University College Dublin (UCD) has launched Ireland’s first university-led Artificial Intelligence Institute to empower researchers across all disciplines, accelerate scientific discovery and impact policy and regulation.
At the heart of the new UCD AI Institute will be an AI Design Studio – a team of computer science engineers, supported by expertise in ethics and compliance, who will work with researchers to adapt existing AI technologies and develop new tools to address major societal challenges.
The model is designed to make advanced AI capability available beyond computer science, enabling researchers in areas ranging from medicine and agriculture to climate, humanities and the social sciences to work alongside AI specialists.
The Institute will build on significant AI-enabled research already under way at UCD. This includes the current use of AI to create digital twins of paediatric cancer patients to support more personalised treatment; improving the diagnosis of pre-eclampsia in maternal health; advanced weather forecasting; flood prediction; and cultural analytics.
The UCD AI Institute is being launched at the flagship European Commission AI in Science 2026 summit (AIS26), gathering more than 1,000 global scientists, industry leaders and policymakers at the university, as part of Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
The Institute will be led by a leading global expert in AI research Prof Robin Burke, who has pioneered personalised recommender systems, algorithmic ethics, fairness and transparency. Formerly Chair and Professor of Information Science at the University of Colorado Boulder, Prof Burke also intends that the new UCD Institute will research issues of sustainability and AI as well as concerns about the erosion of critical thinking.
Prof Burke said: “AI has the potential to become a powerful catalyst for human inquiry, but researchers should not have to become AI specialists themselves to realise that potential. Our model is about bringing AI expertise directly alongside researchers. A scientist, clinician, agricultural researcher or humanities scholar can bring us a research question and work with experts to explore how AI can help them answer it.
“We also have an important responsibility as an independent academic institution to examine AI critically – its capabilities, its limitations and its impact – and to help ensure its development remains trustworthy, responsible and human-centred.”
Additionally, research at the Institute will critically evaluate AI’s societal impact, guide technology policy and governance, and drive independent public debate on how AI is used and regulated, both at a national and EU level.
UCD President Prof Orla Feely said: “AI is changing not only what we can discover, but how discovery itself happens. Universities must support our research communities to avail of these new technologies in a responsible way to advance their disciplines.
“The UCD AI Institute will connect expertise that already exists across the University with dedicated AI capability, enabling our researchers to reach further across disciplinary boundaries to tackle questions of importance to society. Through the Institute, our faculty will have access to new insights and approaches that can inform their teaching, so that our graduates stand up and stand out in a rapidly changing world. The Institute will act as an important hub, connecting our external partners with the full range of UCD’s expertise in AI.”
AIS26 forms part of a wider programme of UCD activity contributing expertise, evidence and ideas connected to the priorities of Ireland’s EU Presidency, as well as being part of the European AI Innovation Month.
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