University College Dublin

Read the full story here 👇https://www.ucd.ie/newsandopinion/news/2025/october/29/ucdspin-outliropticcomestopforaudiencechoiceatluminatenyaccelerator/x

The company’s pioneering optical lens technology operates without mechanically moving parts, improving performance in compact camera modules (used in smartphones, AR/VR, MedTech, and even space tech).

James Senall, President of NextCorps; Simon Forsyth, CEO and co-founder of LirOptic and Dr Sujatha Ramanujan, Managing Director of Luminate NY Credit: Luminate NY

UCD spin-out LirOptic comes top for Audience Choice at the Luminate NY Accelerator 🎉

NovaUCD spin-out company LirOptic has won the Audience Choice Award at the final of the 2025 Luminate NY accelerator programme in New York, taking home a $10,000 (€8.6k) prize.

BRICONS Project Coordinator Dr Paul Brooks, UCD School of Biology and Environmental Science

BRICONS Principal Investigator Dr Md Salauddin, UCD School of Civil Engineering

UCD is leading a €1.5m all-island project to restore native oyster reefs and strengthen coastal resilience. The BRICONS project will test how Nature-Based Solutions can protect marine biodiversity and support climate adaptation. 🌊🦪 #UCDResearch

🔗 Read the full story: www.ucd.ie/newsandopini...

Earlier this year, Equal1 unveiled Bell-1, the world’s first silicon-based quantum computer server. Bell-1 is also the first ever Irish-made quantum computer.

👉 Full story here: www.ucd.ie/newsandopini...

The DTIF is a €500 million fund managed by the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, with administrative support from Enterprise Ireland.

Its purpose is to support investment in the development and deployment of disruptive technologies and applications on a commercial basis.

The QUBIC project will create quantum algorithms, hardware, and software to develop quantum-enabled solutions for Ireland’s key challenges in energy, climate modelling, advanced materials, and pharmaceuticals.

Jason Lynch, CEO of Equal1

Quantum computing project by UCD spin-out secures €13.7m funding

A quantum computing project led by Equal1, a spin-out company of NovaUCD, has secured €13.7 million in funding from the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund (DTIF).

Autumn Light🍂

#UCD #UCDDublin #UCDLife #AutumnInIreland #IrishAutumn #DublinDays #Belfield #UCDCampus #OctoberLight #OrangeDay

€2m funding for gene therapy research led by UCD Professor Niall Barron

Researchers aim to address current challenges in gene therapy production, lowering treatment costs and increasing the accessibility of these therapies to the general public. This would also represent a significant opportunity for the biopharma sector in Ireland. www.ucd.ie/newsandopini...

TRANS-AM (Transformation of Advanced Medicines Manufacture) will aim to identify more efficient and effective ways to produce and analyse gene therapies. Gene therapies modify a person’s genes to treat or cure disease.

A gene therapy research project led by Professor Niall Barron from the UCD School of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering has received €2 million in funding.

The investment came from Research Ireland and APC Ltd, an Irish biopharmaceutical process development and manufacturing company.

UCD alumni Lara Gillespie claims first rainbow jersey with gold at Track World Championships

A graduate of UCD School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science and former UCD Cycling Club member, Lara kept pace with the two-time Olympic medallist as the pair rounded the final bend of the track before speeding away in the closing stages.
Full story: www.ucd.ie/newsandopini...

YouTube video by UCI Lara Gillespie 🇮🇪 is the #Santiago2025 UCI Women's Elimination Race World Champion 🌈

Lara secured her first rainbow jersey - the symbol of a current UCI World Champion - in the elimination race by seeing off Katie Archibald of Great Britain, who came second, and Belgium's Helene Hesters.

🎥 www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHGC...

🎥👩‍🎓✨ Ireland has a new world champion after UCD alumna Lara Gillespie secured gold in the elimination race at the Track World Championship.

The former UCD Ad Astra Academy Elite Sports Scholar and reigning European champion is Ireland's first Track World Champion in more than a decade.

183 high-achieving students honoured at UCD Global Excellence Scholarships Event

"I have no doubt that these scholars will continue to excel, contributing to our university’s global reputation and strengthening international collaboration." www.ucd.ie/newsandopini...

"These scholarships are more than just awards; they represent the shared vision we hold at UCD to foster inclusivity, innovation, and excellence."

"I am honoured to celebrate not only the academic excellence of these outstanding students but also the incredible global spirit they bring to our UCD community," said Professor O'Riordan.

🔹 Fulbright US Student Award
🔹 LPDP-UCD Scholarship
🔹 Aryabhata Science Scholarship
🔹 UCD Foundation Scholarship Programmes

Recipients of the following scholarships were celebrated:

🔹 UCD Global Excellence Scholarship
🔹 Ireland Fellows Programme
🔹 Government of Ireland Scholarships
🔹 HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand Scholarship

The event included a ceremony with an address from the UCD Vice President for Global Engagement, Professor Dolores O’Riordan. Each scholarship recipient was presented with a certificate.

💙💛 Recipients of prestigious international scholarships at UCD have been honoured at the UCD Global Excellence Scholarships Event 2025-26. This year, UCD welcomed 183 international scholarship recipients from 45 nationalities.

'Creative Pedagogies' case studies launched — CFA Creative Futures Academy

We were delighted to launch Creative Pedagogies in Practice: Case Studies from CFA at @ucddublin.bsky.social! 🎨

The volume explores how creativity transforms teaching, learning & collaboration.
🔗 creativefuturesacademy.ie/news/creative-pedagogies-case-studies-launched
@artshumanitiesucd.bsky.social

Carving a ghost turnip, a Halloween jack-o-lantern for UCD.

And talked about the Halloween traditions in west Wicklow as a child, snap-apple, bobbing for apples, disguised, singing songs on neighbours thresholds for monkey nuts, apples and oranges and a few coins

… cough, 50 years ago…!! 😳🎃

Established in 1882, the award honours Dr Reuben Joshua Harvey, a distinguished anatomist and physiologist who made lasting contributions to Irish medical education before his death at 36.

The Reuben Harvey Prize is presented annually to students who achieve the highest marks in their class for final year examinations in Medicine, Surgery and Obstetrics.

Having now completed his studies, Matthew is currently completing his intern year at St Vincent’s University Hospital.

UCD Medicine student awarded the Reuben Harvey Prize from Royal College of Physicians of Ireland

👨‍🎓✨ Warmest congratulations to UCD School of Medicine graduate Matthew Hartnett, who has been awarded the prestigious Reuben Harvey Prize by the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland.

📜 @royalcollege.bsky.social

Rich, bold, golden - A snapshot of Autumn #SeasonalVibes #NatureLovers #SlowMoments #Dublin #Ireland

this sounds great, militant despair is very much my vibe

UCD researcher Anh-Quân Nguyen awarded First Book Prize by Oxford University Press

The First Book Prize is awarded to early-career researchers in the humanities and social sciences.

Full story:
www.ucd.ie/newsandopini...