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Dublin City University (DCU) is a university situated in 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 in 1989 by statute. The university currently has around 6,000 undergraduate students. There are over 700 research postgraduates and over 1,800 taught postgraduate students currently studying at the university. In addition the university has around 3,000 distance education (Oscail) students. There are currently (2004) has 309 academic staff. Notable members of the academic staff include former Taoiseach John Bruton and the "thinking" Guru Edward De Bono. In early 2004 John Bruton accepted a position as Adjunct Faculty Member in the School of Law and Government and in mid 2005 Edward De Bono accepted a position in the DCU Ryan Academy of Entrepreneurship at the Eeolas Institute in Citywest Business Campus. The founding president of the institution was Dr Danny O'Hare, who retired in 1999. The current president is Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski.
About
History In 1975 the institution was created, on a 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, many buildings have been added since forming 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 a large business school. It has recently developed a presence also in the performing arts and in the humanities. The university is also famous for its work placement or ''INTRA'' (INtegrated TRAining) programme, 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. The Computer Applications course in DCU was the first degree offered by the college and is Ireland's oldest computer science degree. The degree is more in demand than any other computer degree in Ireland and is the most highly regarded computer degree in the country, 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. 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" very liberally. 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, unlike the majority of Irish universities, effectively allowing the college to cram more subject modules into a smaller time period. Academic The academic organisation of the university is arranged into faculties and schools, a number of independent colleges are also associated with the university. The university has recently undergone some reorganisation on the faculty level, with the school of education studies being incorporated into humanities & social science and the school of computing being incorporated into the engineering faculty. There are currently four faculties: The university also hosts Oscail, the National Distance Education Centre. All professional Actuarial Exams in the Republic of Ireland are held at the University. The University has the highest number of students applying per places available of any university in Ireland. Ireland's first purpose-built university nursing school was opened on DCU's campus in June 2004. The University has a Prometric Test Centre and is the test centre for Ireland's Graduate Management Admission Test. The university started its first link with an external college in 1993 with an agreement 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 five linked colleges: Collaboration The university collaborates with a number of national and international organisations and universities on technology and research projects. 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 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. ISERC (Irish Software Engineering Research Consortium) with the University of Limerick 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. Plasma and Vacuum Technology with Queen's University of 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 Phenomenais 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. 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 university also hosts many public events such as monthly lectures in the areas of physics and astronomy in collaboration with , held in "The Venue" complex in The Hub (DCU Student Centre), Irish Inventor Association seminars held at the Invent Centre and even an exhibition of rare 2500 year old Shakyamuni Buddha relics at the University Interfaith Centre. 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 10% of the 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. Governance The university is headed, titularly, by the Chancellor, until her recent death the Hon Ms Justice Mella Carroll, the President, currently Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski, is the "chief officer" of the university, comparable to that of a chief executive officer. The functions of the Governing Body of the university is outlined in the National Institute for Higher Education, Dublin, Act, 1980 and was later 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 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. Student activities Clubs and societies There are a broad variety of clubs and societies, representing a wide range of interests such as culture, music and sport - as well as academic interests: (Redbrick is DCU's Networking Society.) Student publications There are several publications by and for students including: In addition DCU's Style Society also presents a fashion show every year. Accommodation In Ireland, unlike other industrialised nations, on campus accommodation in universities is a relatively new innovation. Since the mid 1990s all Irish universities have built up a stock of quality campus accommodation although still on campus living is still uncommon for students. Most accommodation is of apartment rather than halls of residence type and is managed by 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
Other There are four licensed premises on the campus, they also sell a wide selection of food; the "old bar" (aka alpha α), the "new bar" (aka beta β), The Helix and Spar (off-license) also sells a large selection of wines. 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. Littlebites allows students and staff to order food to anywhere on campus. There is a second Starbucks located in the Sports Complex, the third in Ireland after Microsoft Ireland. DCU has recently launched an Affinity credit card scheme to raise funds for the University. It is planned that the university will have ‘stop’ on the ‘Metro North’ line which is to be completed by 2012. Research A list of current campus companies can be retrieved from the Invent Innovation and Enterprise Centre website. Note: these lists are incomplete. Centres Laboratories and Research Groups See also | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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