There are many Walsh Fellowships available each year but one in particular caught Country Living’s eye recently. The subject matter of the three-year PhD sponsored by Teagasc and run in conjunction with University College Cork is “Sustainability and Consumers’ Use of Mobile Optical Recognition Systems in Food Related Search”.

In a nutshell, this project aims to develop a greater understanding of consumers’ usage of particular functions on smartphones, namely mobile optical character recognition (OCR) capabilities enabling phone users to scan either Quick Recall (QR) codes or the package itself to link into applications on the food company websites.

Given that the penetration of smartphones and iPads reached over 50% of the Irish population in 2013, this project is very relevant and presents the food industry with an opportunity to engage directly with consumers at the point of purchase or consumption.

The project aims to develop a greater understanding of consumers’ usage of these devices to search for and access food-related information.

Ultimately, it will inform key food company strategic decisions related to marketing, communication, packaging and brand development.

Applicants should have or expect to have a good primary degree (first or second class honours) or master’s in an appropriate discipline (eg food marketing, agri-business, marketing and management, commerce or applied psychology).

The successful candidate should be highly self-motivated and be prepared to undertake fieldwork using a range of data-collection techniques.

Those interested in applying should submit an electronic copy of their CV and a letter of interest to Dr Maeve Henchion (maeve.henchion@teagasc.ie) and Dr Alan Collins (a.collins@ucc.ie).

The closing date is Monday 9 June 2014. The fellowship provides an annual stipend of €22,000 though students should note that university fees are deducted from this. In UCC the fees were €5,770 in 2013/2014, though the fee schedule is available on the UCC website and is reviewed annually. See www.ucc.ie/en/study/postgrad/cost