Ulster University Crowned Times Higher Education University of the Year

11th December 2024

Ulster University has been awarded ‘University of the Year 2024’ by the Times Higher Education Awards! The new state-of-the-art Belfast city centre campus, designed by FCBStudios, was credited for 'creating a vital connection to a historically underserved community'.

This marks the the first time it has been recognised as the top higher education institution in the UK and Ireland.

The award honoured the completion of Ulster’s £364 million Belfast campus, creating a vital connection to a historically underserved community, backed up with a schools programme designed to boost higher education participation among the city’s young males.

Times Higher Education Awards 2024 Judges Comments

"Ulster University was hailed as a “force for good in fostering peace, prosperity and cohesion” and took the top spot in recognition of its role as an anchor institution in a region that has undergone rapid change in the quarter-century since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.

The award honoured the completion of Ulster’s £364 million Belfast campus, creating a vital connection to a historically underserved community, backed up with a schools programme designed to boost higher education participation among the city’s young males.

The significance of such efforts to ongoing peace and collaboration were underscored by Ulster’s role as host to the US president, Joe Biden, on his visit to mark the Good Friday Agreement’s 25th anniversary

A beacon of aspiration and an engine of innovation, the campus is transforming learning and teaching experiences while making a significant economic impact in the immediate area, across the city, and the wider region."