At UCC we believe that education and training are key levers for the successful and responsible adoption of trustworthy Artificial Intelligence (AI). UCC AI Academy offers a variety of training offerings to organisations and life-long learners based on the latest research, delivered to the highest standard.
Explore the AI Academy's Offerings
Overview
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The AI Academy offers:
- 0.5, 1 and 2-day workshops
- E-learning modules
- Bespoke in-house training
- Guest speakers
- Thought leadership forums
AI Literacy and the AI Act: From AI, to Ethics, to Regulation
Overview
The European AI Act came into effect on August 1st 2024. Article 4 of the Act places obligations in relation to AI literacy within organisations that provide or deploy AI systems. Specifically, Article 4 says “Providers and deployers of AI systems shall take measures to ensure, to their best extent, a sufficient level of AI literacy of their staff and other persons dealing with the operation and use of AI systems on their behalf, taking into account their technical knowledge, experience, education and training and the context the AI systems are to be used in, and considering the persons or groups of persons on whom the AI systems are to be used.” This skills development course provides a grounding in artificial intelligence, how ethical principles have been developed and applied to AI systems, and how these have informed the development of the AI Act. This course will offer companies a grounding to help them ensure compliance with the AI literacy obligations under the Act. This comprehensive one-day skills development course will provide participants with:
- An overview of artificial intelligence
- Principles of machine learning
- Evaluation of AI systems: robustness, performance, fairness, bias, etc.
- Ethics for AI and the Seven Key Requirements for Trustworthy AI
- An overview of the AI Act
- An overview of the Assessment List for Trustworthy AI"
Course Delivery Details
- Delivered By: Professor Barry O'Sullivan
- Course Type:
- Duration: 1 day
- Delivery: Hybrid
- Outcome: Certificate of Participation
- School: School of Computer Science and Information Technology
- Delivery Partners: ENTIRE EDIH
- When: Scheduled based on demand
AI Fundamentals: Constraint-Based Production Scheduling
Overview
"Project and production scheduling is an important element in optimizing performance, reducing cost, and satisfying customer demand in industry. Scheduling solutions can address many problem types in manufacturing, from short-term, reactive operational scheduling to mid
to long term strategic capacity planning. AI based methods, in particular Constraint Programming, provide state-of-the-art solutions to the scheduling problem. The course will show where scheduling fits in current AI trends, how different constraint types (temporal, resource based, and human related) can be used to describe a scheduling problem, and how a solution can help humans make better decisions. At the end of the skills development course, participants will be able to:
- Position Constraint-Based Scheduling in the general AI field
- Understand the need for and potential of automated scheduling
- Understand the basic ideas behind Constraint-Based Scheduling
- Identify the different constraint types occurring in scheduling
- Understand the strength and weaknesses of available tools
Course Delivery Details
- Delivered By: Helmut Simonis, School of Computer Science & IT
- Course Type:
- Duration: 2 days
- Delivery: In-Person
- Outcome: Certificate of Participation
- School: School of Computer Science and Information Technology
- Delivery Partners: ENTIRE EDIH
- When: Scheduled based on demand
AI Fundamentals: Energy Cost Optimisation
Overview
With rising energy prices, tightening sustainability targets, and increasing competition, optimising energy use is essential. For Munster’s industries and public sector organisations, smarter energy management unlocks financial savings, enhances resilience, and drives environmental leadership.
Economic Advantage: High energy costs place pressure on businesses and public institutions. AI-driven optimisation reduces expenses by minimising waste, predicting failures, and improving efficiency. Savings can be reinvested into operations, workforce development, and business growth.
Competitive Edge: Energy-efficient businesses attract investment, secure funding, and meet sustainability expectations. Whether in manufacturing, IT, public administration, or retail, those optimising energy gain a strategic advantage, strengthening their reputation and long-term viability.
Sustainability and Compliance: Ireland’s carbon reduction commitments and regulatory demands require decisive action. Integrating renewables, optimising consumption, and leveraging predictive maintenance help cut emissions and ensure compliance.
Participants will gain hands-on knowledge and skills to:
- Understand Ireland’s energy landscape and optimisation challenges.
- Improve data collection, reconciliation, and anomaly detection.
- Use energy use and price prediction models for smarter decision-making.
- Leverage renewables, storage, and load shifting to reduce costs.
- Analyse real-world case studies, including campus energy supply and data centre efficiency.
Course Delivery Details
- Delivered By: Helmut Simonis, School of Computer Science & IT
- Course Type:
- Duration: 1 day
- Delivery: In-Person
- Outcome: Certificate of Participation
- School: School of Computer Science and Information Technology
- Delivery Partners: ENTIRE EDIH
- When: Friday, 21 November 2025 (Provisional)
AI Fluency: Framework & Foundations
Overview
This free, self-paced, online course provides a practical introduction to the AI Fluency Framework: four areas of human competency (Delegation, Description, Discernment, and Diligence) that we can learn and apply to make our interactions with AI systems - regardless of product or vendor - more effective, efficient, ethical, and safe. By focusing on fundamemental human competenies rather than specific technologies the framework provides learners with a flexible and enduring tool kit for working with AI systems. 12 Lessons. 4 Hours (exercises + 70 mins Video). The course is part of a portfolio of free courses produced by Joseph Feller (UCC), Rick Dakan (Ringling College of Art and Design) and Anthropic PBC, with support from the Higher Education Authority, Ireland, through the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning. Over 90,000 learners have engaged with the courses globally.
Course Delivery Details
- Delivered By: Prof Joseph Feller, Department of Business Information Systems, Cork University Business School
- Course Type: Free
- Duration: Self-Paced
- Delivery: Online
- Outcome: Certificate of Participation
- School: Cork University Business School
- Delivery Partners: Dept of BIS/Cork University Business School + Ringling College of Art and Design (USA) + Anthropic PBC (USA) Supported by HEA Ireland.
- When: Available Always
AI Fluency for Students
Overview
This free, self-paced, online course is designed for students seeking to interact with AI to enhance - not inhibit - learning. It provides a short overview of the AI Fluency Framework: four areas of human competency (Delegation, Description, Discernment, and Diligence) that we can learn and apply to make our interactions with AI systems more effective, efficient, ethical, and safe. It then applies these competencies to several common student workflows (including improving CV's and preparing for job interviews) emphasing active learning and academic integrity and responsibility. 5 Lessons. 3 Hours (exercises + 30 mins video). The course is part of a portfolio of free courses produced by Joseph Feller (UCC), Rick Dakan (Ringling College of Art and Design) and Anthropic PBC, with support from the Higher Education Authority, Ireland, through the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning. Over 90,000 learners have engaged with the courses globally.
Course Delivery Details
- Delivered By: Prof Joseph Feller, Department of Business Information Systems, Cork University Business School
- Course Type: Free
- Duration: Self-Paced
- Delivery: Online
- Outcome: Certificate of Participation
- School: Cork University Business School
- Delivery Partners: Dept of BIS/Cork University Business School + Ringling College of Art and Design (USA) + Anthropic PBC (USA) Supported by HEA Ireland.
- When: Available Always
AI Fluency for Educators
Overview
This free, self-paced, online course is designed for educators seeking to interact with AI to support their professional practice. It provides a short overview of the AI Fluency Framework: four areas of human competency (Delegation, Description, Discernment, and Diligence) that we can learn and apply to make our interactions with AI systems more effective, efficient, ethical, and safe. It then applies these competencies to several common educator workflows (module design, learning materials design, etc) emphasing pedagogical values, discipline expertise, transparency and accountability. 4 Lessons. 3 Hours (exercises + 35 mins video). The course is part of a portfolio of free courses produced by Joseph Feller (UCC), Rick Dakan (Ringling College of Art and Design) and Anthropic PBC, with support from the Higher Education Authority, Ireland, through the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning. Over 90,000 learners have engaged with the courses globally.
Course Delivery Details
- Delivered By: Prof Joseph Feller, Department of Business Information Systems, Cork University Business School
- Course Type: Free
- Duration: Self-Paced
- Delivery: Online
- Outcome: Certificate of Participation
- School: Cork University Business School
- Delivery Partners: Dept of BIS/Cork University Business School + Ringling College of Art and Design (USA) + Anthropic PBC (USA) Supported by HEA Ireland.
- When: Available Always
Teaching AI Fluency
Overview
This free, self-paced, online course is designed for educators seeking to
- teach students how to develop and apply Delegation, Description, Discernment and Diligence competencies,
- assess these competencies in student work, and
- meaningfully integrate AI Fluency into specific disciplines and contexts.
Teaching AI Fluency empowers educators of all kinds to help their students develop values, judgment, and practical skills, and to foster more thoughtful approaches to human-AI collaboration. The course covers:
- Approaches and entry points to teaching the AI Fluency Framework,
- AI Fluency assessments and assignments,
- engaging thoughtfully with AI's impacts, and
- integrating AI Fluency into curricula and disciplines.
- 7 Lessons. 6 Hours (exercises + 70 mins video).
The course is part of a portfolio of free courses produced by Joseph Feller (UCC), Rick Dakan (Ringling College of Art and Design) and Anthropic PBC, with support from the Higher Education Authority, Ireland, through the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning. Over 90,000 learners have engaged with the courses globally.
Course Delivery Details
- Delivered By: Prof Joseph Feller, Department of Business Information Systems, Cork University Business School
- Course Type: Free
- Duration: Self-Paced
- Delivery: Online
- Outcome: Certificate of Participation
- School: Cork University Business School
- Delivery Partners: Dept of BIS/Cork University Business School + Ringling College of Art and Design (USA) + Anthropic PBC (USA) Supported by HEA Ireland.
- When: Available Always
Foundations of AI Fluency
Overview
A friendly, no-experience-needed practical introduction to the AI Fluency Framework: four areas of human competency (Delegation, Description, Discernment, and Diligence) that we can learn and apply to make our interactions with AI systems - regardless of product or vendor - more effective, efficient, ethical, and safe. By focusing on fundamemental human competenies rather than specific technologies the framework provides learners with a flexible and enduring tool kit for working with AI systems. Based on AI Fluency: Framework and Foundations, part of a portfolio of free online courses produced by Joseph Feller (UCC), Rick Dakan (Ringling College of Art and Design) and Anthropic PBC, with support from the Higher Education Authority, Ireland, through the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning. Over 90,000 learners have engaged with the online courses globally.
Course Delivery Details
- Delivered By: Prof Joseph Feller, Department of Business Information Systems, Cork University Business School
- Course Type:
- Duration:
- Delivery: In-Person
- Outcome: Certificate of Participation
- School: Cork University Business School
- Delivery Partners: Dept of BIS/Cork University Business School
- When: TBD
AI Fluency in Professional Settings
Overview
A workplace-ready practical workshop on applying. the AI Fluency Framework (four areas of human competency (Delegation, Description, Discernment, and Diligence) that we can learn and apply to make our interactions with AI systems more effective, efficient, ethical, and safe) in your personal career and professional practice. Based on AI Fluency: Framework and Foundations, part of a portfolio of free online courses produced by Joseph Feller (UCC), Rick Dakan (Ringling College of Art and Design) and Anthropic PBC, with support from the Higher Education Authority, Ireland, through the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning. Over 90,000 learners have engaged with the online courses globally.
Course Delivery Details
- Delivered By: Prof Joseph Feller, Department of Business Information Systems, Cork University Business School
- Course Type: Workshop
- Duration: TBD
- Delivery: In-Person
- Outcome: Certificate of Participation; Personal Development and Application Plans
- School: Cork University Business School
- Delivery Partners: Dept of BIS/Cork University Business School
- When: TBD
Building AI Fluency in Organisations
Overview
A practical workshop focused on building AI Fluency in organisations.Examines training strategies, change management, cultural transformation, ethics and accountability, building communities of practice. Based on a portfolio of free online courses produced by Joseph Feller (UCC), Rick Dakan (Ringling College of Art and Design) and Anthropic PBC, with support from the Higher Education Authority, Ireland, through the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning. Over 90,000 learners have engaged with the online courses globally.
Course Delivery Details
- Delivered By: Prof Joseph Feller, Department of Business Information Systems, Cork University Business School
- Course Type: Workshop
- Duration: TBD
- Delivery: In-Person
- Outcome: Certificate of Participation; Development and Policy Plans
- School: Cork University Business School
- Delivery Partners: Dept of BIS/Cork University Business School
- When: TBD
Intgrating AI Fluency in Education
Overview
Bespoke, interactive workshops for educators seeking to
- teach students how to develop and apply Delegation, Description, Discernment and Diligence competencies,
- assess these competencies in student work, and
- meaningfully integrate AI Fluency into specific disciplines and contexts.
The course - which has been previously delivered internationally to the London School of Economics and Political Science and other organisations - empowers educators of all kinds to help their students develop values, judgment, and practical skills, and to foster more thoughtful approaches to human-AI collaboration. The course covers approaches and entry points to teaching the AI Fluency Framework; AI Fluency assessments and assignments, engaging thoughtfully with AI's impacts; integrating AI Fluency into curricula and disciplines. Based on a portfolio of free online courses produced by Joseph Feller (UCC), Rick Dakan (Ringling College of Art and Design) and Anthropic PBC, with support from the Higher Education Authority, Ireland, through the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning. Over 90,000 learners have engaged with the online courses globally.
Course Delivery Details
- Delivered By: Prof Joseph Feller, Department of Business Information Systems, Cork University Business School
- Course Type: Workshop
- Duration: TBD
- Delivery: In-Person
- Outcome: Certificate of Participation; Integration Plans
- School: Cork University Business School
- Delivery Partners: Dept of BIS/Cork University Business School
- When: TBD
AI in legal and judicial settings
Overview
A bespoke workshop for those using AI in legal and judicial settings, particularly legal research tools, and predictive risk assessments in sentencing and other decision-making systems. Can be delivered online or in person. Content can be tailored to specific audiences or workplaces. Covers topics such as: Legal and regulatory framework for AI; AI in legal research; Judicial and practitioner ethics; Predictive systems; Decision-making and AI systems.
Course Delivery Details
- Delivered By: Professor Nessa Lynch, Matheson Professor in Law, Innovation and Technology, School of Law, UCC
- Course Type: Workshop
- Duration: 1 day
- Delivery: In-Person / Online
- Outcome: Certificate of Participation; Potential CPD for practitioners
- School: School of Law
- Delivery Partners: School of Law
- When: TBD
AI and Law Enforcement - Opportunities and Challenges
Overview
This bespoke training can be tailored to the particular audience and sector but covers the following core topics: Legal and regulatory framework; Predictive analytics; Surveillance, particularly remote biometric surveillance; AI in business support functions; Procurement of AI systems; Human rights; social licence and public trust and confidence; Technology assurance
Course Delivery Details
- Delivered By: Professor Nessa Lynch, Matheson Professor in Law, Innovation and Technology, School of Law, UCC
- Course Type: Workshop
- Duration: 1 day
- Delivery: In-Person / Online
- Outcome: Certificate of Participation
- School: School of Law
- Delivery Partners: School of Law
- When: TBD
Human Rights and AI
Overview
This bespoke training is suitable for a range of audiences. It can be tailored specifically for audiences interested in particular categories such as children’s rights. 2-3 hours and can be online or in person. Topics include - AI through a human rights lens; The impact of AI on collective and individual human rights; Particular risks to human rights posed by AI; AI as a tool to uphold human rights; What are the gaps in the human rights framework?
Course Delivery Details
- Delivered By: Professor Nessa Lynch, Matheson Professor in Law, Innovation and Technology, School of Law, UCC
- Course Type: Workshop
- Duration: 0.5 days
- Delivery: In-Person / Online
- Outcome: Certificate of Participation; Potential CPD for practitioners
- School: School of Law
- Delivery Partners: School of Law
- When: TBD
Professor Barry O'Sullivan
Biography
Professor Barry O’Sullivan, FAAAI, FAAIA, FEurAI, FIAE, FICS, MRIA is a full professor at the School of Computer Science & IT at University College Cork (Ireland) and a visiting professor at Northwestern (Illinois, USA). He works on artificial intelligence, constraint programming, operations research, AI/data ethics, and public policy. He contributes to several global Track II diplomacy efforts related to geopolitical aspects of AI. He is founding director of the Insight SFI Research Centre for Data Analytics at UCC and the SFI Centre for Research Training in AI. He is founding Editor-in-Chief of ACM AI Letters. He served as Vice Chair of the European Commission’s High-Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence which formulated the EU’s ethical approach to AI. He currently represents the European Union at the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence. Professor O’Sullivan is a Fellow and a past President of the European Artificial Intelligence Association. He is also a Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) and a Fellow of the Asia-Pacific AI Association. He is a member of the Royal Irish Academy and holds a number of ministerial appointments, such as Chair of the National Research Ethics Committee for Medical Devices and member of the Irish Government's AI Advisory Council. He conducts his diplomacy work in collaboration with INHR (Geneva, Brussels, Washington DC), the Center for New American Security (Washington DC), and the Geneva Centre for Security Policy. His awards include Science Foundation Ireland Researcher of the Year (2016), Member of the Royal Irish Academy (2017), IPEC-EATCS Nerode Prize (2020), Science Foundation Ireland Best International Engagement Award (2021), and the European AI Association’s Distinguished Service Award (2023). Professor O'Sullivan has been involved in winning and overseeing over €400m in R&D funding.
Further Details
Helmut Simonis
Biography
Helmut Simonis has been working in the area of Constraint Programming for over thirty years. He was one of the main developers of the CHIP system at ECRC in Munich during 1986-1990, then (1990-2000) co-founder and technical director of Cosytec SA in France, responsible for further development of CHIP and many industrial applications of constraints. From 2000-2007, he was working at Imperial College London, and at start-up companies Parc Technologies Ltd and CrossCore Optimisation. He joined the Cork Constraint Computation Centre (4C) at University College Cork in 2008. In 2009 and 2013, he won Best Application Paper awards at the Principles and Practice of Constraint Programming conference. He served on the Executive Committee of the Association for Constraint Programming, and was its President in 2012 and 2013. He is co-inventor on four patents in the area of network optimization.
Further Details
Professor Joseph Feller
Biography
Professor Joseph Feller is Professor of Information Systems and Digital Transformation at the Cork University Business School, University College Cork. His research is focused on human-AI interaction and emerging forms of cognition and problem solving. He is the co-creator of the AI Fluency Framework and a suite of related open educational resources (https://aifluencyframework.org) and his work has appeared in Information Systems Research, Journal of Management Information Systems, Journal of the Association of Information Systems, Journal of Information Technology, Information Systems Journal, European Journal of Information Systems, Journal of Strategic Information Systems, Information and Organization, and been funded by European Commission (FP5/FP6), Irish Research Council, the Irish HEA, the Anspar Foundation (USA), and by direct-funding from industry and government partners.
Further Details
Professor Nessa Lynch
Biography
Professor Nessa Lynch is the Matheson Professor in Law, Innovation and Technology at the School of Law, UCC and a Research Fellow at the Faculty of Law, Victoria University of Wellington. Her research focusses on the law and regulation of emerging technologies, such as AI, particularly in the justice and national security contexts. She has published widely on the topic of biometric surveillance and the human rights impacts of emerging technologies. Professor Lynch is a Member of the Irish Policing and Community Safety Authority, and the Chair of New Zealand Police's Independent Panel for Emerging Technologies. She was previously a Director of the Royal New Zealand Police College, and served on a number of technology and data ethics advisory groups for the New Zealand Government. Professor Lynch also served on the New Zealand Insitutute of Judicial Studies's Youth Court Education Committee.
Further Details
Professor Ciara Heavin
Biography
Professor Ciara Heavin is Chair of Business Analytics at Cork University Business School, University College Cork, and Chair of the University Ethics Committee. Her research explores how information systems (IS) drive digital transformation and evidence‑based decision‑making across the global healthcare ecosystem, with recent funded projects delivering innovative technology solutions for palliative care. Professor Heavin is Co‑Editor‑in‑Chief of the Journal of Decision Systems and serves on the editorial boards of several leading IS journals, including the Journal of Business Analytics. She has chaired IFIP Working Group 8.3 (Decision Support) since 2020 and chaired the AIS Special Interest Group on Decision Support and Analytics (SIGDSA) from July 2022 to July 2023; she now sits on the SIGDSA Advisory Board. She is also a member of the CORU Counsellors and Psychotherapists Registration Board. Her research appears in top international IS journals and conference proceedings. In collaboration with Prof. Daniel J. Power, she has co‑authored three books: Decision Support, Analytics, and Business Intelligence; Data‑Based Decision Making and Digital Transformation; and Becoming Agile.
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Dr Stephen Treacy
Biography
Dr Stephen Treacy is Lecturer of Digital Transformation and Information Systems at Cork University Business School, University College Cork. His work centres on digital transformation and AI, with an emphasis on governance, risk, and human-centred adoption in data-intensive organisations. He is heavily industry-engaged, conducting embedded, problem-driven research that translates advanced capabilities into accountable organisational practice, and his work has been presented internationally. Publications include Communications of the Association for Information Systems, Journal of Information Technology, Journal of Entrepreneurship, Business and Economics, Human-Centric Intelligent Systems, International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, and International Journal of Business Analytics and Intelligence, with conference papers at the International Conference on Information Systems and the European Conference on Information Systems. He also contributes regular public scholarship for RTÉ Brainstorm, connecting academic insight to societal impact.
Further Details
Dr Selja Seppälä
Biography
Dr Selja Seppälä is a Lecturer in Business Analytics at the Cork University Business School, University College Cork. Her interdisciplinary expertise is in Natural Language Processing (NLP), applied ontology, terminology, and corpus studies with applications in linguistics, legal informatics, RegTech for FinTech, biomedical informatics, and education. Her research focuses on developing AI technologies that combine Large Language Models and other NLP techniques with curated ontologies to enhance data quality, transparency and trustworthiness in information systems. She developed the Ontological Analysis Framework that supports this by transforming unstructured textual data into semantically enriched structured data. She currently leads the AI-LIEN project, which uses AI-powered technologies for Learning Analytics, and collaborates on projects investigating the impact of AI on organisations, teaching and learning, and legislative review. Her research has resulted in 43 publications in outlets of international standing and 27 open-source research artefacts, and she has secured approximately €500,000 through competitive research grants.
Further Details
Dr Huanhuan Xiong
Biography
Dr. Huanhuan Xiong is a lecturer in Information Systems for Sustainable & Responsible Business. She also serves as a senior researcher in the Financial Services Innovation Centre, Cork University Business School, and Malawi eHealth Research Centre (MERC), Mzuzu University, Malawi. Her research focuses on the development and governance of responsible and trustworthy AI solutions across healthcare, financial services, and the agri-food sector. She collaborates actively with international AI regulatory bodies (e.g., WHO, OECD), industry partners (e.g., hospitals, health insurance organizations, and FinTech enterprises), and interdisciplinary research teams to facilitate the translation of AI innovations into practical applications, such as developing machine learning models for predictive and prescriptive analytics for dairy process optimization, while critically addressing the gap between AI regulatory frameworks and their practical adoption/implementation across sectors.