The new scholars in the College of Business, Public Policy and Law include Pratik Purswani and Amil Jafarguliyev, who are researching legal topics.

Mr Purswani, from India, is studying disruptive climate protests under international human rights law.

Mr Jafarguliyev, from Azerbaijan, is researching the remedying of barriers to entry posed by lock-in effects in digital markets through mandated interoperability and data portability under European Union law.

Scholars have come from 11 different countries to take part in the scheme and the opportunity to pursue a structured doctorate at the university on topics aligned to its research pillars.

Professor Dónal Leech, dean of graduate studies at the University of Galway, said: “I welcome our excellent Hardiman Research scholar recipients to the university.

“The 19 scholars were selected from a large pool of applicants seeking to develop their research skills and independence through our renowned structured PhD programmes across our four research pillars, to deliver distinctive research impact.

“The scholarship is a recognition of excellence for the awardees and provides fee and stipend support over four years for the researchers to generate new knowledge that improves our world.”