New UCD AI Institute will partner AI engineers with  researchers to advance discovery across all disciplines including health, agriculture, climate, humanities and the sciences

• Ireland's first university-owned AI Institute will help researchers across all academic disciplines harness AI to accelerate discovery and impact
• Novel AI Design Studio will put specialist AI engineers directly alongside researchers to develop new tools and approaches to complex research questions
• Institute builds on UCD research already using AI in areas including childhood cancer, maternal health, climate and weather forecasting, agriculture and cultural research
• Independent academic research will also critically evaluate AI systems and contribute to safety, ethics, regulation and European AI policy
• Institute launches as 1,000 scientists, policymakers and technology leaders gather at UCD for the European AI in Science Summit

University College Dublin (UCD) this morning launches 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.

Launching the new Institute, Ireland’s Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science James Lawless says this is a “transformative development” for scientists across different fields, supporting them both here and globally.

Minister Lawless says: “I am delighted to launch the new AI Institute at University College Dublin. This institute represents a truly transformative development, establishing a world-class environment where our talented researchers can turn bold ideas into profound discoveries.

“When science moves, everything around it moves also, and by supporting independent discovery at the absolute frontiers of data science, this institute will create a vital spillover effect that drives societal progress and helps solve some of our most complex global challenges. 

The UCD AI Institute is being launched at the flagship European Commission ‘AI in Science’ 2026 summit (AIS26), gathering over 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 summit is being opened at O’Reilly Hall in Dublin by European Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, Michael McGrath, and will discuss the progress made under the European Strategy for AI in Science, and how to develop responsible, distinctively European AI approaches to help reinvent fields such as healthcare, climate and scientific discovery. 

The new AI Institute will be led by a leading global expert in AI research Professor 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 says: “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.”

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; to improve the diagnosis of pre-eclampsia in maternal health; to advance weather forecasting; to develop precision agriculture; to support flood prediction; and to uncover new insights through cultural analytics.

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 says: “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 Presidency, as well as being a flagship event of European AI Innovation Month.

At the summit, the European Commission will unveil a new initiative for collaboration with industry on AI in science, with companies including Mistral, Nvidia, Elsevier, Google, Sanofi, Frontiers, Tata Consulting Services and Novo Nordisk Foundation pledging resources to European researchers working at the intersection of science and AI.