Program Overview

INSPIRE Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme

The INSPIRE Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme is a research-focused initiative that aims to develop a cohort of highly trained interdisciplinary researchers. The programme is designed to address global societal and planetary challenges, with a particular emphasis on the practical applications of research for promoting innovative solutions.

Research Themes

The programme is centered around four core research themes:

1. Microbes to Molecules: This theme focuses on developing new "pharmabiotics" biological entities mined from the microbiota, including probiotics, bacteriocins, bacteriophages, and bioactive molecules with significant health impacts.
2. Diet and Microbes: This theme explores the interaction between diet, the microbiota, and health at the extremes of life, including infants and older people.
3. Gut Brain Microbe Axis: This theme investigates the communication between the brain and gut and how it can be influenced by the gastrointestinal microbiota.
4. Host-Microbe Dialogue: This theme examines the network of signalling interactions among the microbiota, host immune-inflammatory responses, and metabolism, and the impact of diet on each component of this triad.

Global Societal Challenges

Fellows must choose a global societal challenge that aligns with the programme's research thematic focus. Relevant challenges include:

• Sustainable development: Aligns with the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
• Non-communicable diseases (NCDs): APC's research looks at how gut bacteria interact with the four main types of NCDs.
• Antimicrobial resistance (AMR): A pressing human health concern worldwide.
• Sustainable food system (SFS): A food system that delivers food security and nutrition for all without compromising the economic, social, and environmental bases for future generations.

EU Funding

The programme is co-funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 programme under the Marie SkodowskaCurie Grant agreement.

University College Cork

The programme is hosted by University College Cork, a registered charity with the Charities Regulatory Authority.