Trio of third-level institutions to form partnership on education and research

Three of Ireland’s leading third-level institutions are to collaborate on providing new postgraduate courses, research possibilities and attracting foreign students.

The partnership between NUI Maynooth, Dublin City University (DCU), and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) will build on the success of major collaborative projects between the colleges.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny said collaboration between academic institutions was a cornerstone of government policy. “This is a very significant collaboration between three of our finest institutions with very complementary and distinct fields of expertise,” said the Taoiseach.

“Through collaboration we can achieve scale that allows us to compete more effectively on the global stage. It is clear that this partnership will lead to increased competitiveness for major research awards, innovation at the intersection of disciplines, and also the intellectual, cultural and financial benefits of a greater internationalisation of our student base in Ireland.”

The immediate effect of the collaboration of the formation of 3U Biomedical Research. The new research partnership will bring together 750 researchers across the three institutions to develop cutting-edge research in areas like cancer, diabetes, and neurology. There are 29 PhD students working in this area under the BioAT doctoral programme launched last year.

Brian MacCraith, the president of DCU, said the 3U Partnership would enable the institutions to achieve much more together than they could separately.

“This partnership is a positive development on so many fronts — it will create richer educational opportunities for our students, it will lead to improvements in the quality of learning throughout our education system.”

NUI Maynooth president Philip Nolan and RCSI chief executive Cathal Kelly also welcomed the advantages that collaboration would bring to the institutions.