University College Dublin Report of the President September 2015 - August 2016 Report of the President University College Dublin National University of Ireland, Dublin September 2015 - August 2016 For presentation to the Governing Authority of University College Dublin, National University of Ireland, Dublin at its meeting on 20 December 2016. ISBN: 978-1-910963-08-1 Contents Overview by Professor Andrew J. Deeks, UCD President 2 UCD by Numbers 8 Education 12 Research, Innovation and Impact 22 UCD College of Arts and Humanities 34 UCD College of Business 38 UCD College of Engineering and Architecture 42 UCD College of Health and Agricultural Sciences 46 UCD College of Science 50 UCD College of Social Sciences and Law 54 Finance and Capital Development 58 Global Engagement 64 Health Affairs 68 Human Resources 70 University Awards 72 Appointments 78 Retirements 79 1 Overview by the President UCD Report of the President 2015 - 2016 Visitors to campus for the inaugural UCD Festival in June. In this, my third annual report as President of this great University, I am happy to record that University College Dublin continues to punch well above our weight in our contribution to the flourishing of society nationally and globally. Our biggest challenge remains the funding crisis. The third level sector has seen a 28% cut in exchequer funding over the past 7 years, coupled with an 18% increase in student numbers. In July, the Minister for Education and Skills, Richard Bruton TD welcomed the Report of the Expert Group on Future Funding for Higher Education. Chaired by Peter Cassells, it was established to examine future funding requirements for higher education and to present options for developing a sustainable long term funding strategy for the sector. The report concluded that current funding arrangements Strategy 2015-2020 are not sufficient and it calls for the articulation and Professor We are almost a full year into the operation of Strategy implementation of a clear funding strategy for the sector Andrew J. Deeks 2015-2020. Workstreams are underway around the President that will deliver a robust and steady base of funding to University in response to the strategic planning process sustain the system into the future. It details a number and outcomes continue to shape our decision-making of funding options for achieving this. as we work towards achieving our stated objectives. We have done extraordinarily well to maintain performance University Management Team despite a national funding system that is broken, but the cumulative effect of the lack of investment has During the year we announced the appointment of now reached a tipping point. I will continue to work Professor Dolores O’Riordan as Vice-President for Global with colleagues across the third level sector to push for Engagement. She has responsibility for leading on Major Strategic Initiative 4 - Engaging Globally. Professor political support and adequate investment in the sector. O’Riordan takes this position on a part-time basis and continues her role as Director of the UCD Institute of Despite a disappointing outcome in some international Food & Health. rankings, we continue to make progress in terms of citations per faculty and other quantitative measures. In November 2015, Tristan Aitken joined us as Director We can and do compete with the best in the world when of Human Resources from Diageo. The Principal of the we have adequate funding in place. College of Arts & Humanities, Professor Maeve Conrick, 2 UCD Report of the President 2015 - 2016 completed her term at the end of August 2016. I would like to thank Research, Innovation and Impact Maeve for her dedication and service during her tenure. In September Professor Orla Feely presents her review of research, innovation and 2016, we welcomed her replacement, Professor Sarah Prescott, who impact over the past year. A year in which UCD researchers continue joined us from Aberystwyth University. to demonstrate their calibre registering externally funded contracts to the value of €93.7 million. Global UCD UCD retains its strong commitment to excellent research across all disciplines Globalisation is one of UCD’s key strategic initiatives. Following Professor and at all scales. We value deep fundamental investigations as well as O’Riordan’s appointment, we launched UCD’s Global Strategy, with research that feeds near-term applications, and understand the mutually five key objectives: reinforcing links between them. We engage with industry, with social and 1. Develop a distinctive global culture which will encompass all cultural organisations, with government and with other partners in identifying aspects of University life and solving problems where our expertise can add value. We work globally, collaborating in research with 2,775 institutions in 146 countries. 2. Extend and develop strategic relationships to enhance our global engagement UCD is also a leader in innovation and entrepreneurship. We have fifty 3. Grow our global reputation for excellence in education, companies on campus, between NovaUCD, the University’s Centre for New research, innovation and impact Ventures and Entrepreneurs, and NexusUCD, the Industry Partnership Centre. 4. Increase the global impact of our scholarship, research, innovation The past year saw the publication of Innovation 2020: Excellence, Talent, 5. Further develop an enabling environment for UCD’s global activities Impact, Ireland’s national strategy for research and development, science and technology. Key to the strategy is a commitment to increase public This ambitious strategy will further enhance our international culture, and private investment in research, with a target of 2.5% of GNP by grow our global reputation and increase the impact of our excellence 2020. Increased investment is to be targeted at achieving substantial in scholarship, research and innovation on key global issues. Faculty increases in research masters and PhD enrolments, a successor to the and staff around the University continue to be actively engaged in Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions. This will provide implementation of each of these objectives. investment in new facilities and equipment, a new programme for support of frontier research, expanded participation in international Education organisations, and other initiatives. We share the ambition articulated by the national strategy, and look forward to working with government The heart of UCD is our students. Their education is our mission. Through and other partners to deliver on it. our teaching and learning approach we aim to open their minds to new ideas, to deeper thinking, to challenging convention. Moreover, we hope Decade of Centenaries - Commemorating 1916 to inspire them to make their own mark on society and to become truly global citizens. They are the reason staff and faculty work together to We are now in the middle of the Decade of Centenaries which spans the develop a community that recognises excellence, contribution and effort. period from 1912 and the introduction of the third Home Rule Bill, follows the First World War (1914-1918), the Easter Rising (1916) and will continue This year we launched and have completed the first stage of a with the War of Independence (1919-1921) and the Civil War (1922-1923). comprehensive curriculum review and enhancement project that has examined over 550 programmes at undergraduate and taught graduate While the memory of these events in Ireland is inevitably local, they were, level. We have reflected on 10 years of the modular structures and are influenced by what was going on elsewhere in the world and they had an planning the changes required to enhance and build on our unique impact on politics in many other countries. offering. Deputy President and Registrar, Professor Mark Rogers outlines this and other initiatives in his report. We continue to be the University of First Choice for almost 9,000 students and we now welcome over 7,000 international students, adding enormously to the diversity of campus life. We continue to strive to diversify the student population to reflect general society. We like to think that providing access to education is in UCD’s DNA and actively seek to widen participation among non-traditional groups and communities. Colour on campus for the inaugural UCD Festival in June. 3 UCD Report of the President 2015 - 2016 Pictured at the After Empire Leaders’ Discussion student seminar are (l-r) Salman Khurshid, former Minister for Laws and Minister of External Affairs for India; HE Thabo Mbeki, former President of South Africa; and HE Benjamin Mkapa, former President of Tanzania. scholarship and enable UCD to continue to value the ethos of justice and With the depth of scholarship here in UCD particularly across disciplines in equality, alongside a sense of cultural identity that shapes our thinking the humanities and the social sciences, we took the decision to undertake and prompts our debate. a comprehensive programme contextualising this period of history. As a major holder of archives of national and international significance As part of this programme, Professor Orla Feely chaired a commemorations relating to the period 1912 to 1923, our vision for the commemorations was committee and initiated a seed funding round to encourage participation to inform national debate and understanding with an objective scholarly from colleagues around the University, to plumb the depths of their voice, in a manner that brings education and new perspectives to the