SHARED VISION, SHAPED BY VALUES Strategy 2020-2025 I 19,070 PEOPLE students GLOBAL 8,075 NUI Galway €70 million indexed direct publications €278 Top 2% Green 2,777 3,308 million research of universities Flag at a Glance staff international annual spend income 2014-18: REPUTATION in the world Award students (17%) and 483 Over international SUSTAINABILITY 110,000 staff (17%) from alumni 92,000 worldwide 122 countries citations 50 years encouraging Ranked 1,394 lifelong learning 259 20 e-car students through the in the QS World charging on work Centre for Adult & INNOVATION RESEARCH 249 new University points across placement Learning and Research technologies Rankings campus Professional collaborations €268 million Development with 3,267 invested €65 million international in new buildings in Horizon institutions in on campus 2020 funding 114 countries since 2010 from EU 20 years & INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT breaking down barriers 48 to education patents Top 300 through the 59,7% in the 36.3% 98% Access Centre research Times Higher reduction of students papers Education in energy in employment co-authored New student World University consumption or further study internationally accommodation Rankings since 2006 for 429 University students, Most of Sanctuary with an 11 biodiverse designation in 5 of the spin-out campus 3,165 additional 674 World’s Most 2019 by 2022 companies, in Ireland students Highly Cited supporting volunteering Researchers, and creating in the according to community Clarivate 256 Our university since 2017 Analytics jobs in Ireland has been inspiring 275 NUI Galway World-leading 2019 SEAI minds since Athena SWAN 1845. students on in 18 Green Energy Bronze Erasmus subjects, Team of Award programmes ranked by QS the Year The greatest of these values is respect. Respect for people, our and in our actions, we are committed to being an exemplar of purpose, our place and our planet. Respect and kindness for each climate action, for and with our sector and other organisations in other. Respect for both teaching and research as central to our our region. Acutely aware of our place in the world at this time and mission. Respect for the evidence and for the literature. Respect for in this place, we are committed to the sustainability of our climate knowledge and for its purpose in the world. Respect for equality, and determined to make a difference. We also cherish our role as a Introduction for inclusion and for diversity in all its forms. We strive to empower university, as an educational institution, sustaining our communities from the President our people to be their best selves. This is full of possibilities, offering and the next generation of citizens and of knowledge, for our different perspectives and different and sometimes discordant students and for our society. voices in the face of the problems and opportunities of our world. On the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, between land, river and sea, Our value of excellence is a corollary of respect. We give respect between the Burren and Connemara – idir Ghaeltacht agus to others by our high standards in research, teaching, support and Ghalltacht – looking outwards towards Europe and North America, In his poem An tEarrach Thiar (Springtime engagement, which we uphold in our everyday. With excellence, NUI Galway is an in-between place. In in-between places new in the West), evoking his people and place, we serve our mission for our students and for society. Anything less departures are often found. Máirtín Ó Direáin writes than excellence sells them short. We have a regional remit and an international ambition and we see these as also hand-in-hand: we As a university community, we have made substantive progress serve our region, our students and our society best through high in achieving the objectives set out in our previous strategic plan standards. We also recognise that excellence is a journey and not a “Vision 2020”. Thanks to our collective efforts, we have achieved Currach lán éisc destination and, as a learning institution, we relish the opportunity important improvements in, for example, research quality, funding Ag teacht chun cladaigh to seek new solutions and better ways. and impact; student recruitment, diversity and satisfaction; Ar órmhuir mhall and in gender equality. This is work as yet unfinished … and the I ndeireadh lae; We present in this strategy our purpose, evoking also our sense of In doing so, we are open to the world. We recognise that we responsibility of us all. San Earrach Thiar people and place. cannot achieve our ambitions alone. We are a university with no gates. When darkness comes, we don’t close. Openness means With our people, from this place and for this place, we set out here In developing our strategy for the next five years, we started with we welcome friends and strangers in. It also means we go out, our purpose. This is our harvest for our students and our society. why, reaffirming our public role as a university in our region and seeking new and deeper research co-operation, new ideas, new Together we are a meitheal to bring it in. for our world. The process that underpins our strategy is vital to partnerships, new communities, and new ways of engaging. Tá currach lán éisc anseo ag teacht chun cladaigh. A currach full of fish its outcome and to the culture and the sense of community and We stand with the dispossessed, those on the periphery, in San Earrach Thiar. Coming to shore belonging that will make it real. dialogue with the powerful and the powerless. This is a strength On a slow, gold sea of disposition that replenishes and sustains us and our varied When day is done: As a university community, we are distinctively shaped by our values communities. Springtime in the West as a powerful and profound root-source of our behaviours – values that emerged through broad and inclusive consultation with our Our value of sustainability comes most strongly from our students, students, staff and other stakeholders. Those values shape the Translation by Frank Sewell the generation that faces climate change most vividly. Our students Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh research that drives us, the teaching we share, the support we give demand that we leave the world in a better place than they found it, NUI Galway President and our engagement in the world and for the world. a responsibility of us all. In our research, teaching and engagement, 2 3 Why we are Our Mission NUI Galway is for the public good. NUI Galway belongs to the people. We are here for our students, our society and our planet. We are distinctive for our transformative and impactful teaching, research and innovation, our inclusive student experience, and our passion for culture and creativity. By engaging in our region, nationally and across the world, we deliver sustainable societal change. NUI Galway is a university NUI Galway is globally for our time. distinctive and research-driven. We are dedicated to nurturing global We are a wellspring of creative energy citizens and addressing key questions and believe in the transformative power facing the world. We recognise how critical of knowledge. Like all great discoverers this moment is for our planet, and our and adventurers, we look with curiosity students demand that we respond to the over the horizon. We build on the unique challenges through our research, teaching strengths of our people, purpose and place and actions. We invest in our students and for the benefit of individual, societal and research community, confident that they environmental wellbeing. will be the critical thinkers, entrepreneurs, SHARED VISION, social activists, public servants and SHAPED BY VALUES innovators of the future. 4 5 Where we are going Our Vision NUI Galway will be a driver We will create a distinctively We will harness our distinctive of transformational change values-based culture, which has strengths and creative energy for our people, our region excellence, ambition and the to deliver significant and and our world. wellbeing of our communities sustainable societal impact. at its core. We will think globally by inspiring, Our University is at the heart of a celebrating and advancing the critical Our vision will be guided by our core distinctive city and region, renowned role that our University has in delivering values of respect in our actions, for its culture, creativity, technology and sustainable development. And we will excellence in our work, openness in innovation. Drawing on these distinctive act locally by empowering our people, our outlook and sustainability in our strengths will set us apart internationally. investing in our purpose and engaging with approach. Distinguished by kindness and We will stimulate the creative potential the distinctive needs of our region. a commitment to equality, this culture will of our students, staff, alumni and wider empower our people to thrive. community to advance our teaching, research, innovation and engagement in and for the world. 6 7 NUI Galway has been inspiring minds since 1845 as a research-led university. Ours is one of the oldest and largest universities in Ireland. Beginning with just 68 students, our campus community now numbers over 21,000 students and staff, and our 110,000 alumni are located in over 100 countries across the world. From humble beginnings, today we are counted among the Top 300 universities in the world according to the most prestigious rankings1, positioning us in the top 2% globally. NUI Galway is an international university with global ambition, but with deep roots in our region and nationally. Our location on the Ours is a global perspective and our University contributes greatly very edge of Europe gives us a unique perspective.