Two PhD students in the Department of Law at Maynooth University have won Irish Research Council (IRC) Postgraduate Scholarships.

Emma McEvoy, who is supervised by Professor Michael Doherty, is conducting research entitled Facilitating ‘Small and Medium Size Enterprises’ (SMEs) Participation in Public Procurement.

Its primary aim is to address the core problems faced by public bodies in facilitating SME-friendly policies in their tendering practice.

The research recognises a gap in significant literature and aims to contribute to the level of understanding of the strategic role of European procurement to both academics and practitioners.

Charles O’Sullivan, who is supervised by Dr Cliodhna Murphy, is conducted research entitled Charting the Construction and Implementation of the Right to Social Security under EU Immigration and Asylum law in Ireland.

His primary aim is to explore if EU citizens, third-country labour migrants and asylum seekers can be considered to have a right to welfare payments in Ireland, and what the content of that right might be in a practical sense.

It will also seek to establish how significantly EU law has altered the way in which Ireland administers social state programmes such as welfare.

The project will be socio-legal in nature as it examines legal, administrative and policy-based instruments in these areas.