University College Cork is ranked in the top 1.1% of universities in the world.  It is Ireland’s leading institution for the delivery of research impact and the top Irish institution for highly cited researchers. We are the leading global university for sustainability and the Irish university with the highest level of industry collaboration.

The Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation (OVPRI) supports UCC’s vibrant community of diverse and independent thought leaders in the delivery of broad ranging transformative impacts across key areas of social, economic, cultural and environmental importance. Through the lens of the UN Sustainability Development Goals, UCC researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs are driving real world impacts that directly address current and emerging societal needs, including some of the most pressing global grand challenges of our time.

In 2021, UCC radically transformed its research and innovation approach, launching the UCC Futures Framework which focuses on ten interdisciplinary themes across the natural sciences, the social sciences and the humanities. Here, talented researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs mine the frontiers of curiosity and inquiry at the very intersection of disciplines. UCC Futures provides the framework that encourages novel strategic partnership and supports those partners to think differently. This holistic approach integrates disciplines across learning and teaching, research, knowledge exchange, and commercialisation. It results in the generation of robust, implementable and translational solutions of impact and value, the need for which has never been greater.

The OVPRI is further committed to supporting the delivery of equitable and sustainable research within the context of engaged and open practice across the entire research and innovation ecosystem. Our aim is for UCC to be the leading Irish University for research, innovation and entrepreneurship based on a reputation for discovery, critical thinking, research integrity and sustainability – a place where our students are taught by global research leaders within a research informed curriculum. UCC’s entrepreneurial campus provides students, graduates and staff with the ecosystem, supports and expertise to create successful new ventures that develop products and services of benefit to society.

In 2024, we launch our Research Charter which will define the core principles, culture and values that support our researchers in creating, and in securing, the future through excellence in research.  UCC’s Research Charter will enable and amplify curiosity, creativity, diversity and excellence. It will value research and researchers - from individuals to groups of all sizes - across the disciplines, continuing to define the frontiers of knowledge that will secure an equitable, inclusive and sustainable future for us all.

UCC researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs are already making a difference. The OVPRI team is here to inspire, engage and enable our research and innovation community to create the future. We marry knowledge with a creative and supportive environment to enhance, expand and translate the unlimited curiosity, vision and passion of the research and innovation community at UCC.