Our Research
Our Research Pillars
Purpose-led, people-powered, place-enabled.
Our university champions the role of foundational, curiosity-driven research in expanding our understanding of the world and inspiring innovation. Our research community is engaged in global challenges, national priorities, and regional needs.
Together, we embrace an interdisciplinary and engaged approach, across a broad range of disciplines, and deliver impact through international collaboration. Our research leverages the unique character of our place, coalescing around four pillars, through which we deliver University of Galway’s distinctive research impact.
We are top 2% of research universities
Innovation for Health
Innovation for Health reflects the strength of our research on understanding and managing diseases, medical technologies and devices, therapeutics and population health.
Our research drives innovation in disease prevention and management, transforms healthcare practice and policy, and improves patient lives through groundbreaking clinical trials and disruptive solutions for health.
Creativity, Culture and Society
Creativity, Culture & Society reflects our strength in creativity, arts practice, humanities, social sciences and justice. Our work explores cultural practices across time periods and around the world.
Through local and global engagement, our multi-disciplinary research enables us to understand the complexity of our world and respond to societal challenges by promoting human rights, democracy and social justice.
Sustainable & Resilient Environments
Sustainable & Resilient Environments: Earth & Ocean reflects our interdisciplinary strengths in marine, environment, decarbonisation, sustainable construction and planetary health.
Our research has globally relevant impacts in marine ecology and economics, climate change, land use and biodiversity, renewable energy, sustainable communities, the built environment, and on policy that drives positive change.
Transformative Data & AI
Transformative Data & AI reflects our strengths in analytics, data, technology and computer science.
From leading foundational research, to shaping policy on responsible use, we apply research in data semantics and analytics, AI, machine learning and our high-performance computing capacity to support interdisciplinary research addressing global challenges.
Research and Innovation Strategy
Purpose. People. Place. 2021 – 26
Our Mission
The research community at University of Galway exemplifies the creative energy and transformative ambition of the university. We pursue enquiry as an intrinsic good, share our insights locally and globally as a public good, and ensure that research has significant impact for all our communities of engagement.
Our Vision
We live in an extraordinary world, yet one in which society, humanity and our planet face immense challenges. We respond to these challenges through our research ambition.
Over the period of this strategy, we will develop and grow the areas of research in which we have genuine transformative potential. Our work will respond to global challenges, including the UN Sustainable Development Goals. We will support our researchers to achieve excellence through distinctive strengths, which will set us apart internationally.
Our university stands at the heart of a distinctive city and region in the West of Ireland, renowned for its culture, creativity, technology and innovation. Our research will continue to draw from these strong traditions while transforming them for the future.
Our success will be built on a comprehensive research ecosystem as a resource for our many communities. Our community will be diverse, open, supportive and outward-looking.
Research Centres, Institutes, and Units
Our place is distinct & connected globally.
Our university is situated in a unique and vibrant region, deeply connected to the world through extensive international partnerships. We collaborate with over 5,000 institutions across 178 countries, driving impactful research on a global scale. In addition, we are actively involved in 240 industry-led projects, fostering innovation and real-world solutions such as those central to the medtech hub in Galway.
Through our renowned research institutes and centres (detailed below), we engage in cutting-edge research that transcends borders, creating a truly global community of knowledge and discovery.