UCC publishes five year Capital Plan

10 Mar 2026

University College Cork (UCC) has today announced its 5 year capital development plan, setting out a strategic framework for campus development and physical and digital infrastructure investment over the coming years.

Over €350 million will be invested in a programme designed to support UCC’s academic mission, research excellence and student experience. The Capital Plan, approved by the UCC’s Governing Authority today (Tuesday 10th March 3pm), reflects the University’s long-term vision to enhance teaching and learning environments, expand research capacity, and deliver modern, inclusive facilities that meet the needs of a growing and diverse university community. As UCC is embedded in Cork City - a University City - this plan seeks to advance and support the city as a great place to live, learn, research, innovate and work. 

Investing in Ireland’s future

The publication of the Capital Plan underscores UCC’s role as a key driver of regional and national development. Key projects within the plan include:

• Expansion of the Tyndall National Institute, over a €130 million investment into UCC’s major research flagship will occur, doubling Tyndall’s physical size and footprint to support Ireland’s national semiconductor strategy.
• A €60 million investment on the main UCC campus for Cork University Business School (CUBS). CUBS is Ireland’s largest business education provider that recently obtained the exclusive “triple crown” of international business school accreditation, placing the school amongst the global elite in the top 1% of business schools worldwide. A new home for business education will be developed on UCC’s main campus.
• A refurbishment of UCC’s Kane Science building, which originally opened in 1971. The refurbishment will include a re-design of the internal space, and an expansion of teaching space in the building. A full insulation wrap of the building will ensure the building becomes more sustainable and energy efficient and will serve as an exemplar of how retrofitting can be deployed in public buildings.
• Reaching UCC’s strategic goal of providing 2,000 affordable student accommodation beds. Over 1,500 beds are currently managed by UCC, with options to increase by a further 500 beds being actively explored.
• Over €20m investment in dentistry facilities in the region will occur including the modernisation of Cork University Dental School and Hospital (CUDSH) which sees over 23,000 patients each year.
• Over €17m investment proposed in outdoor Sports Facilities including a future sports park at Curraheen.
• A joint UCC–HSE initiative, will see the development of the UCC Clinical Medical School at Cork University Hospital, which will  address long-standing clinical education deficiencies while supporting national health system expansion.
• The UCC Digital Strategy is a key enabler of the UCC Capital Plan. As part of this commitment, UCC will invest over €30 million in digital infrastructure over the lifetime of the plan. This marks the largest capital investment in technology in UCC’s history and will drive significant transformation in teaching, learning, research, and work.

“A strong and healthy UCC drives growth and this Capital Plan is tailored to recognise the significant rise in operating costs in recent years. Significant investment into Ireland’s future is been made through this plan” states Sean O’Driscoll, Chair of the Governing Authority.

In the context of sustained inflation, UCC has opted to proceed with planning for a new business school building on the main campus and therefore will not procced with the development in Cork City centre. “UCC is not immune to the significant rise in construction costs and, to ensure responsible financial management and value for money, we have carefully reviewed all major projects in light of current market conditions. We remain fully committed to delivering a state of the art, future-focused building that reflects the success and ambition of UCC’s world-class Business School and which meets the needs of our students, staff, and wider community” states Sean O’Driscoll, Chair of the Governing Authority (pictured left).

“Universities must plan not only for today, but for generations ahead. A key focus of our approach in this Capital Plan is to support our students, staff, region and economy into the future. The future of Cork will be advanced by this plan supporting social, economic and cultural innovation and creativity. Our people, our place and our footprint will support the delivery of a living sustainable city,” stated Professor John O’Halloran, President of UCC.

“This investment in campus and community infrastructure will contribute to economic growth, job creation, research commercialisation, and international engagement and we look forward to working with our partners to deliver this plan in the coming years,” states Mark Poland, Director of Building and Estates, UCC.

“Our staff and students increasingly depend on technology to support and enable how they teach, learn, research, and work. This investment in our Digital Strategy will ensure that we build the services needed so that the entire UCC community is positioned to thrive as Artificial Intelligence continues to shape our world,” states Dr Gerard Culley, Director of Information Technology Services at UCC.