The Irish Research Council is to make changes to the system it uses to award funding to postgraduate researchers, amid criticism that the current process is too slow.
The council says it is to begin next year's funding call for its main funding scheme three months earlier.
The council is responsible for the administration of one of the main sources of grants for research Masters and Doctoral candidates here, through the Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship.
It is also is in charge of other funding streams, including an employment based postgraduate funding scheme.
However, there is growing frustration within academic circles about the length of time it takes to let candidates know whether or not they have been successful with their applications, and the timing of the process.
This year's call opened in December of last year, and completed applications had to be submitted by February.
According to the IRC, 1,071 applications were received - 515 in the areas of Arts, Humanities and Social Science (AHSS), and 556 under Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths subjects (STEM).
Yesterday, the successful applicants in the AHSS areas were informed whether they had been successful or not, four months after they had submitted their applications.
Applicants for STEM funding will only be informed whether or not they are to progress to the next and final stage of the assessment at the end of this week.
40% typically progress to this phase, the IRC says, but they will not be told whether or not they have secured funding until the week beginning 18 July.
According to Professor Brian Lucey of the School of Business in Trinity College Dublin, the length of time it has taken the IRC to make a decision is unacceptable.
He also criticised the timeline, which can leave many unsuccessful applicants without funding in July, less than two months before the next academic year begins.
This does not give them enough time to apply elsewhere or pursue other opportunities, Professor Lucey said.
He also criticised a lack of transparency around the IRC's decision-making process.
"There is a complete lack of understanding about how this process works, which is worrying for an organisation that is supposed to deal with PhD funding," he said.
His comments have been echoed on a number of online forums, where applicants have expressed concern about the length of time the process takes and the lack of transparency.
Some said they were afraid to complain publicly to the council about the situation, for fear it would prejudice their applications.
"We are conscious that the timing of the annual funding announcements is later than many applicants would like and the Irish Research Council is taking proactive action to address this," said Dr Eucharia Meehan, Director of the Irish Research Council in a statement to RTÉ News.
"At our Council meeting in April, it was agreed that the next call for funding under the Government of Ireland and Strategic Funding Partner Scheme will open three months earlier than usual - in autumn 2016. This will enable us to make funding awards by late spring of 2017."
