Language and Alzheimer’s Disease

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: Language and Alzheimer’s Disease

Supervisor: Prof Louise Connell

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

The most common form of dementia is Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), which contributes to 60-70% of dementia cases, and is characterised by progressive cognitive impairments in memory, thinking, language, and judgement. Early diagnosis of AD is critical to starting interventions that can slow down its progression, but the highly-variable nature of physical and cognitive symptoms means that timely and accurate diagnosis of AD remains a challenge. Analysing language expression (i.e., spontaneous speech or writing) has shown promising advances in detecting signs of AD decades before standard tests can detect symptoms. However, the exact nature of how language expression changes in comparison to normally-ageing peers remains underexplored. This interdisciplinary PhD project will examine language expression from individuals who later developed AD in order to investigate how the words and ideas change as the condition progresses, in comparison to people who aged normally. By taking existing samples of language expression (e.g., books and transcribed speeches), and using computational techniques from natural language processing to analyse how key features of the text change over time, the project will help to answer how early-stage AD affects language expression, and how far in advance of AD diagnosis these differences begin to appear.

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.

Full eligibility criteria can be found on our website.

Application and Selection Process

Applicants should submit the following documents:

• Personal statement (max. 500 words)
• Curriculum Vitae
• Relevant final academic transcripts
• Names and contact details of two referees

Note that a research proposal is not required to apply for this project.

Applicants who are non-native speakers of the English language must provide written evidence of competency in the English language that satisfy the programme-specific requirements set out by the Maynooth University International Office.

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

Please direct queries about the project to Louise.Connell@mu.ie

Closing date: 5pm on 1st July 2026

Please submit applications by email directly to Prof Louise Connell at Louise.Connell@mu.ie. Please title the subject of your email application as ‘MU Doctoral Scholarship - Department of Psychology 2026’