April was an extremely busy and productive month for active collaboration and planning of future activities between colleagues across the UNIC alliance. We were delighted to welcome a number of visitors from University of Lodz. They were hosted by colleagues in the Centre for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (CIRTL), the Department of Economics, and the People and Culture Department respectively.

UNIC Dialogues is an annual initiative organised by student representatives held at each of the partner universities of the UNIC alliance. On March 19th, UNIC UCC Student representatives Margarita Linetska and Sadhbh Tierney led the local UCC UNIC Dialogues event under this year's theme of "Internationalisation".

The recent UNIC photo competition saw strong entries from our students. A shortlist of 12 photos was selected and on display in the atrium of the Student Hub from February 23 to March 06. UCC staff and students were asked to cast their vote online, and we are delighted to announce the winners, who were recently presented with their prizes (in the form of UCC Student Centre Vouchers).

Would you like to contribute to UCC's involvement in an alliance of universities across Europe? The UNIC UCC office is seeking two students as UCC UNIC student representatives (paid roles) for the period June 2026 to end of May 2027.

The UNIC team from University College Cork (UCC) contributed to a UNIC Strategy Retreat at Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR), 16-17 March 2026. The retreat was hosted by the UNIC co-ordinating unit at EUR, chaired by Alliance Co-ordinator Prof. Semiha Denktas.

UNIC Programme Manager in University College Cork (UCC), Aoife Dowling, and Greenshoots Co-ordinator in UCC, Irene Ní Shúilleabháin, contributed a case study to the 'EngageAll' publication showcasing student engagement in European Universities Alliances.

This new online module provides an exciting opportunity for undergraduate students at University College Cork, Erasmus University Rotterdam, University of Oulu and University of Deusto to explore global health and wellbeing challenges facing today's society.

UCC staff and students are invited to view the shortlisted entries of the UNIC photo competition currently on display in the Hub Atrium and to cast their vote for their favourite photograph. A display of the shortlist was opened today by the Director for UNIC at UCC, Dr Jean van Sinderen-Law and will be in place until March 6th. Jean was joined by the UNIC student representatives, Margarita Linetska and Sadhbh Tierney, whose leadership and initiative brought this competition and exhibition to life. 

Thank you to all students who entered the recent UNIC Photo Competition. Our judges have been busy shortlisting the fantastic submissions. The shortlisted photos will be on display in the Hub Atrium from next Monday, February 23rd.

Why not stop by the Hub any time between February 23rd and March 6th to view the photographs!

UCC staff and students can cast their vote on their favourite photograph. A QR code will be available throughout the display to vote.