Research with Ambition 

Research and innovation at UCD draw on the breadth and depth of our expertise to deliver knowledge and solutions that matter.

From advancing sustainability and interpreting cultural heritage, to transforming healthcare and designing our digital world, our researchers are leading the way in fields that shape the future.

Through our Strategy to 2030, we will support UCD researchers to combine their expertise across disciplines to explore new frontiers of knowledge and to build at scale in areas where UCD can deliver the most significant impact.

UCD will be an exemplar of what can be achieved through deep and diverse collaboration nationally and globally, convening clusters for impact, with a continuous flow of ideas, knowledge and expertise between partners.

Our thought leadership will derive from the voices of our academics based on their research and scholarship, not through taking institutional positions, and we will always respect and uphold academic freedom.

By collaborating with ambition, and delivering world-class research and innovation grounded in rigour and integrity, UCD will be a dynamic research environment where people thrive, bold ideas are realised, and impact is delivered for the benefit of society, economy and environment.

We will:

• establish an institute for AI and digital technologies research, education, ethics and policy, bringing together the diverse and growing interdisciplinary and cross-sector AI and digital technologies research and innovation community at UCD to deliver significant impact. 

• grow our capacity to inform public policy through our research.

• support existing large-scale cross-cutting research areas of excellence and impact, such as One Health and Sustainability, to grow with ambition, and identify and support key emerging areas.

• embed innovation in all its forms throughout our research and education and develop innovation across our campus.

• improve the researcher experience through an integrated service that is researcher-centred and reduces research bureaucracy.

• identify the critical infrastructures, facilities and digital technologies needed to support our research, seek the resources to support them, and ensure that they are integrated and accessible. 

• attract outstanding researchers and faculty members, including through our Ad Astra fellowship programme, and support them to realise their ambitions at UCD. 

• advance best practice in our research culture, underpinned by academic freedom.