Last November we launched the UCD strategy to 2030, Breaking Boundaries, to mobilise the great ambition and potential within our university community to respond to the challenges and opportunities of a rapidly changing world.
This strategy sets out the ambitious path University College Dublin will follow over the next five years.
Under the strategy, UCD will break the boundaries of existing knowledge through our cutting-edge research, scholarship and innovation, and will advance with ambition our positive impact on Ireland, on the world and on the lives of our students.
Since our foundation in 1854 in Newman House, University College Dublin has seen extraordinary growth in scale and societal impact.
From having a central role in the foundation of the Irish State in 1922 to the building and launching of Ireland’s first space satellite EIRSAT-1 in 2023, UCD has always been at the heart of Irish society, science, economy, and culture.
Today, UCD is Ireland’s largest and most influential university, ranked 118 in the world in the latest QS World University Rankings.
As we progress under our new strategy, you will see UCD continue to deliver ground-breaking research. We are particularly focused on areas that will directly impact the defining issues of our time, including the transformative potential of artificial intelligence, the interconnectedness of One Health, and the power of societal transformations.
We will establish an AI institute that brings together our capabilities in digital technologies research, education, ethics and policy to expand on the myriad strengths our community has in this critical area.
We will also further enhance our leadership in knowledge generation, learning, and action across the vital sustainability agenda, striving to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.
UCD is a university with Irish roots and global reach, and nowhere is this more visible than through our alumni.”
Our role as a champion and steward of Irish culture and heritage will become even more visible. To support this, we are expanding and broadening access to the political papers, literary archives, and the National Folklore Collection held in the James Joyce Library.
And by supporting an ever more diverse range of students to truly realise their potential through an enriching and empowering education, we will continue our proud tradition of producing Ireland’s most highly sought-after graduates.
First-time visitors to the campus, returning alumni, and our staff and students continually make reference to how the Belfield campus has been transformed over recent years, becoming a beautiful, world-class, environmentally friendly campus and a treasure for our community.
Under our new strategy, the University will continue to develop our outstanding physical campuses, setting new standards and enhancing the experience for every member of our community. To this end, two of our key campus developments, a new Centre for Learning and Science Phase III, are very well advanced, supporting our ambitions for research, education and the student experience.
Work has also begun on the next expansion of our outstanding sports facilities in Belfield. This major development includes a new three-storey multipurpose sports hall beside the existing Sports Centre that will also serve as an examination centre, allowing us to hold our end-of-term exams on campus again for the first time in many years.
Many of you will – with a mix of emotions – remember the James Joyce Library in Belfield. Some of you, I’m sure, will even have had your favourite seats there as students. This once plain, functional environment is being completely remodelled, reshaped and refitted to create an inspirational 21st-century space.
Phase one of this redevelopment delivered a total transformation of the third floor, and phase two will continue this work, supporting student learning and also safeguarding and showcasing our remarkable cultural collections.
Balanced with these large-scale infrastructural developments is the enhanced greener campus footprint we are creating throughout Belfield, with continuous landscaping and tree planting. Today, our Belfield campus is home to over 50,000 trees and some 8 kilometres of scenic woodland walks, contributing to UCD earning its ranking as No. 1 in Ireland and 49th in the world for Sustainability, according to QS.
We also continue to enhance our campuses beyond Belfield, including major developments on the magnificent Lyons Farm.
UCD is a university with Irish roots and global reach, and nowhere is this more visible than through our alumni. Under our new strategy, we hope that our alumni will feel an enhanced connection to UCD.
Meeting alumni across the world has been one of the enormous pleasures of my time as President. There is nothing more energising than meeting graduates who speak with excitement about the positive impact UCD has had on their lives.
Last year alone, over 2,000 alumni generously volunteered as career mentors, alumni buddies, alumni chapter representatives at locations around the world, at the UCD Festival, and at other events on our campuses.
We could not achieve our ambitions for UCD without the support of our alumni, and I thank all of you who contribute to our university. It is this vibrant engagement that truly embodies the strength and values of our global community.
I invite you to reach out and engage with some of your fellow 334,000 alumni across 184 countries, some of whose inspiring stories you will find in the pages of this magazine.
I also encourage you to come and visit our main campus at Belfield to witness, first-hand, the remarkable transformation at all levels, empowering a university with a truly global ambition.
Chun na réaltaí.
