Feeling Heard or Overlooked? Perceived Policy Recognition, Personal Wellbeing, and Collective Responses

About the Project

The Faculty of Science and Engineering at Maynooth University are pleased to announce that a Maynooth University Doctoral Scholarship in the department of Psychology will be available for a suitably qualified and successful applicant intending to commence their PhD studies in September/October 2026.

Project Title: Feeling Heard or Overlooked? Perceived Policy Recognition, Personal Wellbeing, and Collective Responses

Supervisor: The successful candidate will work under the supervision of Dr Islam Borinca, Maynooth University, Department of Psychology, on a project examining the psychological consequences of perceived policy recognition, the extent to which people feel that government decisions acknowledge and respond to the concerns of their community or social group.

Value of Maynooth University Doctoral Scholarship Award

The award is fully funded for four years, commencing September/October 2026 and running to completion in September 2030. The following funding is available:

• Student stipend: €25,000 per annum
• Annual Tuition Fees Support

Duration of Maynooth University Doctoral Scholarship Award

The scholarship is awarded for four years of full-time study, subject to satisfactory annual academic progression.

Project Description

Governments make consequential decisions on issues that directly affect the daily lives of citizens, including migration, environmental policy, housing, and public health. Yet a growing number of people report feeling that their concerns go unacknowledged; that policy does not reflect the realities, values, or needs of their communities. This project proposes that this perceived gap carries profound psychological consequences for individual wellbeing and collective life. Drawing on social identity theory, meta-perception research, and political psychology, the project argues that feeling heard, or overlooked, by institutions is a critical but substantially understudied mechanism linking policy to human flourishing. The core theoretical insight is that what matters is not only whether a policy objectively helps or harms a group, but what that policy signals about how much the state values, sees, and includes that group. The project pursues three integrated research lines: (1) a quantitative empirical core comprising cross-sectional, longitudinal, and experimental studies examining perceived policy recognition and its effects on personal wellbeing, including hope, anxiety, and belonging, and collective outcomes, including group solidarity and civic engagement; (2) a computational and qualitative investigation using online discourse analysis and in-depth interviews; and (3) a comparative big data analysis using large-scale European datasets, including ESS, Eurobarometer, and World Values Survey.

Mode of Study

Awardees must be resident in Ireland and available to pursue their programme of research on a full-time basis at Maynooth University for four years.

Application and Selection Process

Applicants should submit the following documents:

• A personal statement (max. 1,000 words) describing your motivation for the project, relevant research experience, and how your background fits the aims of the scholarship
• Curriculum Vitae (including education, research experience, publications if any)
• Copies of relevant academic transcripts
• Names and contact details of two academic referees

English Language Requirements

Applicants who are non-native speakers of English must provide evidence of competency meeting Maynooth University's programme-specific requirements.

All eligible candidates will be considered. Applicants may be shortlisted for interview and contacted directly by the Department. Late applications will not be considered.

All Maynooth University Doctoral Scholarship Awards are conditional on approval for registration by the University.

Informal enquiries about the project and supervisory arrangements may be directed to Dr Islam Borinca: islam.borinca@mu.ie

Closing date: 5pm on 1st July 2026

Please submit applications by email directly to Dr Islam Borinca at Islam.Borinca@mu.ie.

Please title the subject of your email application as ‘MU Doctoral Scholarship - Department of Psychology 2026’.