the Health and Social Care Research and Development Division Northern Ireland and The Atlantic Philanthropies.

A leaflet, terms of reference*, guidance for HEI's and an application form are attached below this article.

*Please consult terms of reference carefully before applying

Biogs of the two appointed Fellows from Call 1 are also attached.

CARDI will fund up to three research fellows each nominated by a university in Northern Ireland. Applicants outside Northern Ireland may apply only if they are nominated by a Northern Ireland university.

For further information or the programme content contact

Paul Mc Gill, Strategic Research Officer, CARDI, telephone 00 44 (0) 28 9069 0066, email: [email protected]

For media queries

Nicola Donnelly, Communications Officer, CARDI, telephone 00 353 (1) 478 6308, email [email protected].