University College, Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD; Irish: Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a research university in Dublin, Ireland. It has over 1,482 faculty and 32,000 students,[2] and it is Ireland’s largest university. The university originates in a body founded in 1854 with John Henry Newman as the first rector known as the Catholic University of Ireland, re-formed in 1880 and chartered in its own right in 1908. The Universities Act, 1997 renamed the constituent university as the “National University of Ireland, Dublin”, and a ministerial order of 1998 renamed the institution as “University College Dublin – National University of Ireland, Dublin”.[3]
Originally in locations across Dublin city, all of the university’s faculties have relocated to a 133-hectare (330-acre)[2] campus at Belfield, four kilometres to the south of the city centre.
University College Dublin is frequently ranked among the top universities in Europe.[4] There are five Nobel Laureates amongst University College Dublin’s alumni and current and former staff. The 2016 QS World University Rankings ranks UCD #176 worldwide, and puts it in the 151-200 bracket, for graduate employability.[6]
A report published in May 2015 showed the economic output generated by UCD and its students in Ireland amounted to €1.3 billion annually.
