UCD Institute of Food and Health

The UCD Institute of Food and Health brings together research staff from different disciplines across UCD, all working together to deliver pioneering research in the areas including innovative animal production systems, sustainable crop production systems and smart agri technologies.

FNS-Cloud

EU-funded collaboration developing a cloud solution to overcome fragmentation in food and nutrition security across Europe. By federating data on diet, health, and consumer behaviour as well as sustainable agriculture and the bio-economy, it will reduce knowledge gaps that inhibit public health and agricultural policy.

WATSON

UCD-led Horizon Europe project developing tools and systems that will increase safety, reduce fraud throughout the whole food chain and accelerate the deployment of transparency solutions in the EU food systems.

EU4Advice

EU-funded collaboration to bolster short food supply chains (SFSC) advisory services to chain actors and help make their practices more economically, socially and environmentally sustainable. Connecting SFSC advisors from the 27 Member States.

Food for Health Ireland

Connecting leaders in industry to a nationwide network of world-class researchers and facilities, to improve global health through innovation in food.

GreenWatch

SFI and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade funded project developing AI-based methods to detect greenwashing that improve the measurement of progress towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. 

EU China Safe

EU funded collaboration of 15 EU and 18 China partners from research organisations, Government and industry, working together to build the core components needed for a joint EU-China food safety control system, addressing consumer expectations and facilitating an expansion of EU- China trade.

DiTECT

EU-funded collaboration of researchers and industrial and food authorities representing the agro-food industry in the EU and China working to develop an integrated framework for real-time detection, assessment and mitigation of biological, chemical and environmental contaminants throughout the food supply chain. 

Farm4More

Developing technologies to achieve climate mitigation in animal protein production, through a biochar pilot plant aiming to produce GHG reduced animal feed additives and a green biorefinery that processes organic grass-silage into high value organic protein feeds and green chemicals.  

Food for Health Ireland

Connecting leaders in industry to a nationwide network of world-class researchers and facilities, to improve global health through innovation in food.

FOOD-I

The All-Island Food Integrity Initiative is coordinated under a partnership between UCD, Queen’s University Belfast, UCC, Teagasc, Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI), NUI Galway and Ulster University. It provides evidence-based solutions for industry and government, develops disruptive new technologies and drives behaviour change among all actors along the food chain in the shared island food system.

UCD CSDS

The UCD Centre for Sustainable Development Studies (CSDS) aims to promote and foster Education, Research and Policy Outreach on Sustainable Development.  

RETHINK-GSC

Horizon Europe collaboration providing novel ways to analyse the employment and social impacts of the changing nature of global supply chains. Working closely with stakeholder experts from national governments, businesses, and international organisations, the project will benefit policymaking.

Hyperspectral imaging: Revolutionising monitoring in the food industry

Measuring Norovirus in oysters: protecting quality and improving public health

Demonstrating how ultrasound-assisted freezing can improve food quality

Ireland's first facility for non-destructive 3D imaging of whole plants using X-ray CT at UCD Rosemount Environmental Research Station

Prof Da-Wen Sun: One of world’s most cited researchers in Agricultural Sciences

Prof Paula Bourke

Head of UCD School of Biosystems and Food Engineering, research focus in sustainable processing innovations and novel antimicrobial technologies, member of the UCD Institute of Food and Health. 

Prof Denis Shields

Director of the UCD Bioinformatics Centre, research group focuses on identifying functional regions of proteins and genes that impact on disease risk and therapy, member of the Food for Health centre.

Prof Aoife Gowen

Expert in the field of hyperspectral imaging, Professor at UCD School of Biosystems and Food Engineering and member of UCD Institute of Food and Health.

Dr Junli Xu

Ad Asta Fellow at UCD School of Biosystems and Food Engineering, member of UCD Spectral Imaging Research group and UCD Institute of Food and Health. 

Prof Patrick Wall

Leader in food safety, nutrition and managing lifestyle related disease through behavioural change, research interests include food borne disease, member of UCD Institute of Food and Health.

Prof Da-Wen Sun

A world leader in food engineering research and education, research focus includes bioprocess simulation and optimisation, and computer vision technology.