Research-led teaching key to UCC’s plan

ON a day when its scientists were making international headlines, University College Cork listed high-quality, research-led teaching as a core focus of its ambitions for the next three years.

Its strategic plan for 2009 to 2012 was developed in consultation with students and staff over the past year, with some key goals based on improved student experience, more flexible opportunities for lifelong learning and increased postgraduate and research activities.

The university’s research performance in the past five years was highlighted yesterday, showing that five of the eight Irish scientists among the 4,000 most cited internationally are from UCC.

Hundreds of news outlets yesterday reported the findings of the college’s cancer research centre that the turmeric spice in curry could be used to treat cancer of the oesophagus.

In the past five years, research spending at UCC has risen almost 50% to €78.5 million a year, and the number of inventions disclosed annually is up from 20 in 2004 to 73 last year.

As well as aiming to increase research output, partly by raising the portion of income from non-state sources to 30%, key goals for the next three years include a regional learning network to widen its collaborations with Cork Institute of Technology to other colleges.

Apart from increasing income-generating international students, funding sources to be targeted include the Irish abroad and UCC’s graduates.

President Dr Michael Murphy said graduates and the public invest far more in education in other countries than here, and universities can play an big part in servicing the diaspora’s needs and exploiting its potential.

“The recent economic forum in Farmleigh has had a major impact on our perceptions of the value of the Irish abroad. We’ve already had a number of meetings among academic staff with a view to packaging the type of assets we have.

“UCC has many faculty expert in all facets of Irish culture, our libraries and departments are replete with cultural artefacts which can engage the Irish community throughout the world.”

The college will harness this in an Institute for Irish Identity and also plans to market a UCC education to children of the diaspora. Another key aim is to instil values and ethics in students relevant to their disciplines.

The need to expand and development the city campus will require increasing non-Exchequer capital funding by up to 50%. More income and savings will be made through out-of-term use of the campus, additional postgraduate students and reductions in energy use.