Ideally located in the university city of Galway, the University offers a wide range of internationally recognised degree programmes, in a welcoming academic community.

Today, we have over 17,000 students undertaking undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes across five colleges:

• Arts, Social Sciences and Celtic Studies
• Business, Public Policy and Law
• Engineering and Informatics
• Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences
• Science

International students comprise over 12% of the student body at NUI Galway, with over 90 countries represented in total. This includes visiting students from other universities around the world as well as degree-seeking international students, on full undergraduate or postgraduate degree programmes.

Our reputation

In 2009, NUI Galway was named the Sunday Times University of the Year in Ireland for the second time, having previously won the award in 2002. In the latest QS World University Rankings, we are ranked in the world’s top 300 universities, putting us in the top 3% of universities in the world overall.

In 2012, the University was awarded a prestigious five star rating from the QS Stars rating system and received the maximum ratings in several key areas including research, teaching, internationalisation, facilities, engagement and innovation.

International Links

NUI Galway has a strong international focus, with long established research and student exchange links with universities throughout the world. Some of our most notable research links include Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), Harvard University and Stanford University in the USA, the University of Cambridge, Imperial College London and the University of Edinburgh in the UK, Tsinghua University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China as well as Kyoto University in Japan.

In addition, we also have student exchange programmes with over 200 international universities, ranging from Ottawa University in Canada, Georgetown University and the University of California in the USA, University of Veracruz in Mexico and HKUST in Hong Kong.

The University has also been an active member of the Erasmus student exchange programme since its inception in 1987, with 150 exchange programmes with universities throughout Europe.

NUI Galway is a member of the prestigious Coimbra Group of universities, an association of  long-established research-led universities, which also includes most notably the University of Oxford (UK), University of Barcelona (Spain) and Heidelberg University (Germany).

Arty and bohemian, Galway is legendary around the world for its entertainment scene. Brightly painted pubs heave with live music on any given night. Cafés spill out onto winding cobblestone streets filled with a frenzy of fiddles, banjos, bagpipes, harps, tin whistles, guitars and bodhráns (hand-held goatskin drums), and jugglers, painters, poets, puppeteers and magicians in outlandish masks enchant passers-by. Actors in traditional Irish theatre tread also the boards around town. Galway’s streets are steeped in history, yet have a contemporary vibe. Students make up a quarter of the city’s population, while the remains of the medieval town walls lie between shops selling Aran sweaters, handcrafted Claddagh rings, and stacks of second¬hand and new books.
— Lonely Planet

The unique student experience at NUI Galway owes much to our location in the beautiful city of Galway, Ireland’s third largest city. Galway is the perfect ‘college town’ – large enough to offer everything you would want in terms of shopping facilities, theatres, restaurants, music venues, sports facilities – but small enough to be able to get to know people and get around easily.

King Richard III granted the city of Galway its first charter in 1484 and traces of Galway’s rich medieval past can still be seen today in its narrow cobbled streets and laneways.

Today, Galway is widely regarded as the cultural capital of Ireland and is home to the world renowned Druid Theatre Company, the Macnas Street Theatre Company and An Taibhdhearc, the national Irish language theatre company. The Town Hall Theatre provides a state-of-the-art venue for cultural events throughout the year including concerts, ballet, musicals and opera.

Students account for approximately 20% of the population of the city during term which gives Galway a young and vibrant feel. This creative energy of Galway is reflected in the many internationally renowned festivals, music sessions, cultural and sporting events that are hosted in the city every year.

Galway also serves as great base for exploring other parts of Europe, with good transport links to Ireland’s main airports.

The city is also a high tech hub and is the European base for some of the world’s leading medical device and ICT multinationals, including Medtronic, Boston Scientific and Merit Medical, SAP, Hewlett Packard, Cisco Systems and EA Games.

The city’s surrounding hinterland, including Connemara, the Burren and the Aran Islands, is also major draw for visitors who come west to see the Ireland of rugged countryside, castles, lakes and rivers and savour the unique atmosphere of our seafood restaurants, cafes and traditional Irish music pubs.

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NUI Galway is the epitome of what a university level education should be about. It provides a first-rate student experience with modern cutting-edge facilities. Its graduates are sought after throughout Ireland and beyond, and the NUI Galway name is synonymous with high quality.
— Alistair McCall, editor of the Sunday Times University Guide

The research environment here is strongly interdisciplinary, built on our particular areas of expertise and we place a great emphasis on independent learning at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.

NUI Galway is today recognised as a centre of excellence in a number of areas including:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Child and Family Research
• Environmental and Marine Science
• Film and Digital Media
• Irish Studies
• Internet Technology
• Human Rights

As a research-led university, the work carried out across our various colleges and research centres informs and enhances all of our degree programmes. Many of our research centres for example have helped developed undergraduate and postgraduate courses that are unique to NUI Galway, such as those in Marine Science, Human Rights Law and Regenerative Medicine. This means that all of our students can learn of the latest ideas and discoveries in their subject, from faculty who are working at the cutting edge of their field.

Both our undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes are designed to provide the right mix of knowledge and practical skills in order to produce graduates who can make a real contribution to the world of learning and the workplace.

Our strong emphasis on academic learning and personal development means NUI Galway graduates are highly regarded by employers and go on to enjoy successful careers in a wide variety of fields. Work experience is an integral part of many of our programmes and the Career Development Centre provides a comprehensive guidance and information service to help you manage your career development, including information seminars, career fairs and a one-to-one career guidance service.

Recent graduates of the University have been recruited by some of the leading international organisations, both in Ireland and overseas, including CISCO, Deloitte, Ericsson, GlaxoSmithKline, Intel, KPMG and Microsoft.

NUI Galway is also Ireland’s leading university for student volunteering, with more than 2,000 registered student volunteers working in local and international communities. All NUI Galway students can volunteer through the University’s ALIVE (A Learning Initiative and the Volunteering Experience) programme, established to support NUI Galway students who wish to volunteer.

Of course, what you study is only half the story! At NUI Galway, we pride ourselves on offering a welcoming and supportive environment to help you make the transition to university life in a new country. We offer an unrivalled selection of cultural, sporting and social activities to enjoy while studying here that will help enhance your personal and social skills and of course have lots of fun.

There is no better way to integrate into the academic and social life of the campus than through our student societies and sports clubs.

Student Societies

Joining a student society is a great way for international students to integrate into the life of the University. Each society arranges trips, events, guest speakers, workshops, classes and parties each year. A Student Societies’ sign up day is held at the beginning of each semester, which gives you the chance to find out about all the societies and join as many as you like.

Interests catered for include everything from art and baking to science fiction and juggling. There is even a Nothing Specific Society!

Sports Clubs

Joining a sports club not only gives you the opportunity to stay fit and healthy while at university, it also helps you to meet new friends and provides lasting memories of college life.

Our sports clubs cater for all types of activity, from the elite competitor to the beginner or someone looking just to keep fit and have fun. The University’s sporting facilities include:

• 25 metre swimming pool
• Squash and racquetball courts
• Basketball arena and sports hall
• Gym & Fitness studios
• Climbing wall
• Ten natural grass playing pitches
• An eight-lane synthetic running track
• floodlit artificial surface pitch catering for all field sports

The Sports Unit organises introductory sessions to Gaelic (Irish) sports for international students at the beginning of each semester, including taster sessions for Gaelic football and hurling as well as walking and climbing excursions in the surrounding countryside.

NUI Galway and the Arts

Galway has a strong reputation for the arts and the University plays an important role in supporting the local arts scene, with numerous literary, visual and performing arts events held throughout the year. The Arts Office also organises literary, visual and performing arts on campus, including the annual Múscailt Arts Festival while the Arts in Action programme features performances and lectures in theatre, film, music, dance, visual arts throughout the year.

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International Affairs Office

Senior Management
	Dr Brian Hughes Dean of International Affairs		Anna Cunningham Director of International Affairs
Student Recruitment and Admissions
	Brian Hussey International Education Officer		Aisling Lennon International Marketing Executive
	Johanna Walsh International Marketing Executive		Betty Liao NUI Galway China Representative
Erasmus
	Mary Lyons International Affairs Officer		Gisèle Farrell Administrative Assistant
Study Abroad (Non-EU Visiting Students)
	Louise Coyle Administrative Assistant
Student Support		Federal Aid (US Students)
	Louise Kelly International Student Officer		Florinda Green Federal Aid Administrator

International Affairs Office

7 Distillery Road

NUI Galway

Galway

IRELAND

t: +353 (0)91 49 5277

e: international@nuigalway.ie

Find us on the interactive campus map