President's Welcome 2022-2023
Prof Dáire Keogh
Looking back at the past twelve months, one gets a strong sense of DCU entering a new phase of sustainable growth and development. As well as making progress on major building projects and physical infrastructure, the evolution of DCU’s curriculum and research priorities continued at a healthy pace. Meanwhile, on the engagement front, we signed several important new partnerships. And the University’s impact on the wider world was never more apparent.
In November we celebrated the official opening of the Woodlock Hall Library - a state-of-the-art facility for study and research on our All Hallows campus. In May, we reached the halfway point in the construction of Polaris, the University’s flagship STEM facility on our Glasnevin campus. We also marked the completion of DCU’s €3 million upgrade of the tracks and facilities at Morton Stadium, the National Athletics Stadium. The University also received welcome confirmation from the government of more than €40 million to support the delivery of 405 student accommodation beds on campus.
Development is about more than bricks and mortar. This year, we were proud to launch the Care & Connect initiative, a significant step in developing the student experience. Care & Connect is a whole-of-university approach to student wellbeing that brings together a number of services and supports for students under a single umbrella.
It was an exciting year for DCU research, as it continued to push boundaries and make an impact. We took the first steps in establishing DCU’s new Life Sciences Institute (LSI), a collaborative centre of excellence that builds on our recognised strengths in the field of Life Science research. At DCU we measure the success of our research against the impact it makes on the wider world. Indeed, the sky is no longer the limit as our researchers sent advanced materials created in DCU to the moon on board the Japanese-built HAKUTO-R Mission 1 lander. Back on earth, DCU research is finding surprising new uses for waste produced by the brewing industry, and our STEM Teacher Internship Programme (STInt) is inspiring new generations of students to pursue careers in STEM. Projects like these contributed to DCU’s standing in the Top 75 in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2023.
We are proud, too, of our track record of positive engagement with a wide range of stakeholders, from local to international. An agreement with the Louth and Meath Education and Training Board (LMETB) will provide new Further and Higher Education pathways for young people in the region; the National Anti Bullying Centre (ABC) at DCU embarked on a collaboration with Vodafone aimed at improving young people’s online safety, and DCU Business School signed a five-year agreement with KPMG that will allow for new opportunities for students. Meanwhile, a highlight of our international engagement was a live-streamed address by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the Helix, attended by University students from around the country.
I hope you enjoy reading this report. I hope you will agree that it reflects a University on the move, but one that remains focused on its core mission ‘to transform lives and societies’.
Regards,
Prof Dáire Keogh
President, Dublin City University