Ollscoil Teicneolaíochta Bhaile Átha Cliath | |
 TheGrangegorman campus of TUD | |
Other name | TU Dublin |
|---|---|
Former names | Dublin Institute of Technology; Institute of Technology, Blanchardstown; Institute of Technology, Tallaght |
| Motto | Féidearthachtaí as Cuimse (Irish) |
Motto in English | Go Beyond Learning |
| Type | Publictechnological university |
| Established | 1 January 2019 – foundation of amalgamated university[1] 1887 – foundation of City of Dublin Technical Schools |
| Founder | Arnold Felix Graves |
Academic affiliation | IUA EUA UI EUt+ |
| President | Dr Deirdre Lillis[2] |
Academic staff | 3,500[3] |
| Students | 28,500[3] |
| Location | Grangegorman(Hub),[4] Blanchardstown,Tallaght,Aungier Street,Bolton Street (all located inDublin city and county), Ireland |
| Campus | Urban; multiple campuses: Aungier Street, Blanchardstown, Bolton Street, Grangegorman, Tallaght[5] |
| Website | www |
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Technological University Dublin (Irish:Ollscoil Teicneolaíochta Bhaile Átha Cliath) orTU Dublin[6] isIreland's firsttechnological university. It was established on 1 January 2019,[7][8][9] with a history going back to 1887 through the amalgamatedDublin Institute of Technology which progressed from the first technical education institution in Ireland, the City of Dublin Technical Schools.[10] It is the second-largestthird-level institution in Ireland, with a student population of 28,500.[7]
The university was formed by the amalgamation of three existinginstitutes of technology in the Dublin area –Dublin Institute of Technology,Institute of Technology, Blanchardstown, andInstitute of Technology, Tallaght, taking over all functions and operations of these institutions.[11][4] It is the eighthuniversity in Ireland, and the fourth inCounty Dublin.[12] The university asserts an entrepreneurial ethos and industry-focused approach, with extensive collaboration with industry for research and teaching.[4][13][14] The flagship campus is inGrangegorman, Dublin, with two other long-term campuses, inTallaght andBlanchardstown, and remaining legacy sites at Bolton Street andAungier Street.[15]
TU Dublin has approximately 2,700 full-time staff. Dr Deirdre Lillis became President of the university in January 2025.[2]
TU Dublin has its origins in the City of Dublin Technical Schools, with a Technical College founded at Kevin Street in 1887 by poet, songwriter and novelistArnold Felix Graves.[16][17] In 1978, with the formal amalgamation of the College of Technology, Kevin Street, and five other specialised colleges in Dublin under a federalised arrangement, the Dublin Institute of Technology was formed.[18]
From 1976 to 1998, the Institute of Technology had a relationship with theUniversity of Dublin, the degree-awarding body forTrinity College Dublin, for the sharing of facilities, equipment and staff, joint research seed funding, research partnerships, and for the University of Dublin to award Dublin Institute of Technology degrees under their own name in return for academic oversight;[18] this partnership was credited for a 22 times increase in research output in the Institute of Technology in 1992 compared to 1975, and a significant increase in the institute's status.[18] With the improved status, staff experience from the partnership, increased course demand, and success of Dublin Institute of Technology graduates in employment compared to university graduates, politicians and university academics sought greater autonomy for the institute,[18] withFine Gael higher-education spokespersonTheresa Ahearn saying "The colleges, in particular the DIT, at this stage rightly claim to have long experience of teaching to degree level ... I suggest that now is the time to give the colleges this power to award their own degrees". On 10 July 1992, Minister for EducationSéamus Brennan stated that "The DIT will be given degree awarding powers",[18] and these powers were ultimately granted in 1998 under the Dublin Institute of Technology Act, 1992.[19][20]
Institute of Technology Tallaght was established in 1992,[21] at its dissolution offering courses through the School of Business & Humanities, the School of Engineering, and the School of Science & Computing.[22]
Institute of Technology Blanchardstown was established in 1999, and at its dissolution offered courses through the School of Business, the School of Humanities, and the School of Informatics and Engineering.[23]
In 2014, theDublin Institute of Technology (DIT),Institute of Technology, Blanchardstown (ITB) andInstitute of Technology, Tallaght (ITT) jointly entered into a formal process to seek to merge into a university.[24][25] At the time, following the Institutes of Technology Act 2006,[26] there were fourteen IT's in Ireland, and a political appetite[27] emerged to amalgamate several to form a more advanced third-level institution, known as a technological university,[28] similar tothat ofDelft and othertechnological universities inEurope.[29]
The Dublin bid, proposed by the three institutes, eventually coalesced into a move, in 2014, to seek designation as a technological university under the project title "Technological University for Dublin Alliance" / "TU4Dublin".[6][28][30] A final application was submitted in April 2018, following the enactment of the Technological Universities Act 2018.[31]
The formation of Technological University Dublin was approved in July 2018, and the university was formally established on 1 January 2019,[8][9] on which date the preceding institutions were dissolved.[11]
In April 2019, TU Dublin sold its Kevin Street campus to York Capital and Westridge Real Estate for €140 million.[32] The Kevin Street campus was vacated in March 2021 and demolition works began on the site in April 2021.
In March 2020, TU Dublin put the Aungier Street campus up for sale,[33] with the campus scheduled to close in 2023, after which students and staff will relocate to the Grangegorman Campus.[34]
The university is overseen by a governing body appointed under the Technological Universities Act,[35] with representation for staff, undergraduate and postgraduate students, the local Education and Training Boards, along with the president of the university, an external chairperson and other external members appointed by the governing body and by the Minister. There is a regulatory requirement to have at least 40% female and 40% male membership and, by agreement with theHigher Education Authority, a suitable mix of skills and experience, considering business, law, human resources management, community organisation and others. Academic affairs, including course development and examinations, are overseen by TU Dublin's statutory academic council, as defined by the same legislative act.[31]
Undergraduate admissions are made through theCentral Applications Office, with applications opening in January and late applications closing early-May of the admission year;[36] course offers are made to individuals who either meet the point and subject requirements of the relevant course, or alternatively have existingQQI qualifications for most courses, with some courses requiring the QQI qualification to be in a relevant discipline.[37][38]
TU Dublin consists of five faculties, their associated schools, and multiple research institutes and centres.[39] Courses are primarily based in one of five locations.
TU Dublin is the only institution offering courses inoptometry and ophthalmic dispensing in Ireland, with both a 4-year BSc in optometry and a 3-year BSc in Ophthalmic Dispensing running from the School of Physics & Clinical & Optometric Sciences within the College of Sciences & Health.[40]
TU Dublin physics, optometry, and clinical measurement science degrees are fully accredited by theInstitute of Physics,[41] andNational Framework of Qualifications Level 8 engineering degrees are fully accredited by theInstitute of Engineers of Ireland.[42]
The Graduate Research School offers thePhD programmes of the university, focusing research along the themes of:
Graduate researchers are members of this school, in addition to being registered with their own school.[43]
In 2021,Times Higher Education (THE) ranked TU Dublin 801-1000th in the World University Rankings, 201-300th in impact rankings, and 251-300th in the Young University Rankings.[44] In the 2026QS World University Rankings TU Dublin was listed 781-790.[45]
| University rankings | |
|---|---|
| Global – Overall | |
| QS World[46] | 781-790 (2026) |
In 2020,U-Multirank listed TU Dublin as having the highest number ofvery good scores across various criteria compared to other higher-education institutions in Ireland.[47]
TU Dublin holds anAthena SWAN Bronze Award for its commitment to advancegender equality inSTEM.[48]
Technological University Dublin is one of the nine members of theEuropean University of Technology (EUt+),[49] a "transnational alliance" of European universities, which also includes theTechnical University of Sofia (Bulgaria), theCyprus University of Technology (Cyprus), theDarmstadt University of Applied Sciences (Germany), theUniversity of Cassino and Southern Lazio (Italy), theRiga Technical University (Latvia), thePolytechnic University of Cartagena (Spain), theUniversity of Technology of Troyes (France) and theTechnical University of Cluj-Napoca (Romania).[50]
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The university is based in five main campuses, with theGrangegorman,Aungier Street and Bolton Street campuses in Dublin City, and both theBlanchardstown andTallaght campuses in the Dublin suburbs.[6][7] The Grangegorman campus is now home to 10,000 students following the closure of Kevin Street, Cathal Brugha Street, Rathmines and Camden Row, while further development is planned for the Blanchardstown and Tallaght campuses.[51][needs update]
According to thenTaoiseachLeo Varadkar, the new university would have an "entrepreneurial ethos", and offer degrees and programmes ranging from Level 6 to Level 10 in theNational Framework of Qualifications.[52] While having an emphasis oncomputer science andSTEM subjects, given its status as a technological university, the thenMinister for Education and SkillsRichard Bruton stated that the university would aim to sit at "convergence of the arts, business, science and technology".[52]
The Grangegorman campus includes the Greenway Hub, which is a "state-of-the-art facility for research and innovation that has been developed on the new TU Dublin campus at Grangegorman". It is home to the Environmental, Sustainability and Health Institute (ESHI) and to TU Dublin Hothouse.[53]
TU Dublin Hothouse at the Greenway Hub has a 21,500 square footstart-up incubator, office spaces, conference rooms, and provides start-ups access to staff and researchers.[54] Funding is offered to start-ups from the university itself, and from partnerships withEnterprise Ireland,Science Foundation Ireland, andHorizon 2020, among others.[55] Assistance is provided with commercialisation, and protecting the intellectual property of start-ups in the incubator.[56]
TU Dublin Hothouse runs a funded summer program, I-Cubed, for current students and recent graduates with business ideas who wish to start and run that business.[57]
A market initiative Open Labs began in 2018 to assist start-ups and existing companies with research and development in specific technical areas, and as of February 2021 more than 150 start ups had participated in the initiative, generating over €1.5 million in research income.[58][59]
Technological University Dublin Students' Union (TU Dublin SU) was established by referendum in February 2019 as the amalgamation ofDIT Students' Union, IT Tallaght Student Union and Institute of Technology Blanchardstown Student Union.[60]
TU Dublin Students' Union began operating on 1 July 2019.
Annually, TU Dublin Students' Union oversees the election of class representatives, in which all students in the same course and year elect a student in the same group to represent them by conveying class feedback to the Students Union and lecturers. Class representatives attend the semesterly programme committee meetings of their own programme group alongside lecturers and professors, and attend semi-semesterly class representative meetings involving Students Union officers and other class representatives from the same school.[61] Class representatives receive training from the National Student Engagement Programme.
Over 70 student-run societies exist throughout the five TU Dublin campuses, which receive a stipend from TU Dublin for activities based on membership of the society. Societies are formed by petition, requiring a total of 20 signatures from current TU Dublin students.[62]
About 40 student-run clubs are present throughout the five campuses, includingGaelic Athletic Association,football,handball,powerlifting,archery,rowing,skiing,basketball,kite surfing andcricket.[63][64] A gym and exercise studio are run by TU Dublin Fitness, providing discounted access to TU Dublin students, staff and graduates, and access to the public.[65]
In January 2021,IT Tralee merged withCork IT to becomeMunster Technological University.[66][67][68]
Approval for theTechnological University of the Shannon: Midlands Midwest was granted in May 2021 and it formally opened in October 2021.[69] It was the result of a merger betweenAthlone Institute of Technology andLimerick Institute of Technology along with some smaller institutions.
TheSouth East Technological University was formally established in May 2022. It was the result of a merger betweenWaterford Institute of Technology andInstitute of Technology, Carlow.[70][71][72]
TheAtlantic Technological University was formally established in April 2022.
53°21′17″N6°16′45″W / 53.3546°N 6.2792°W /53.3546; -6.2792
