The School of Nursing at Midwifery is a research intensive School with an international reputation for high quality research. As with our teaching programmes, we strive to ensure that our research improves nursing and midwifery practice, the health of those receiving nursing and midwifery care and informs health care policy.

The School has a strong track record in attracting competitive research funds and has secured over €3 million in research funding in the last two years. We are currently conducting both of the Health Research Board (Ireland) funded nursing and midwifery research priority studies. We have a strong commitment to collaborative research and have strong partnerships with academics from other disciplines and professions within NUI Galway and with external national and international partners, with health service providers and related agencies and with organisations representing health care users.

The School’s key research interests, expertise and activities are centered around five cognate research clusters:

 The School has specific methodological expertise in case study, grounded theory, phenomenology, in evaluating complex interventions through randomised trials including cluster trials and in systematic reviews and meta analyses.

In 2006, the School enrolled its first PhD students and we now have 14 PhD students registered with the School.

Dr. Adeline Cooney & Prof. Kathy Murphy with physiotherapists involved in the PRINCE research study.

Mr. Bernard McCarthy (lecturer), Prof. Kathy Murphy (Head of School), Mr. Declan Devane (Senior Lecturer), Ms. Collette Kirwan (Project Manager) & Prof. Eamon O'Shea (Head of Economics, NUI Galway) pictured at the HRB interim meeting in June 2010