UCC’s Irish Institute of Korean Studies awarded funding to advance Korean Studies

11 Aug 2026

• Academy of Korean Studies funding will expand opportunities for students, deepen international collaboration and strengthen UCC’s position as a leading European centre for Korean Studies.

The Irish Institute of Korean Studies at University College Cork (UCC), directed by Dr Kevin Cawley, has been awarded €180,000 by the Academy of Korean Studies to further develop Korean Studies at UCC over the next three years.

The prestigious award will create new opportunities for students, deepen international academic collaboration and further strengthen UCC’s position as a leading centre for Korean Studies in Europe.

The funding will support an ambitious programme of international conferences, workshops and seminars at UCC, bringing leading scholars from universities around the world to Cork. Students will have opportunities to engage directly with internationally recognised experts and encounter cutting-edge research across Korean history, culture, society, literature, politics and language.

A strong focus of the three-year project will be on international collaboration and student mobility. Joint student conferences will be organised with UCC’s partner institution, the University of Bologna, with funding enabling students from Bologna to travel to Cork. These conferences will provide Irish and Italian students with opportunities to present their research, exchange ideas and develop international academic networks.

The award will also support postgraduate scholarships and travel bursaries for research in South Korea, enabling students to gain first-hand experience of Korean society and culture and to develop their research in an international setting.

Prominent Korean authors and translators will also be invited to UCC as part of the programme, giving students and the wider community opportunities to engage with contemporary Korean literature and gain insights into translation and intercultural communication.

Dr Kevin Cawley, Director of the Irish Institute of Korean Studies at UCC and Senior Lecturer in Korean Studies in UCC College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences, said: “This award will enable us to create significant new opportunities for our students while building on UCC’s international strengths in Korean Studies. Through scholarships, research travel, international conferences and engagement with leading scholars, writers and translators, students will be able to deepen their understanding of Korea and develop connections that extend well beyond the classroom.”

The three-year project will enhance research partnerships, expand opportunities for student mobility and strengthen academic and cultural links between Ireland and South Korea.

Learn more about The Irish Institute of Korean Studies.