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....
