Major Research Centres and Programmes Include:
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 The Centre for Behaviour and Health (CBH) is a cross-campus, multidisciplinary research group focusing on behavioural aspects of health and welfare. Research focuses on the determinants of health behaviours in a wide range of domains, measurement issues in health and well-being, statistical methodology, electronic survey design and determinants of well-being. Read more...
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 Under the coordination of the UCD Human Development Initiative we are part of a multi-disciplinary team of researchers working on poverty reduction in the Conway Institute (Medical Science), Geary Institute (Social Science) and Urban Institute (Environmental and Agricultural Science). Our research in the Geary Institute focuses on important thematic priorities of Irish Aid. Pro-Poor Industrialization Growth; Good Governance; Health; Education; We are in partnership with Irish Aid, University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, LICOS-K.U.Leuven in Belgium and IIIS-TCD in Ireland. We are open to partnerships with other Universitiesthat wish to work on poverty reduction using Quantitative Social Science Research Methods. Read more...
 
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 The education of young people, particularly those from disadvantaged or minority backgrounds, is one of the great challenges facing European governments. Education is a crucial investment both for the country as a whole (in ensuring economic competitiveness and social integration) and for the individuals concerned, in helping them to avoid unemployment and secure skilled and secure employment. Read more...
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 The Dynamics Lab at the Geary Institute focuses on dynamic and complex behaviour in social networks and group processes. It fosters an interdisciplinary approach and brings together researchers from across the university interested in dynamic computational and social network analysis, computational science including agent based simulation in the social sciences, group processes and group decision modeling. Read more... |
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 This interdisciplinary research programme brings together researchers from UCD School of Politics and International Relations, UCD School of Law, UCD School of Mathematical Sciences, and the IPA, in an innovative approach to understanding policy processes in Ireland. At the core of the project is the construction of a time-series database of national-level state institutions, in which we track structural change and institutional innovation. By coding institutions for a whole range of attributes, we will be able profile changes in both form and function of the Irish state over time. This database provides the raw material for a variety of theoretically informed studies of policy processes in a range of domains. The project is funded by an IRCHSS Thematic Research Grant and has also received support from the UCD Seed Funding Scheme. For more information see here. Read more...
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 The Geary Institute and the NUI Maynooth Department of Psychology are combining resources to build capacity in the area of neuroeconomics. The aim of this work is to explore the biological processes underlying human decision-making in different domains of life. We hope to provide a rigorous account of the how people make decisions in ways that will eventually inform diverse areas such as health insurance, pensions planning, drink driving, smoking and saving policy. Read more...
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 Our work in this area is focused particularly on risk perception and behaviour with relation to diet and nutrition. Specific areas of research include measurement of risk behaviours; Individual personality and socio-demographic factors that determine such behaviours; Societal factors that act as triggers to engage in health risk behaviours; Negative outcomes deriving from risk behaviours. Read more...
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 An evaluation of UCD's New ERA Widening Participation Initiative is currently being conducted at the Geary Institute. The aim of the New ERA programme is to promote and support the participation of students from under-represented groups in higher education through supported entry mechanisms, financial support, and a host of pre and post entry supports. The evaluation is examining the impact of these services on progression rates and final degree classification over a six year period using a combination of administrative, survey, and qualitative data. Read more...
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 The CHDPP is involved in the evaluation of the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) capital investment programme in England, which aims at ensuring that all secondary schools in the country have 21st Century facilities within 10-15 years. Speaking at the Launch of BSF, Prime Minister Tony Blair called it the "greatest school renewal programme in British history reversing a generation of under-investment in our schools." Read more... |
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 POPB is a Geary Institute research programme in comparative Public Opinion and Political Behaviour. Current projects include voter turnout and other forms of political participation in systems of multi-level governance; attitudes to globalization and European integration; referendum voting behaviour; Irish public opinion and voting behaviour in comparative perspective; and multi-level analysis of human values, institutions and behaviour. Read more... |
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 “Northern Europeans are healthier and wealthier but the people in the South live longer,” says Professor Axel Börsch-Supan, the coordinator of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (or SHARE). SHARE provides data on the life circumstances of about 22,000 persons age 50 and over in 11 European countries, ranging from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean. It is being conducted among the Irish population for the first time in 2007 by researchers at UCD Geary Institute and the UCD School of Public Health and Population Science, with funding from the Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Sciences (IRCHSS). Read more... |
