University College Dublin (UCD) is one of Europe’s leading research-intensive universities where undergraduate education, postgraduate masters and PhD training, research, innovation and community engagement form a dynamic continuum of activity. The university was established in 1854 by John Henry Newman whose classic work The Idea of a University is one of the most enduring texts on the value of higher education and a source of inspiration for UCD’s current educational philosophy.
UCD has been a major contributor to the making of modern Ireland. Many UCD students and staff participated in the struggle for Irish independence and the university has produced three Irish Presidents, almost half of the country’s Taoisigh (Prime Ministers) in addition to generations of Irish business, professional, cultural and sporting leaders including James Joyce, Flann O’Brien, Tony O’Reilly and Peter Sutherland.
Today UCD is Ireland’s largest university with almost 35,000 students, nearly 8,000 of whom are international students. UCD is Ireland’s leader in postgraduate education with approximately 9,000 postgraduate students and almost 2,000 PhD students. Over 50% of UCD undergraduates progress to postgraduate studies.
University College Dublin is home to a number of research institutes, which deliver world-class research and facilities for a critical mass of academics and PhD students. These include: UCD Conway Institute of Biomolecular and Biomedical Research; UCD Institute for Discovery, which catalyses and cultivates interdisciplinary research; the UCD Earth Institute, which promotes multi-disciplinary environmental research; the UCD Energy Institute; the UCD Institute of Food and Health; the UCD Geary Institute for Public Policy; and the UCD Humanities Institute.
UCD has one of Ireland’s most successful technology transfer and incubator units, NovaUCD, which supports both companies spinning out from the university’s research programmes and external start-ups wishing to avail of the university’s pool of expertise and technologies.
The international standing of UCD has increased rapidly in recent years and the university is currently ranked within the top 1% of institutions worldwide by the Times Higher Education rankings.
The main campus is located on a beautiful leafy 133-hectare parkland setting close to Dublin’s city centre, which provides a mix of academic facilities, research institutes, libraries and archival collections, enterprise space, student villages, and sports and recreational facilities.
Through its membership of WUN, UCD provides its students and staff with an exciting and innovative range of opportunities for collaboration at every level with some of the world’s leading universities.
