About

University College Dublin (UCD) is the largest university in Ireland and is currently ranked within the top 1% of higher education institutions world-wide. UCD is also Ireland’s most globally engaged university with over 37,000 students drawn from 152 countries, including over 4,500 students based at locations outside of Ireland. 

The UCD School of Medicine, founded in 1854, is one of Ireland’s leading medical schools. The School has a wide and dynamic research portfolio extending from in silico bioinformatics, molecular laboratory investigations of disease to clinical research evaluating new therapeutic strategies. The UCD School of Medicine has developed a rich research culture, organised into Research Centres and groups that define our research strengths in areas including Systems Biology, Infectious Diseases, Maternal, Fetal and Perinatal Health, Diabetes Complications and Translational Oncology. The School is supported by significant infrastructure including the UCD Clinical Research Centres and the Conway Institute of Biomolecular and Biomedical Research.

The single veterinary school for the island, UCD School of Veterinary Medicine has established research collaborations and funding agreements with the Department of Agriculture and Food Safety Authority of Ireland, central to informing government policy for the Irish agri-food industry. An extensive veterinary clinical research network exists through Clinical Research Facilities located within the School of Veterinary Medicine, at Lyons Estate Farm UCD and with farming and equine partnerships throughout the island of Ireland. The School of Veterinary Medicine offers state-of-the-art clinical facilities for advanced diagnostics and treatment animal species and has well-defined and active research themes including One Health, Veterinary Epidemiology and National Disease Control, Veterinary Public Health, Translational Drug Delivery, Translational Pharmacology and Veterinary Clinical Studies.

Trinity College Dublin (TCD) is the highest ranking Irish University, and is ranked 98th in the world (QS World University Rankings 2023). Its main biomedical research themes are immunology/inflammation & infection, neuroscience, ageing and cancer – and the translational/clinical interfaces of these areas.

Trinity is a partner to some of the largest and most progressive hospitals in Ireland with co-localisation of clinical and research facilities. St. James’s Hospital, the largest in the state, contains on its campus, the Trinity Translational Medicine Institute (TTMI); the Centre for Advanced Medical Imaging (CAMI) with its 3T magnet; the Mercer’s Institute for Successful Aging (MISA); the Trinity St James’s Cancer Institute, and the Wellcome Trust/HRB Clinical Research Facility. The National Children’s Hospital, a €700M development, is under construction at the St. James’s campus and will contain a paediatric research building.

Life Sciences research at TCD is supported by three complementary Institutes: The Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute, the Trinity Translational Medicine Institute and the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience. These Institutes have interactive programmes of basic and applied research in which clinician scientists and basic scientists work closely together.

The University of Galway (UoG, formerly National University of Ireland Galway) was founded in 1845 and is The Sunday Times University of the Year 2022. University of Galway is a globally focused research-led university. We are working to improve health and wellbeing by addressing global challenges in medical technologies, regenerative medicine, population health & health services, neuroscience and cancer.

Our facilities include extensive laboratories and research capacity, including the Centre for Cell Manufacturing. University of Galway is the home of CÚRAM, the national SFI Centre for Research in Medical Devices, the National Centre for Biomedical Engineering Science (NCBES), Regenerative Medicine institute (REMEDI), the Network of Excellence for Functional Biomaterials, Centre for Chromosome Biology and the Centre for Pain Research. Our campus is adjacent to Galway University Hospital, where we have located our Lambe Institute for Translational Research and the Health Research Board (HRB) Clinical Research Facility. The Ryan Institute for Marine Science is one of the largest of its kind in Europe and houses the ERC-funded National Centre for One Health.

Age-related conditions, cancer, chronic diseases, infection, and mental health are the major health challenges facing our society and economy. At the College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences our research aims to address these challenges. We have distinctive thematic research areas that are inter-linked and encompass basic discovery science, clinical/translational investigation and population/ societal health research.

Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) has a strategic focus on clinical and patient-centred research. Key areas of research are Cancer; Population Health and Health Services, Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders, Biomaterials & Regenerative Medicine; Surgical Science and Practice; Vascular Biology.

The RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences is an independent, not-for-profit, health sciences institution focused on education and research with a distinctive international perspective. Originally founded in 1784 to support surgical training and practice, RCSI has grown to include undergraduate and postgraduate Schools and Faculties across the full spectrum of health sciences.

RCSI is Ireland’s largest medical school with almost 4,000 students representing over 60 nationalities and was ranked #201-250 in the 2020 Times Higher World University Rankings. It has a strong international presence with Schools in Malaysia and Dubai and a University in Bahrain. Its ultimate purpose is to work in the service of patients. Thus, RCSI promotes innovative research that leads to better diagnostics, therapeutics and devices, tackles important healthcare delivery issues, informs policy and clinical practice and enhances the quality of education of healthcare professionals.

University College Cork (UCC), the Irish Times University of the Year 2016, was founded in 1845; it provides over 120 degree and professional programs, has over 23,000 students, and is ranked in the top 1.1% of Universities worldwide.

Comprising of six Schools, the College of Medicine and Health provides future medical and healthcare professionals with a world-class, student-centred education. UCC has a strong health and social wellbeing research portfolio and a wealth of interdisciplinary activity that links researchers throughout the university. Led by the APC Microbiome Ireland, the Irish Centre for Fetal and Neonatal Translational Research (INFANT), and other world-leading research units, key areas of focus include the human gut microbiome in health and disease, food and health, public health, perinatal health, gerontology and health services research.

Researchers at UCC also investigate the causes and prevention of obesity, cancer, cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, HIV and suicide, in addition to developing and applying technological solutions to the wide range of health and wellbeing challenges in modern society.

Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) is a member of the Russell Group of leading UK research-intensive universities providing high quality education underpinned by world-class research.

QUB has invested in co-locating researchers to fully integrate basic science with translational and clinical research across several faculties on a single Health Sciences Campus. This has enabled a critical mass of clinical and scientific investigators working in a cross-school, multidisciplinary manner. Our four priority disease areas are respiratory, ophthalmology, diabetic vascular complications and cancer which have been chosen because they represent global and nationally-relevant health challenges and reflect our existing research strengths.

The clinical academic research infrastructure has been significantly enhanced by important investments e.g. the establishment of the Wellcome Trust-Wolfson Northern Ireland Clinical Research Facility (NICRF) in 2013 based at the Belfast City Hospital (adjacent to QUB medical school) and the Wellcome Trust-Wolfson Centre for Experimental Medicine. The clinical academic training programme is fully supported by both the Northern Ireland postgraduate deanery (NIMDTA) and the Belfast HSC Trust.