University College Dublin (UCD) is one of Europe's leading research-intensive universities, where a comprehensive suite of strong disciplines forms the foundation of high-quality interdisciplinary research, scholarship and innovation. UCD is a national leader in research funding, attracting quality investment that has helped the university to establish a reputation as a world-class destination for leading researchers. UCD Researchers secured over €1 billion in research grants since 2008 from national and international sources. UCD is ranked within the top 1% of higher education institutions worldwide. It is the largest University in Ireland with> 1,650 academic staff across a range of disciplines, > 1,550 PhD students and > 3,400 Masters students, producing 22% of Irelands PhD graduates each year and > 33,000 students. As Ireland's leader in innovation, technology transfer and commercialisation, UCD's commitment to innovation and entrepreneurship recognises the importance of active participation and collaboration to exploit leading-edge research and development outputs. Supports for innovation include NovaUCD – the Centre for New Ventures and Entrepreneurs and NexusUCD – the Industry Partnership Centre. Since 2003 NovaUCD has incubated over 170 companies and has supported over 350 companies and early-stage ventures.
The Insight Research Ireland Centre for Data Analytics is a research centre, focused on the domain of data analytics and artificial intelligence. Its research community strives to use excellent science to create new knowledge in data analytics and its applications, while also delivering industry impact and economic benefit. Insight is one of Europe's largest data analytics research organisations, with 400+ researchers, more than 80 industry partners and over €100 million of funding. This national research centre is funded by Taighde Éireann – Research Ireland, formerly Science Foundation Ireland, and is a joint initiative between 4 of Ireland's universities; University College Dublin (UCD), Dublin City University (DCU), University College Cork (UCC) and National University of Ireland Galway as well as a number of affiliated bodies. Each of Insight's main sites has a long track record of data analytics research. In July 2013 they came together under Science Foundation Ireland as Insight. The size of the centre allows for collaboration on a large scale, which enables the organisation to compete for funding and opportunities at a much higher level. Research groups and subject matter expertise are distributed between and across sites, reflecting the competencies of the individuals at each site; research activities are led by a group of over 50 Principal Investigators and Funded Investigators. The Centre has over 80 industrial partners, who work with the academic researchers on projects ranging from blue-skies and abstract mathematical research to specific applications of data analytics to answer a commercial question. Insight also enjoys collaborations with prominent research groups across Europe, by leading and participating in a portfolio of EU-funded research projects.
