University College Dublin Crest

Explore UCD

UCD Home
Image
overlay image

UCD Research

UCD is Ireland’s largest university and a leader in research and innovation. Our community is a force for positive action in sustainability, technological and cultural advancement and groundbreaking discovery.

ERC Research

ERC Research

UCD's research community has generated unprecedented success under Horizon Europe, particularly in European Research Council (ERC) programmes. Ranked No.1 in Ireland for EU-funded research and in the top 20 among all higher education institutions across EU, UCD has blazed a trail for Irish research.

Explore our ERC showcase and meet the experts across a broad range of disciplines and career levels who are conducting groundbreaking research with international partners. 

Visit the showcase.

Creating global impact

Creating global impact

At UCD, we are committed to excellence in research and innovation and to delivering local, national and global impact. Browse our catalogue of impact case studies for examples of the meaningful contributions UCD researchers have made in the world, from policy impact to commercialisation. 

For researchers at any stage of the research journey, visit the UCD Impact Tool Kit to learn how best to plan, capture, communicate and monitor impact. 

Prof Kate Robson Brown image
The university is breaking down those boundaries between the traditional silos of research and development, bringing partners together and creating an environment that is as collaborative as possible.
Prof Kate Robson Brown, UCD Vice-President for Research, Innovation and Impact

Latest News

Comhdháil Aiteach 2026: a new milestone for Irish-speaking queer Communities\n 24Jun
Comhdháil Aiteach 2026: a new milestone for Irish-speaking queer Communities

Conference explores the richness of work being carried out through the medium of Irish in the arts, literature, folklore, community work and research in relation to queerness.
Photo by Olga Kononenko on Unsplash 23Jun
AI may help avoid unnecessary chemotherapy for breast cancer patients

Research led by RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences and UCD has identified immune markers that could help doctors more accurately determine which breast cancer patients are unlikely to benefit from chemotherapy.
ERC Advanced Grants for three groundbreaking UCD research projects 23Jun
ERC Advanced Grants for three groundbreaking UCD research projects

Prestigious awards for pioneering research across anticolonial literary culture, RNAs in medicine, and sustainable energy technologies.
Largest Ever Household Food Study in Ireland Launches 18Jun
Largest Ever Household Food Study in Ireland Launches

The initiative is being conducted as part of the Co-Centre for Sustainable Food Systems, a collaborative research partnership across Ireland and the UK.
New book challenges history, revealing how women shaped the modern built world 11Jun
New book challenges history, revealing how women shaped the modern built world

Groundbreaking book rewrites the narrative of modern architecture and design by shining a spotlight on the powerful global impact of women entrepreneurs, arising from the ‘Expanding Agency’ ERC project led by UCD’s Prof Kathleen James-Chakraborty

UCD to lead €8M Horizon Europe 6G security project 11Jun
UCD to lead €8M Horizon Europe 6G security project

SHIELD-6G is led by UCD’s leading 6G expert Associate Prof Madhusanka Liyanage, bringing together 19 elite international partners across industry, academia, and SMEs, including UCD spin-out MBP, positioning the university at the forefront of future European network architecture.
Government announces €460M investment for 7 new ‘Rinn’ national research and innovation centres\n 10Jun
Government announces €460M investment for 7 new ‘Rinn’ national research and innovation centres

UCD co-leads or is part of centre leadership in six of the centres, which are focused on advanced therapies, AI, energy decarbonisation, medical devices, pharma and biopharma, and quantum science and technology.
UCD physicists harness potential of ‘quantum phase transitions’ 09Jun
UCD physicists harness potential of ‘quantum phase transitions’

Researchers develop solutions to bridge the gap between theoretical physics and practical macroscopic technologies, in an emerging scientific field known as ‘critical quantum metrology.’

Brains of older people must work harder to keep us from falling 02Jun
Brains of older people must work harder to keep us from falling

New study published in PNAS provides direct evidence explaining why maintaining balance becomes more difficult as we age, paving the way for better understanding and mitigation of the risk of falls.

At a glance...

€969.5M
Total external research funding capture since 2020
#1 in Ireland
Horizon Europe funded research including ERC awards
+ 200 countries
Our researchers collaborated with +7000 institutions worldwide in the last five years
+1200 inventions
Number of invention disclosures by members of our research community
418 industry collaborators
Co-authored research with UCD between 2020-2024

Contact UCD Research

UCD Research, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
T: +353 1 716 4000 |