Dr Ciara Leonard is Public Affairs Manager, Research and Innovation at University College Dublin (UCD), Ireland where she supports national, EU and international policy initiatives and engages with key stakeholders. Previously she worked in various innovation and technology commercialisation roles in UCD, Ulster University and with InvestNI in Boston, USA. Ciara completed her undergraduate studies at Queen’s University, Belfast in Economics and post-graduate studies at Johns Hopkins University and Queen’s. Her PhD research examined university-industry R&D collaboration in Ireland and the role of government from the perspective of the firm.
University College Dublin is one of Europe's leading research-intensive universities and is ranked within the top 1% of higher education institutions world-wide. UCD is Ireland's most globally engaged university with over 33,000 students drawn from 144 countries. Agricultural Sciences at UCD is ranked within the top 50 globally and 5th in Europe and we are leading a portfolio of research and development initiatives in the area of agri-food. UCD is at the forefront of Ireland’s agri-food sector response to some of the most pressing global challenges and we work closely with sector stakeholders to ensure sustainability and global competitiveness to develop safe, sustainable foods and promote human health.