UCD seeks to become ‘top 10 university’ for global engagement

UCD plans to review its curriculum to give a greater focus to internships and deepen collaborations with third-level institutions overseas as part of a new five-year strategy.

The plan for 2015-2020, published today, is aimed at positioning UCD “within the top ten universities in the world in terms of global engagement”.

It includes plans for the setting up of “global centres” in Asia and the US that will support student and faculty exchanges, collaborative research, alumni networks and partnerships with industry and government in each region.

Launching the strategy, Minister for Education and Skills Jan O’Sullivan said: “Ireland’s economic recovery and re-emergence is dependent on our ability to engage globally, and UCD’s strategy will not only provide opportunities for students to gain valuable international cultural and educational experience but for a strong launching pad for many Irish who wish to reach out to the wider world.”

On her recent visit to China, the Minister announced details of the first UCD global centre to open in Beijing. UCD has strong ties with a number of Chinese universities, including Peking, Renmin and Fudan.

Partner universities

UCD president Prof Andrew Deeks said 700 UCD students were already studying at 400 partner universities abroad each year.

“This is almost twice the national rate,” he said. “Such experience is an essential element to building skills that are crucial to Irish graduates as they compete in an increasingly global environment, but I believe we need to significantly expand our global engagement.”

The strategy sets out 10 key objectives, including increasing the quality and impact of its scholarship; conducting strong interdisciplinary research “in important areas of national and global need”; and overcoming financial and human resource management and other constraints.

UCD also plans to review its curriculum “in order to ensure it prepares the next generation of graduates to be able to contribute to society by providing them with the skills they need to contribute to economic, social and physical wellbeing”.

It says this curriculum review could significantly reduce the number of entry routes to both undergraduate and graduate programmes, building on its Horizons structure, which allows students to take modules from a range of courses.

The strategy will see the development of specific strategic partnerships with major national and international organisations and companies, with a focus on increased internship opportunities.

Welcoming the latter, Ms O’Sullivan said “internships provide complementary experience to academic study, which enhances graduates’ career starts”.

Currently, UCD facilitates about 500 internships at undergraduate level, and 300 at postgraduate.

While UCD had a disappointing slump in the latest Times Higher Education ranking, falling out of the world’s top 200 universities, it remains well placed in other league tables. In the QS rankings, it is in the top 100 in seven out of 30 subjects, and is number one in the world in Agricultural Science under a Thomson Reuters index.

Prof Deeks said: “We will identify our core disciplines through internal discussion and external comparison in order to consolidate and strengthen them, with the expectation that our core disciplines will be ranked in the top 100 by 2020.”

The strategy also includes plans to expand campus accommodation from 2,700 to 5,000, and to strengthen corporate governance. It will be underpinned by a major fundraising campaign to begin early next year.