Advancing Educational Excellence

In July 2023, The Irish Government committed €44.5m from the Shared Island Fund, supported by circa £7m from University reserves, for a major investment for the campus to expand higher education on both sides of the border. The project will involve the construction of new teaching and student services block adjacent to the library at Northland Road.  This will provide additional lecture and seminar spaces and other social spaces to free up space in other buildings on campus for teaching and research activity.

We are committed to creating an inspiring environment for our exceptional people, our local communities and for the wider region, building a destination campus in a destination city of Derry~Londonderry. The new facilities will promote a creative, innovative, transformative and vibrant environment that will stimulate, inspire and add value to our core activities of teaching and learning, and research and innovation.

McAdam Design has been appointed as the Integrated Consultancy Team and Atkins Realis as Consultant Project Management team and have shared designs for what the teaching and student services building might look like. This is another step forward in the university's drive to expand higher education provision in the region.

In November 2024 a funding bid of €10.86m was approved to establish a 15,000m² indoor sports and leisure arena on Derry~Londonderry’s Northland Road, close to campus. This investment through PEACEPLUS, a programme managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB) will be match funded by Ulster University to deliver a significant enhancement to its student and community facilities in the North West.

A first-of-its-scale facility for Northern Ireland, the Ulster University Dome will transform the old Foyle College site in the city into a shared sporting space equipped with full-size pitches suitable for soccer, Gaelic games and rugby as well as other sports, community and musical events.

With an external perimeter and recreational trail, the dome will be connected to the Ulster University Derry~Londonderry campus and car parking facilities, becoming a hub for community events in the city with space for thousands of spectators inside.

In February 2025, the Department for the Economy and Ulster University acquired land necessary to drive forward the expansion of the Derry~Londonderry campus to achieve 10,000 students. Due to rapid growth in student numbers the campus is at maximum capacity and more space is required to accommodate this need.

One of the sites, Timber Quay, will be quickly transformed into teaching and learning environments to welcome new and returning students in September 2025. The additional land acquired in partnership with DfE around Queen’s Quay will help add additional spaces in the future.