The Italian Ambassador Nicola Faganello met on August 21 with Professor Orla Feely, President of University College Dublin (UCD). UCD is Ireland’s largest university, a research-intensive public university (founded in 1854) with over 38,000 students, a strong international presence (a quarter of its total comes from 150 countries, including approximately 500 Italians), and a diverse community comprising numerous colleges, schools, and research institutes.
During the meeting held at the UCD Campus, Ambassador Faganello – accompanied by the Director of the local Italian Cultural Institute, Dr. Marco Gioacchini – discussed with President Feely (assisted by Eve Brosseau, Associate Director for Global Relations and Partnerships, and Abigail Lalor, Senior Recruitment Manager for Ireland at UCD) both the initiative launched by the Embassy and the Institute to promote relationships and mutual understanding among the numerous Italian professors, PhD students, and researchers working at Irish universities (including over 90 at UCD) and to create a national network that strengthens this presence, as well as the shared commitment to innovate and expand cooperation between UCD and Italian academic and research institutions in various fields: from humanities and languages (UCD already hosts the largest Italian Studies Department in Ireland) to science and technology, from international relations to sports. For her part, President Feely, confirming her strong interest in these initiatives, noted that UCD (the largest English-speaking university in the EU) has the University of Bologna as its main Italian partner (within the European University Alliance). She drew attention to the University’s “2030 Strategy,” launched last November, which focuses on research and sustainability and an increasingly global approach, open to diversity.
