University College Dublin institutional logo

University College Dublin

Dublin, Ireland • Founded 1854 • QS 2027 #100 =

Updated May 2026 · Source: ucd.ie · How we collect data

Overview

English Name: National University of IrelandUniversity College Dublin
Local Name: Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath
Acronyms: UCD
Founded: 1854
Institution Type: University College
Control Type: Public
Entity Type: Non-profit
Rankings:
QS World University Rankings 2027 #100 = Times Higher Education 2026 #201-250 ARWU (Shanghai) 2026 #301-400 CWTS Leiden 2025 #211 SCImago 2026 #249
Motto: Ad Astra / Cothrom Féinne
Colours: St patrick's blue and saffron
University College Dublin institutional setting
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Established in 1854, the University College Dublin is a non-profit public higher education institution located in the suburban setting of the large city of Dublin (population range of 500,000-1,000,000 inhabitants), County Dublin.

Officially recognized by the Department of Education and Skills of Ireland, University College Dublin (UCD) is a large-sized coeducational Irish higher education institution. University College Dublin (UCD) offers courses and programs leading to officially recognized higher education degrees such as pre-bachelor's degrees (i.e. certificates, diplomas, associate or foundation), bachelor's degrees, master's degrees and doctorate degrees in several areas of study.

This 170-year-old Irish higher-education institution has a selective admission policy based on students' past academic records and grades. The acceptance rate range is 20-29% making this Irish higher education organization a very selective institution.

International applicants are eligible to apply for enrollment.

UCD also provides several academic and non-academic facilities and services to students including a library, housing, sports facilities, financial aids and/or scholarships, study abroad and exchange programs, as well as administrative services.

Location & Contact

Where to find University College Dublin, plus its phone, email, website, and social media links.

Address: Belfield
Postal Code: D04 V1W8
Phone: +353 (1) 716 7777
Fax: +353 (1) 269 4409
Social Media:

Academic Details

University College Dublin's student body, faculty composition, and recognition framework are below.

Academic Year: September to April (September-December; January-March; April)
Recognition: Department of Education and Skills of Ireland
Accrediting Agency: Quality and Qualifications Ireland - QQI (Dearbhú Cáilíochta agus Cáilíochtaí Éireann)
Admission Requirements: Irish Leaving Certificate with matriculation, or equivalent. Students must be 17 years of age or over
Student Enrollment: 20,000-24,999
Academic Staff Range: 1,000-1,499
Campus Setting: Suburban
Memberships & Networks
Universities Ireland National University of Ireland (NUI) European University Association (EUA) Conference of European Schools for Advanced Engineering Education and Research (CESAER) Universitas 21 (U21) World Universities Network (WUN)

Academic Structures

The faculties, schools, and constituent units that make up University College Dublin are listed below.

Unit 6 items
  • College of Arts and Humanities
  • College of Business
  • College of Engineering and Architecture
  • College of Health and Agricultural Sciences
  • College of Science
  • College of Social Sciences and Law

Degrees

Also Undergraduate Certificates and Diplomas, 1-2 yrs; Professional Certificates and Diplomas (Architecture); Graduates Diplomas; MBA Programmes

Master's 22 programs
  • Accountancy
  • Architecture
  • Biomedical Engineering
  • Civil Engineering
  • Computer Engineering
  • Design
  • Education
  • Electrical Engineering
  • Electronic Engineering
  • Energy Engineering
  • Engineering Management
  • Information Sciences
  • Landscape Architecture
  • Law
  • Library Science
  • Literature
  • Materials Engineering
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Musicology
  • Optical Technology
  • Power Engineering
  • Regional Planning
Doctoral 51 programs
  • Agriculture
  • Archaeology
  • Architecture
  • Archiving
  • Art History
  • Biology
  • Biomedicine
  • Business Administration
  • Celtic Languages and Studies
  • Chemical Engineering
  • Chemistry
  • Civil Engineering
  • Classical Languages
  • Computer Science
  • Economics
  • Education
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering
  • English
  • Environmental Engineering
  • Environmental Studies
  • Epidemiology
  • Film
  • Food Science
  • Geography
  • Geology
  • Health Sciences
  • History
  • Information Sciences
  • International Relations and Diplomacy
  • Law
  • Library Science
  • Linguistics
  • Literature
  • Mathematics
  • Medicine
  • Midwifery
  • Modern Languages
  • Music
  • Nursing
  • Philosophy
  • Physical Therapy
  • Physics
  • Political Sciences
  • Psychology
  • Public Health
  • Social Policy
  • Social Work
  • Sociology
  • Software Engineering
  • Theatre
  • Veterinary Science
Diploma & Certificate 7 programs
  • Biology
  • Economics
  • Engineering
  • Folklore
  • Food Science
  • Food Technology
  • Irish

Faculties & Divisions

All faculties operate under Department of Education and Skills of Ireland.

Innovation (Academy) Faculty details available

Specialisations & Subjects

No specified subjects listed.

Teaching and Learning (Academy) 1 subject offered

Specialisations & Subjects

  • Education
Applied language (Centre) 3 subjects offered

Specialisations & Subjects

  • English
  • English Studies
  • Foreigners Education
Agriculture, Food Science & Veterinary Science (College) 11 subjects offered

Specialisations & Subjects

  • Agricultural Business
  • Agricultural Management
  • Agriculture
  • Animal Husbandry
  • Crop Production
  • Dairy
  • Food Science
  • Forestry
  • Horticulture
  • Nutrition
  • Veterinary Science
Arts & Humanities (College) 24 subjects offered

Specialisations & Subjects

  • Archaeology
  • Archiving
  • Art History
  • Arts and Humanities
  • Celtic Languages and Studies
  • Classical Languages
  • Cultural Studies
  • English
  • Film
  • Folklore
  • French
  • French Studies
  • German
  • Germanic Studies
  • History
  • Irish
  • Italian
  • Linguistics
  • Literature
  • Modern Languages
  • Music
  • Portuguese
  • Spanish
  • Theatre
Business (College) 17 subjects offered

Specialisations & Subjects

  • Accountancy
  • Business Administration
  • Business and Commerce
  • Commercial Law
  • Economics
  • European Union Law
  • Finance
  • French
  • History
  • Human Rights
  • International Business
  • International Law
  • Law
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • Philosophy
  • Political Sciences
Engineering & Architecture (College) 19 subjects offered

Specialisations & Subjects

  • Architecture
  • Architecture and Planning
  • Bioengineering
  • Chemical Engineering
  • Civil Engineering
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering
  • Electrical Engineering
  • Electronic Engineering
  • Engineering
  • Environmental Engineering
  • Food Science
  • Food Technology
  • Landscape Architecture
  • Materials Engineering
  • Mathematics
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Physics
  • Structural Architecture
  • Telecommunications Engineering
Health Sciences & Agricultural Sciences (College) 29 subjects offered

Specialisations & Subjects

  • Agricultural Business
  • Agricultural Economics
  • Agricultural Engineering
  • Agricultural Management
  • Agriculture
  • Art Therapy
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Biology
  • Demography and Population
  • Diabetology
  • Environmental Studies
  • Epidemiology
  • Food Science
  • Food Technology
  • Forensic Medicine and Dentistry
  • Health Sciences
  • Horticulture
  • Medicine
  • Midwifery
  • Nursing
  • Occupational Health
  • Physical Therapy
  • Psychiatry and Mental Health
  • Psychotherapy
  • Public Health
  • Radiology
  • Rehabilitation and Therapy
  • Sports Medicine
  • Veterinary Science
Science (College) 15 subjects offered

Specialisations & Subjects

  • Biological and Life Sciences
  • Biology
  • Biomedical Engineering
  • Biomedicine
  • Biotechnology
  • Chemistry
  • Computer Science
  • Earth Sciences
  • Environmental Studies
  • Geology
  • Mathematics
  • Molecular Biology
  • Physics
  • Statistics
  • Toxicology
Social Sciences & Law (College) 20 subjects offered

Specialisations & Subjects

  • Archaeology
  • Communication Studies
  • Economics
  • Education
  • Educational Psychology
  • Environmental Management
  • European Union Law
  • Geography
  • Information Sciences
  • Information Technology
  • International Relations and Diplomacy
  • Law
  • Library Science
  • Philosophy
  • Political Sciences
  • Psychology
  • Social Policy
  • Social Sciences
  • Social Welfare
  • Sociology
Claude Shannon (Institute) 1 subject offered

Specialisations & Subjects

  • Mathematics
Clinton (Institute) 1 subject offered

Specialisations & Subjects

  • American Studies
Confucius/Irish Institute for Chinese Studies (Institute) 1 subject offered

Specialisations & Subjects

  • Chinese
Earth (Institute) 1 subject offered

Specialisations & Subjects

  • Earth Sciences
Food and Health (Institute) 2 subjects offered

Specialisations & Subjects

  • Food Science
  • Health Sciences
Global Irish (Institute) 1 subject offered

Specialisations & Subjects

  • Irish
Humanities of Ireland (Institute) Faculty details available

Specialisations & Subjects

No specified subjects listed.

Micheál Ó’Cléirigh (Institute) 2 subjects offered

Specialisations & Subjects

  • Cultural Studies
  • History
Sport and Health (Institute) 2 subjects offered

Specialisations & Subjects

  • Health Sciences
  • Sports
Study of Social Change (Institute) 1 subject offered

Specialisations & Subjects

  • Social Studies
The Charles (Institute) 1 subject offered

Specialisations & Subjects

  • Dermatology
Complex and Adaptive Systems (Laboratory) 6 subjects offered

Specialisations & Subjects

  • Biology
  • Computer Science
  • Mathematics
  • Meteorology
  • Nanotechnology
  • Statistics
National Virus Reference (Laboratory) 1 subject offered

Specialisations & Subjects

  • Virology
Bioresources (Research Division) 2 subjects offered

Specialisations & Subjects

  • Energy Engineering
  • Environmental Engineering
Electricity (Research Division) 1 subject offered

Specialisations & Subjects

  • Electrical Engineering
Irish Social Science Data Archive (Research Division) 1 subject offered

Specialisations & Subjects

  • Social Sciences
Irish Virtual Research Library and Archive (Research Division) 1 subject offered

Specialisations & Subjects

  • IVRLA
James Joyce (Research Division) 1 subject offered

Specialisations & Subjects

  • Literature

Programs Offered

University College Dublin's programme catalogue is grouped by level below.

177 programmes on record. Each level below shows a sample. Compare these on the programs page All programs in Ireland

Honours Degree 68 programmes

Bachelor of Science in Actuarial and Financial Studies
4 years
Bachelor of Science in Agri-Environmental Sciences
4 years
Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Science
4 years
Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Systems Technology
4 years
Bachelor of Science in Animal and Crop Production
4 years
Bachelor of Science in Animal Science
4 years
Bachelor of Science in Animal Science - Equine
4 years
Bachelor of Science in Archaeology
4 years
Bachelor of Science in Architectural Science
4 years
Bachelor of Science in Architecture
5 years

Showing 10 of 68.

Master's Degree 107 programmes

Executive Master of Business Administration
2 years
Master in Architecture
2 years
Master in Criminal Law
1 year
Master in Education
1 year
Master in European Public Affairs and Law
1 year
Master in Food Regulatory Affairs
1 year
Master in Music
1 year
Master of Arts in American Politics and Foreign Policy
1 year
Master of Arts in Archives and Records Management
1 year
Master of Arts in Art History, Collections and Curating
1 year

Showing 10 of 107.

Postgraduate Diploma 2 programmes

Postgraduate Diploma in Advanced Business and Executive Coaching
1 year
Postgraduate Diploma in Cancer Nursing
1 year

How to apply to University College Dublin

The application path for University College Dublin, in five steps.

  1. 1
    Identify the right programme

    University College Dublin's catalogue includes 177 programmes. Browse by level, identify candidates matching your prior qualifications, and note their entry requirements for the next step.

  2. 2
    Check entry requirements

    Entry requirements vary by programme and degree level. Verify academic minimums, language tests (if international), and any additional documents required for University College Dublin's admissions process.

  3. 3
    Prepare your application documents

    Typical documents include academic transcripts, identity proof (passport or national ID), language proficiency test scores, a personal statement or motivation letter, and recommendation letters. International applicants should account for translation and notarisation time.

  4. 4
    Submit via the institution

    Submit your completed application through University College Dublin's official website at www.ucd.ie. Most institutions use an online portal — register an account, complete the application form, and upload your prepared documents. Keep copies of all submissions and confirmation receipts.

  5. 5
    Get in touch with admissions

    Follow up to confirm your application was received and is being processed. Reach the institution by phone at +353 (1) 716 7777. Admissions teams may request interviews or additional documents — respond promptly to keep your application active.

Frequently Asked Questions about University College Dublin

Common questions about University College Dublin — answers from its published profile.

How old is University College Dublin?

The institution opened in 1854 (approximately 172 years ago).

In which city is University College Dublin?

University College Dublin is based in Dublin, Ireland.

Is University College Dublin public or private?

It is a public higher-education institution.

How many students study at University College Dublin?

University College Dublin has approximately 20,000-24,999 students.

What is University College Dublin's ranking?

It ranks QS 2027 #100 =.

What degrees does University College Dublin offer?

University College Dublin offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral programmes.

What is University College Dublin's academic structure?

University College Dublin has 6 academic units.

Is University College Dublin officially recognised?

Yes, University College Dublin is recognised by Quality and Qualifications Ireland - QQI (Dearbhú Cáilíochta agus Cáilíochtaí Éireann).

How do I find University College Dublin online?

You can find University College Dublin online at www.ucd.ie.

Members of European University Association (EUA)

Below: other European University Association (EUA) member institutions, alongside University College Dublin.

Faculties at nearby universities

The institutions below are geographically close to University College Dublin.

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