"This strategy builds on a platform of success, and a long tradition of facing the future with ambition..."

NUI Galway has been transformed over the past decade. As we approach the University’s 175th birthday in 2020, we can be truly proud of our recent success. The impact of our teaching and research is now recognised around the world, in particular in our consistent rise in international rankings. In strengthening our position as a research-led university with global reach, we must retain the unique values that define NUI Galway. Enriched by a talented and diverse team of staff, we are committed to delivering excellence and creating equality of opportunity, through a spirit of partnership. Working together with determination, confidence and ambition, we can look forward to the many exciting opportunities that lie ahead of us over the next five years.

Our first commitment is – and always will be – to our students. This commitment to delivering excellent academic and developmental opportunities for our students informs all our decision-making. It involves ensuring our students are challenged and intellectually stimulated by academic staff at the frontiers of research, as well as creating a learning environment that enhances student interaction and engagement, and enriches their leadership potential.

Over the past ten years, we have achieved national leadership and growing international recognition for the quality of our research in our priority areas. With this growing profile, we will continue to pursue an ambitious internationalisation agenda. Over the lifetime of this Plan, we will maximise the potential of our research to have global impact and significantly enhance our international profile. We aspire to be a top 200 university by 2020, attracting the best students, teachers and researchers, and creating a network of relationships of substance that span the globe.

In the pages that follow, we set out in detail our ambitious vision for the future – describing our programme of activities, and articulating the values and ideas that underlie those activities. This Plan has been written following extensive consultation with the wider University community, with input and ideas from across the campus and far beyond. The extensive engagement throughout the planning process shows a shared ambition for our University to succeed.

I would like to thank everyone who was involved in devising this Plan, and all those who took the time to share their vision for NUI Galway in the process. This strategy builds on a platform of success, and a long tradition of facing the future with ambition. I am pleased to recommend this Plan to the University community, and I look forward to working with you in achieving our vision.

James J. Browne, Ph.D., D.Sc., MRIA, C. Eng.

President - Uachtarán