School of Agriculture & Food Science UCD College of Agriculture, Food Science & Veterinary Medicine University College Dublin
Organisation type:
University
Country:
Ireland
Short name:
School of Agriculture & Food Science UCD
Description:
UCD is the only university in Ireland with a dedicated School of Agriculture and Food Science. The School is the first destination of choice for students in Ireland interested in developing their careers in the agri-food sector and no other agriculture or food programme in Ireland can offer such a broad spectrum of integrated teaching and research within a single institution.
Research & Innovation
The mission of the School of Agriculture and Food Science is to develop and apply science and engineering scholarship to applications across the agri-food disciplines for the benefit of society through excellence in education, research and innovation.
Our research contributes to an improvement in the sustainability of agriculture and the environment, the health and welfare of animals and humans, the quality and security of food and consumer well being. Furthermore, it encompasses the basic discovery of biological mechanisms, the application of knowledge to problem solving, both on farm and in downstream processing, and the translation of scientific discoveries.
The School has a broad research agenda, which accounts for approximately 25% of externally funded research income to UCD and a cohort of over 50 academics, a similar number of postdoctoral researchers and ca. 200 PhD and 65 Masters Students which are a major intellectual resource, with significant research outputs in terms of peer-reviewed publications and citations.
Our research ethos is to foster curiosity-based and hypothesis-driven research to best international standards in areas of key strategic relevance to Ireland while encouraging multidisciplinary collaboration, both within and beyond the school where warranted.
Research Themes
Research activities within the School are driven by UCD’s Research Strategy which focuses on three key research themes:
Earth Sciences, Energy and the Environment
Health and Healthcare Delivery
Global Ireland
Research Clusters
The School is home to the Reproductive Biology Research Cluster, a major nationally funded research programme from SFI under its Strategic Research Cluster initiative. Primary Investigators from the School are key participants in the UCD Conway Institute and the UCD Institute of Food and Health. These institutes provide a key mechanism for creating a critical mass in targeted research areas of cell and system biology, translational medicine, and food, nutrition and health.
Innovation
In order to meet the goals of the Irish Governments “Smart Economy” initiative and make a meaningful contribution to the UCD-Trinity Innovation Alliance, the School recognises the importance of assisting staff and students to bridge the gap between research and the commercial exploitation of research outputs.
It is in this regard that the School has established a School Innovation Platform (SIP), which addresses the key first steps which need to be taken along the innovation trail. SIP is a structured programme that provides individual researchers with a detailed understanding of the processes required to take an output of their research and turn it into an exploitable product or service suitable for further development and investment. SIP may also provide support (financial and operational) for bringing research outputs to the market place. This initiative is very much in keeping with UCD’s ambition to link education, research and innovation as outlined in the most recent iteration of its strategic plan.
Researchers from within School have successfully commercialised the products of their research and established spinout companies to bring these new products and services to market.
School of Agriculture & Food Science UCD
College of Agriculture, Food Science & Veterinary Medicine
University College Dublin
UCD is the only university in Ireland with a dedicated School of Agriculture and Food Science. The School is the first destination of choice for students in Ireland interested in developing their careers in the agri-food sector and no other agriculture or food programme in Ireland can offer such a broad spectrum of integrated teaching and research within a single institution.
Research & Innovation
The mission of the School of Agriculture and Food Science is to develop and apply science and engineering scholarship to applications across the agri-food disciplines for the benefit of society through excellence in education, research and innovation.
Our research contributes to an improvement in the sustainability of agriculture and the environment, the health and welfare of animals and humans, the quality and security of food and consumer well being. Furthermore, it encompasses the basic discovery of biological mechanisms, the application of knowledge to problem solving, both on farm and in downstream processing, and the translation of scientific discoveries.
The School has a broad research agenda, which accounts for approximately 25% of externally funded research income to UCD and a cohort of over 50 academics, a similar number of postdoctoral researchers and ca. 200 PhD and 65 Masters Students which are a major intellectual resource, with significant research outputs in terms of peer-reviewed publications and citations.
Our research ethos is to foster curiosity-based and hypothesis-driven research to best international standards in areas of key strategic relevance to Ireland while encouraging multidisciplinary collaboration, both within and beyond the school where warranted.
Research Themes
Research activities within the School are driven by UCD’s Research Strategy which focuses on three key research themes:
Earth Sciences, Energy and the Environment
Health and Healthcare Delivery
Global Ireland
Research Clusters
The School is home to the Reproductive Biology Research Cluster, a major nationally funded research programme from SFI under its Strategic Research Cluster initiative. Primary Investigators from the School are key participants in the UCD Conway Institute and the UCD Institute of Food and Health. These institutes provide a key mechanism for creating a critical mass in targeted research areas of cell and system biology, translational medicine, and food, nutrition and health.
Innovation
In order to meet the goals of the Irish Governments “Smart Economy” initiative and make a meaningful contribution to the UCD-Trinity Innovation Alliance, the School recognises the importance of assisting staff and students to bridge the gap between research and the commercial exploitation of research outputs.
It is in this regard that the School has established a School Innovation Platform (SIP), which addresses the key first steps which need to be taken along the innovation trail. SIP is a structured programme that provides individual researchers with a detailed understanding of the processes required to take an output of their research and turn it into an exploitable product or service suitable for further development and investment. SIP may also provide support (financial and operational) for bringing research outputs to the market place. This initiative is very much in keeping with UCD’s ambition to link education, research and innovation as outlined in the most recent iteration of its strategic plan.
Researchers from within School have successfully commercialised the products of their research and established spinout companies to bring these new products and services to market.