University College Cork

University College Cork

Organisation type: 
University
Country: 
Ireland
Short name: 
UCC
Description: 

Research Overview

University College Cork (UCC) is an internationally competitive, research-led University that plays a key role in the development of Ireland’s knowledge-based economy. Our research strategy is focused on creating major centres of excellence for world-class research and is closely aligned with key Government policies including the Strategy for Science Technology and Innovation (SSTI), Building Ireland’s Smart Economy and the Report of the Innovation Taskforce.

UCC is one of the best-funded research universities in Ireland — despite adverse economic conditions, research investment reached almost €80 million in 2011/2012, an increase of €1.2 million on the previous year. Non-exchequer funding accounted for 25% of research income, up from 17% in 2009/2010. In 2011/2012, annual research expenditure from the European Commission/FP7 sources reached €10.6 million, a 40% increase since 2008/2009. The 2011/2012 income from new awards secured from the European Commission was €13.1million, a 170% increase since 2008/2009. This success in winning EU grants is also reflected in UCC’s position as the most successful university in Ireland in terms of FP7 success rates (23.7%). UCC researchers now collaborate with almost 700 of the world’s top universities across 110 countries and are ideally placed to leverage these collaborations for success in future exchequer and non-exchequer funding programmes.

In addition to the implementation of the University’s Strategy for Research against key performance indicators, UCC was the first institution in Ireland to undertake a comprehensive and focused review of its research status. A comprehensive Report detailing the outcomes of this exercise, including recommendations that will inform future strategy, was published in May 2010. The review confirmed that the University has achieved distinction in its research output as well as considerable success in the transfer of research to the market place, with many areas performing at the highest international level.

UCC research has significant impact — in the 2013 QS World University Rankings, UCC increased its 'Citations per Faculty' ranking by 27 places, relative to 2012.

UCC also continued its commitment to the Innovation Agenda through 2010. Outputs included over 20 new patent filings, over 15 licenses of UCC and Tyndall intellectual property were signed with commercial and industry partners, and 3 new start-ups were launched out of the University. This high level of commercial output is indicative of a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship that is developing within the University and builds on the success of previous years in this space.