Current Fundraising Priorities

Our current fundraising priorities are:

Biomedical Sciences

The mission of the School of Biomedical Sciences is to educate undergraduates and postgraduates in the critical application of science; facilitate training for healthcare, scientific and technical professions; support continuing professional development; contribute to knowledge through excellence in research on human health and disease and related areas and contribute to social and economic development through technology and knowledge transfer.

The Biomedical Science Research Institute concentrates on the causes, diagnosis, prevention and treatment of degenerative diseases, especially their interaction with nutritional factors. The Institute saw its international reputation as a world-leader confirmed for an unprecedented third time when 95% of its research, from a submission of 61 staff, was rated international, including a quarter being world leading. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise period, the Institute obtained over £21 million in research grants and had 170 successfully completed PhDs. This represents a very significant contribution to the provision of high value jobs and skills for the Northern Ireland economy.

Donations have played an important part in helping Biomedical Sciences at Ulster grasp opportunities. For example, the FEI Centre for Advanced Imaging, located within the £14.5 million Centre for Molecular Biosciences building, and the ground-breaking Diabetes Research Group, led by Professor Peter Flatt who received one of Diabetes UK’s highest honours, located within the SAAD building. The SAAD building will also be home to a Metabolomics Research Centre and the School’s Department of Pharmacy which aims to launch its MPharm in September 2009.

Do you want to be part of the team which helps drive Biomedical Sciences at Ulster to yet higher achievement? There are so many ways in which your donation could help from Research Studentships and Special Projects, to Chairs and Research Equipment.

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Real Estate Initiative

The University of Ulster Real Estate Initiative brings together the leading developers, investors and financiers across the island of Ireland to promote cutting edge research that will help shape the policy and practice agenda within the built environment over the next decade. 

The Real Estate Initiative is the first of its kind in Ireland, and is based on a successful model developed by Harvard University Graduate School of Design, with whom we work closely in terms of collaborative research and teaching.  Based in the School of the Built Environment, the programme was launched in February 2008 by Daniel Libeskind at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast.

Objectives

The overarching goal of the Real Estate Initiative is to enhance the quality and practice of real estate investment, urban development and urban design.  The initiative is a bridge between the many different facets of real estate investment, urban development, urban design and urban policy, and creates dialogue between the public and private sectors with respect to finance, law, design, environment, public health, education, demography, ethnicity, government and technology. 

There are 5 key objectives: 

Art and Design

Art  to Life Campaign

The School was originally located in Belfast’s historic College Square Quarter, moving to the current site in York Street in 1968, at that time an area associated with the city’s historic textile industry. The School of Art and Design became part of the University of Ulster in 1984.

A £30 million redevelopment of the Belfast campus at York Street was completed in June 2008. The new accommodation includes tailored learning and studio space, catering for all art and design disciplines, and boasts a 200 seat lecture theatre, a state-of-the-art Learning Resource Centre, and conferencing and restaurant facilities.

The School of Art and Design offers programmes of study at diploma, degree and masters levels. Courses include: art and design; fine and applied arts; design for visual communication; interactive multimedia design; Irish visual culture; photography; textiles; and fashion design. Architecture programmes are offered through its sister School of Architecture and Design.

Bringing Art to Life
The University of Ulster’s School of Art and Design is already established as a centre of excellence in the provision of art and design education. However the School is also committed to bringing art and design within the reach of the wider community.

To this end, the University has launched the Art to Life campaign, to offer friends of the University, who care deeply about the cultural and artistic welfare of the region, the opportunity to make a financial commitment in support of the work of the School and therefore to the development of art within Northern Ireland. With your help we propose to build on existing investment and create a purpose-built University of Ulster art gallery, establish a new Chair, in support of our teaching and research excellence, and offer studentships to up-and-coming artists studying at the University.

Gallery
Housed within an iconic building, the proposed gallery will have a multi-disciplinary focus, providing a unique opportunity to showcase a wide range of local, national and international exhibitions, reflecting the range of work being undertaken in the School including fine art, ceramics, textiles and silversmithing.

The Northern Ireland political and cultural environment has been reflected through art, not only during the recent unrest but also post conflict. It is proposed that the gallery will house a permanent exhibition of works from this period, to reflect the environment of the time and provide a reference centre for those seeking to be informed about the political and cultural history of Northern Ireland. The School is in a unique position to undertake this role, already having a wide body of work influenced by the civil unrest of the late 20th century.

It is our vision that the gallery will provide a forum for the University to educate society with regard to artistic practice and encourage engagement with art. It will be open to everyone – the public, tourists, school children, students – anyone with an interest in art.

The School of Art and Design wishes to influence rather than be influenced. Extending its research capacity through the establishment of a gallery will ensure that it continues to create, innovate and influence design throughout the world, whether for aesthetic pleasure or industrial success.

Chair in Art and Design
Friends of the University are invited to support the School of Art and Design through the establishment of a Chair in Art and Design.  The Chair would promote international best practice in Art and Design though collaboration with leading global practitioners and scholars. An example of a current Chair within the Faculty of Art, Design and the Built Environment is the Dr Gerard O’Hare Chair in Property Development and Design, established in 2004. The first holder of the Chair is Professor Richard Sommer of Harvard University Graduate School of Design in Urban Planning and Architecture. Since this Chair’s establishment, teaching and research within the University of Ulster’s School of the Built Environment have been enriched to the great benefit of all students. With your support, the University wishes similarly to enrich the lives of students within the School of Art and Design.

Studentships in Art and Design
Each year, the University is very proud of the work that is produced by its Art and Design students. With your help, the University wishes to support its students further in their development, by offering studentships within the School. This will allow the best up-and-coming artists to continue to develop their skills within the creative environment provided by the School and the Belfast campus and it will allow Ulster to assure the creative future of Northern Ireland. Most importantly, the studentships will produce some very exciting works by the artists of the future.

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Sport at Ulster

The Sports Academy needs to generate unrestricted income to allow it to develop sport and sport projects at the community and student level.  The University is keen use sport to act as a catalyst for  widening access.  To this end the Sports Academy is keen to develop meaningful mutually beneficial relationships with the commercial sector.

On the academic front and in keeping with the theme of widening access, Ulster Sports Academy would like to increase the number of scholarships that it is able to offer and support from the business / statutory sector would be welcomed in achieving this.

There are approximately 70 different sports clubs associated with Ulster, and the University has identified ten focus sports that have the capacity for significant development and improvement in performance in terms of achievement. These are GAA, rugby, hockey, soccer, basketball, golf, athletics, fencing, volleyball and gymnastics. Any assistance in terms of expertise, financial support or in kind support to assist in achieving these aims would be most welcome.

Finally again in terms of widening access and integration with the community maximising the use of sports facilities as a means of generating income would be most welcome.  In this context in kind marketing support would be useful

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