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Dublin City University

Dublin City University (DCU) (Ollscoil Chathair Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a university situated between Glasnevin, Ballymun and Whitehall on the Northside of Dublin in Ireland. Created as the National Institute for Higher Education, Dublin in 1975, it enrolled its first students in 1980 and was elevated to university status (along with the University of Limerick) in 1989 by statute.

The university currently has around 6,000 undergraduate students, over 600 research postgraduates and over 1,800 taught postgraduate students. In addition the university has around 1,100 distance education (Oscail ) students.

There are currently (2006) 440 academic staff. Notable members of the academic staff include former Taoiseach John Bruton and the "thinking" Guru Edward De Bono. Bruton accepted a position as Adjunct Faculty Member in the School of Law and Government in early 2004 and De Bono accepted an adjunct Professorship in the university in mid 2005.

The founding president of the institution was Dr Danny O'Hare, who retired in 1999. After a period under an acting president (Professor Albert Pratt), he was succeeded by the current president, Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski.

History

The institution was created in 1975, on an ad-hoc basis, and on June 18 that year Dr Danny O'Hare was made acting director of the institution, and a day later the first governing body met. It was intended at this stage that the institution become the unified structure under which the colleges of what later became Dublin Institute of Technology would unite, but by 1978 it became apparent that this would not be the case and instead an independent institution developed.

In 1979, the institution was located on an 85 acre (344,000 m²) site 3 miles (5 km) from the city centre, just north of Albert College Park; the Albert College Building is the only significant remaining building from before this period. The Henry Grattan building was the first new building completed in 1981 along with the adjoining restaurant, and many buildings have been added since, to form a modern university campus.

The total area of the main campus is approximately 50 acres (202,000 m²) and is bordered by Collins Avenue, Albert College Park, Ballymun Road, Hillside Farm and St. Aidan's School. There are another 35 acres (142,000 m²) at St. Clare's Sports Grounds on the west side of Ballymun Road. This part of the campus also includes the Sports Pavilion. A further 10 acres (40,000 m²) (including Elmhurst House) situated along Griffith Avenue have been acquired recently. Entrances to the main campus are from Ballymun Road, to the west, and Collins Avenue, to the north.

The early focus of the institution was, in particular, on science and technology, although it has also had, and has, a large business school. It has recently developed a presence also in the performing arts and in the humanities. DCU is also famous for its work placement or INTRA (INtegrated TRAining) programme, which was the first such programme in Ireland.

There was a plan in 2002 to base the headquarters of the Irish Academy for the Performing Arts in DCU, this plan was later scrapped.

Electronic Engineering and Computer Applications

Electronic Engineering and Computer Applications were the first two degree courses offered by the college in 1980. The Computer Applications course in DCU is more in demand than any other computer degree in Ireland, it has three times more first preferences through the Central Applications Office system than the next most sought after computer course in Ireland, Computer Science in Trinity College, Dublin. Although this could be attributed to the fact that it does not require higher level maths to enter the course unlike Computer Science in Trinity College, Dublin. With 300 places per year, it also has the largest student intake of any computer science degree in Ireland (compared to 64 places per year in the computer science degree in TCD or 50 places per year in the computer science degree in UCD).

Note: Dublin City University uses the term "computer applications" in a way some consider to be very liberal. Computer Applications is normally a subset of computer science, but the subjects covered in the Computer Applications course DCU effectively make it a computer science course with a more practical, workplace-ready, slant, including an INTRA placement. DCU can afford to include the practical side of computer science because its courses are semesterized effectively allowing the college to cram more subject modules into a smaller time period.

About

DCU has extensive teaching and research facilities, including television and sound studios, computer laboratories and networking facilities, language and interpreting laboratories, a video-conferencing suite, and print and graphical laboratories. These are in addition to modern research and teaching laboratories in the areas of physics, chemistry, biology and engineering.

The university has a particularly strong research record, is sometimes described as a research-led university, and has regularly been recorded as bringing in more research income per members of faculty - or indeed as a percentage of total income - than any other university in Ireland. Its research team working on sensors at the National Centre for Sensor Research is considered one of the best in the world.

Facilities

There is an InterFaith Centre located on the campus, a crèche , a medical centre , a VHI Swiftcare Clinic , a Counselling Service , Dublin City University Language Services , and a Disability Service .

Other social facilities include The Venue (Student Arts Theatre, aka omega[Ω], capacity:1000), a Ticketmaster outlet, a "Digital Café" , club and society meeting and seminar rooms, two Starbucks, one at the main restaurant (the first in the Republic of Ireland) and one in the Sports Building, three pool rooms and a "Glass Room" for band practice.

Retail facilities include six restaurants and two bars, a Spar shop, pharmacy , Barber, Student's Union Shop, Allied Irish Bank branch, Xerox reprographic centre , Hodges Figgis bookshop, a second-hand bookshop and a beauty salon in the sports centre.

Culture and arts

The Centre for Talented Youth and The Helix a purpose built "performance space", which includes Ireland's largest concert hall, the Mahony Hall, are both part of the university.

DCU also has a campus radio station called DCUFM .

An Arts Committee was established in 1983 and has since acquired more than 300 works of art, including paintings, tapestries and sculptures, for the university. The Collection includes works by artists such as Louis le Brocquy, Cecil King, Patrick Scott, Michael Warren, Stephen Lawlor, Brian Bourke, Victor Sloan, Barrie Cooke and William Crozier, to name but a few.

Entrepreneurship

Invent, the commercialisation gateway of DCU, is home to the Entrepreneurs' Organisation. It also hosts the Irish arm of the US-based National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), which helps young people from less well-off backgrounds to build skills and unlock creativity.

Registration and application

Most undergraduates enter DCU via the Central Applications Office process. DCU allows students to "de-register" and switch courses, this causes an artificially high non-completion rate (among the highest for the university sector), as the movement of these students (mainly first year undergraduates) into other courses within the university is not taken into account by university league tables.

The university recently completed an agreement with the Postgraduate Applications Centre in Galway.

Corporate identity

The universities current corporate identity dates from 2001 when the then new President decided to rebrand as he considered the previous "three castles" logo out of date and not representative of the university's vision as a modern and networked research university.

Rankings

The university was named Irish University of the Year 2004-2005 by the Sunday Times, UK. It was also ranked No 2 in the league table of Irish universities in the same newspaper that year, and 4th in the two subsequent league tables.

The university is one of three establishments of higher education in the Republic of Ireland which are ranked amongst the top 300 universities worldwide by the Times Higher Education Supplement.

The university also has the highest number of students applying per places available of any university in Ireland.

Organisation

Academic

The academic organisation of the university is arranged into faculties and schools, and a number of independent colleges are also associated with the university. It has recently undergone some reorganisation on the faculty level, with the School of Education Studies being incorporated into the School of Humanities and Social Science, and the School of Computing being incorporated into the engineering faculty. There are currently four faculties.

The university hosts "Oscail, the National Distance Education Centre, and all professional Actuarial exams in the Republic of Ireland. It also has a Prometric Test Centre, is the test centre for Ireland's Graduate Management Admission Test, and houses on-campus the country's first purpose-built university nursing school. The University established was the first University in Ireland to establish a European Master of Business Informatics course.

The university started its first link with an external college in 1993, with an agreement with St Patrick's in nearby Drumcondra. Since then it has continued to confer degrees at several colleges, primarily in the north Dublin area. There are currently six linked institutions:

Governance

In accordance with legislation, the University is directed by a policy-making Governing Body , whose functions are outlined in the National Institute for Higher Education, Dublin, Act, 1980 , amended in the Dublin City University Act, 1989 which raised the institution's status to that of a university and provided for related matters. There are several other important acts concerning the college include the Universities Act, 1997 , which allows the creation of University Statutes .

The university is headed, titularly, by the Chancellor. The current Chancellor of Dublin City University is Ireland's former EU Commissioner and Attorney General, David Byrne. He was preceded by the Hon Ms Justice Mella Carroll who in turn was preceded by Dr. Tom Hardiman.

Academic Governance

Academic Council and its Standing Committee oversee the teaching and research work of the university, and there are Faculty and other administrative structures below that.

Executive Management

The President, currently Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski, is the "chief officer" of the university, with a role sometimes compared to that of a chief executive officer.

Other elements of management include Deans, Heads of School and Chairs of Programme Boards.

Copyright Act

The Copyright Act, 1963 , as amended by the act of 1989, states that every university in the Republic of Ireland is entitled to one copy of every publication published within the state.

DCU Educational Trust

The University is supported by a charitable Trust, named the "DCU Educational Trust.

Student activities

Clubs and societies

There are a broad variety of clubs and societies, representing a wide range of interests such as culture, computer games and sport - as well as academic interests:

DCU Students website
Clubs & Societies Registration List
DCU Societies List
Sports Clubs Committee Website
Redbrick Clubs List (Redbrick is DCU's Networking Society.)
Redbrick Societies List

Student publications

There are and have been several publications by and for students including:

Campus - Official DCUSU Magazine.
An Tarbh (defunct) – DCU student union weekly news and views magazine.
DCU TIMES - University staff and alumni magazine
Flashback - The semesterly review magazine for DCU, St. Patrick's and Mater Dei
The College View – Student Newspaper
The Look - College View supplement that is printed in association with Style Soc

Facilities

Accommodation

In Ireland, on-campus accommodation in the newer universities is a relatively new innovation. Since the mid 1990s, all Irish universities have built up a stock of modern campus accommodation, although on-campus living is still the minority choice for students. Most accommodation is of apartment rather than halls of residence type and is managed by a University company, DCU Campus Residences .

The university has built several modern apartment and residences. Larkfield Apartments have 127 units, each with two study bedrooms and a shared living, kitchen and dining area within each unit. The Postgraduate Residences have 37 apartments, each with two, three or four en-suite bedrooms. The Hampstead Apartments consist of 57 units, each with three or five en-suite bedrooms and a shared living, kitchen and dining area. The College Park Apartments consist of 450 units, each with four or five en-suite bedrooms and a shared living, kitchen and dining area.

Sport

Sports facilities on the campus include a sports complex and fitness centre which incorporates: an aerobics studio, spinning studio, quiet studio, four sports halls, two squash courts, a glass-backed handball/racquetball court, a gallery that accommodates table tennis and a body conditioning arena, a floodlit astroturf hockey pitch and seven grass pitches for a variety of sports, eight enclosed five-a-side third generation rubbercrumb AstroTurf soccer pitches, a rock climbing hall, a four-lane 75 metre indoor sprint track and a fully equipped gym outfitted with cardiovascular machines, free weights and resistance machines. Specialist sports trainers are always on hand in the Sports Complex to advise on fitness regimes. In 2005, the sports complex offered 37 classes per week, covering everything from aerobics to weight training. The sports complex also includes a twenty-five metre, five-lane, deck level swimming pool with tepidarium, footbaths, spa pool, steam room, wellness spa, ice fountain, laconium, multi-jet pulse showers, scented multi-jet super shower and sauna. It opened in January 2005 and has Ireland's largest elite sports performance gym.

The main sports hall can be divided into three full size volleyball, badminton or basketball courts. The facilities at St. Clare's Sports Ground include the Sports Pavilion, two GAA pitches, two soccer pitches, one rugby pitch and one floodlit astroturf pitch for hockey or soccer.

There are ten tennis courts at the National Tennis Training Centre in Albert College Park (four indoor acrylic courts, three outdoor hardcourts and three outdoor clay courts) and a further five tennis courts are situated at Glasnevin Lawn Tennis Club adjacent to St. Clare's Sports Grounds. There is also a GAA pitch, a grass athletic track and four or six soccer pitches (depending on configuration) in the Albert College Park.

The DCU Sports Academy was launched in November 2006. Membership of the Sports Academy will entitle those selected to special scholarships and supports worth up to €10,000 each including on-campus accommodation, financial support towards college books and tuition fees, personal tuition, access to key national and International competitions, physiotherapy and massage, sports nutrition advice and high performance education talks and workshops.

Library

DCU has always had a dedicated library and as a deposit library, it is entitled legally to a copy of every book published in the Republic of Ireland.

The O'Reilly Foundation made a substantial contribution towards the new library building, The John and Aileen O`Reilly Library . The building was designed by the Scott, Tallon, Walker architecture firm.

Library users can avail of photocopying, printing and scanning facilities, access newspapers and journals , read microfilms, watch videos and DVDs and access the internet. Dedicated laptop network points and wireless network access are available on three floors of the library.

DCU library is part of the IReL (Irish Research E-Library) consortium, allowing staff and students full access to over 100 academic databases.

DCU launched a repository and a publishing medium for university teaching, learning and research materials, the Institutional Repository in 2006.

Other

There are three licensed premises on the campus, also selling a wide selection of food; the "new bar" (aka beta [β]), The Helix and Spar (off-license). However, in early 2007 Spar stopped selling any alcoholic products indefinitely, and it remains to be seen whether or not they will renew their licence in the future. Prior to this there were four licenced premises, but this itself followed a long period with only one licenced location, and up until 1992, there were no such premises on campus at all.

There are several restaurants and cafes; the Main Restaurant and the first Starbucks (in Ireland) are located in the Pavilion building. Zero-1 is located in the basement of the O`Reilly Library. The Invent Centre, The Helix, Nursing School and Business School each have their own restaurants. The 1838 Club is a restaurant for academic staff and postgraduate research students, it is located in the Albert College Building. There is a second Starbucks located in the Sports Complex, the third in Ireland after Microsoft Ireland. There is also a digital cafe above the main restaurant .

DCU has recently acquired additional lands adjacent to its main campus, which will be developed to add on to the University's sports facilities.

DCU also has its own Radio station located in the Hub. DCU FM has not been active for over 2 years, however it is expected to be up and broadcasting by September 2008. It will be broadcasting online from March 2008.

DCU has launched an affinity credit card scheme to raise funds for the University, as well as the Annual Fund, which includes recognition for regular donors.

It is planned that the university will have ‘stop’ on the ‘Metro North’ line which is to be completed by 2012.

DCU is also soon to become the first university in Ireland to produce a feature length film. The film, named Six Semesters, was funded by the university and made entirely by its students.

Research

List of Dublin City University faculties, schools, research centres and laboratories
DCU Business & Innovation
Learning Innovation Unit
Office of the Vice-President for research
Research and Engineering Centre

A list of most current campus companies can be retrieved from the Invent Innovation and Enterprise Centre website.

Strategy

In 2001 DCU adopted what was described as a highly innovative strategic plan, 'Leading Change'. For a university strategy, it was a very short document, but it set out a number of major developments and innovations. Chief amongst these was the adoption of academic strategic 'Themes', which were to govern the development of the university. Each Theme was to have a 'Theme Leader'. The academic Themes are interdisciplinary, and focus on areas in which DCU has growing leadership. This strategic framework was extended in the 2005 strategic plan, 'Leadership through Foresight', in which DCU also committed itself to eight key clusters of actions to develop its leading role in its chosen priority areas. Following an announcement by the HEA in August 2007, DCU will receive over €23m in research funding under Phase 2 of PRTLI Cycle 4.

Following an announcement by the Science Foundation Ireland in November 2007, DCU will receive over €16.8m in research funding for localisation research for a €30.4m "Next Generation Localisation" project headed by Prof. Josef Van Genabith (with international and domestic industry partners contributing the remaining €13.6m).

Collaboration and academic associations

Under its strategic plan, 'Leadership through Foresight' (2005), DCU is committed to collaboration with national and international organisations and universities on technology and research projects. It has a strong record of strategic collaboration, and most of its major research projects are built on partnerships with other universities and colleges, and also with major international companies.

The AIC Adaptive Information Cluster with University College Dublin is one such initiative been based on computer and sensor technology to develop advanced applications in several areas. DCU and UCD also collaborate on a health research board funded programme of nursing decision making in Ireland ,the first research programme in nursing in Ireland.The two universities also collaborate on the Odysseus undergraduate Computer Science Internship Programme and on the Clarity Centre for Sensor Web Technologies .

The Centre for Innovation and Structural Change with National University of Ireland, Galway and University College Dublin is an initiative to better utilise and develop international level research.

Lero, the Irish Software Engineering Research Centre with the University of Limerick, University College Dublin and Trinity College Dublin is a partnership to bring together and focus software engineering in Ireland.

The University also collaborates with National University of Ireland, Galway and the pharmaceutical multinational Bristol-Myers Squibb on biopharmaceutical research. The National Institute for Cellular Biotechnology at DCU and Wyeth Pharmaceutical have recently announced a research collaboration in the production of biopharmaceuticals.

DCU also collaborates with the National Institute for Bioprocessing, Research and Training (NIBRT) its main partners are UCD, TCD and Sligo IT. The university has a strategic alliance with Cornell University's Nanobiotechnology Centre (NBTC).

The National Centre for Sensor Research collaborates with the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland on Biomedical Diagnostics research. The NCSR also collaborates with University College Cork, National University of Ireland, Galway, University of Wollongong, Australia, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta and the Irish Marine Institute . DCU is also collaborating with TCD and UCD to run the National Digital Research Centre.

DCU also signed a Memorandum of Understanding in 2006 with Athlone Institute of Technology, under which the university will provide support for the establishment of a jointly-owned research centre in the Irish Midlands town.

Plasma and Vacuum Technology with Queen's University Belfast is a cross-border programme to deliver online courses in plasma and vacuum technology without attending university based lectures. Another cross-border initiative DCU is working with is the Centre for Cross Border Studies which researches and develops cooperation across the Irish border in education, training, health, business, public administration, communications, agriculture and the environment.

The Programme for Research on Grid-enabled Computational Physics of Natural Phenomena is a wide partnership with DIAS, National University of Ireland, Galway, University College Dublin, HEAnet, Met Éireann, Armagh Observatory and Grid Ireland. Development of research under the PRTLI Cycle 1 funded Institute for Advanced Materials Science, additional funding is now being sought to further research in the area of nanomaterials and nanotechnology with Trinity College, Dublin.

The university also collaborates with the Centre for Telecommunications Value-Chain-Driven Research (CTVR) and with Bell Labs Research Ireland (BLRI). The National Centre for Sensor Research also collaborates with the National Botanic Gardens on the Eco-Sensor Network project. DCU is also a participant in the Irish Centre for High-End Computing .

DCU leads Ireland in fusion power research, with a team of 33 DCU scientists taking part in a €10 billion global collaboration to make a breakthrough creating safe nuclear energy by fusion.

The experimental ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) power station will be built at Cadarache in the South of France and is the result of an international collaboration involving the European Union (represented by EURATOM), Japan, the People's Republic of China, India, the Republic of Korea, the Russia and the United States. Dublin City University is the lead partner in this Irish research through Irish Fusion Association under the National Centre for Plasma Science and Technology with 10 more University College Cork scientists taking part in the project as well under the auspices of Association Euratom DCU , which was established in 1996. The Association’s annual budget is about €2.5 million with 30 per cent of this funded directly by the European Commission. Further funding is provided by DCU and Science Foundation Ireland.

The university also has agreements with organisations and universities outside of Ireland. For instance, the University at Buffalo is a strategic partnership to develop research in the east United States.Focal.ie is an ongoing project with the University of Wales, Lampeter to develop an Irish language terminology database online. The Catholic University of Lublin has a partnership with the university to deliver and accredit a Master of Business Administration in Poland. The university collaborates with universities in eleven European countries for the AIM media project. DCU has recently announced a strategic alliance with Arizona State University. The two universities will develop links in a number of areas, including joint research projects, joint entrepreneurial initiatives, institutional learning projects and benchmarking of internal operations, as well as inter-institutional faculty, student and staff transfers between the universities.

The School of Computer Applications collaborates on research with large multinational corporations and institutions like Google ,Microsoft , the US Military , IBM, Samsung and Xerox .

Research centres in DCU also collaborate with each other on multidisciplinary projects. For example, the Materials Processing Research Centre collaborates with the Vascular Health Research Centre on research aimed at producing synthetic bone and soft tissue such as arteries.

The university also hosts many public events such as monthly lectures in the areas of physics and astronomy in collaboration with Astronomy Ireland , held in "The Venue" complex in The Hub (DCU Student Centre), Irish Inventor Association seminars held at the Invent Centre , the Gay Rugby World Cup and even an exhibition of rare 2500 year old Shakyamuni Buddha relics at the University Interfaith Centre .

Hospitals linked with DCU for teaching and research purposes include:,,,

Beaumont Hospital
Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Dublin
James Connolly Memorial Hospital
St. Vincent's Psychiatric Hospital, Fairview
St. James's Hospital
Children's University Hospital, Temple Street
St. Ita's Hospital, Portrane
St. Joseph's Hospital, Clonsilla

Students body

The composition of the student body represents every county on the island of Ireland and over seventy countries worldwide, spread across all six continents. The University has educated students from Australia to Brazil and Japan to Iceland. International students currently make up just over 15% of the full-time student body. The university is strongly committed to international education and internationalising its campus. Apart from the large number of exchanges the university also welcomes international students as part of its Study Abroad Programme and offers programmes jointly with institutions based outside Ireland and is rapidly expanding a wide range of international activities.,