On Thursday 13 March, shortly after 10am, Academics for Palestine, UCD BDS, UCD Justice for Palestine and UCD Students’ Union (UCDSU) issued a joint statement and called for UCD to “Withdraw from Cataloop Partnership with Israel’s Technion and Ben-Gurion University.”
On Thursday 13 March, shortly after 10am, Academics for Palestine, UCD BDS, UCD Justice for Palestine and UCD Students’ Union (UCDSU) issued a joint statement and called for UCD to “Withdraw from Cataloop Partnership with Israel’s Technion and Ben-Gurion University.”
The statement comes after an article published by Electronic Intifada on Tuesday 11 March accused UCD of displaying “rank hypocrisy” by being part of a consortium that is taking part in Cataloop, a European Union-funded project on Artificial Intelligence (AI). The article highlighted that the project, which is in receipt of €2.6 million from the EU, involves two Israeli partners; the Technion (Israel Institute of Technology) and the Ben-Guron University of the Negev.
The article continued, stating, “The willingness of UCD to continue collaborating with Israel casts doubt on whether the college’s leadership was sincere when it spoke out against the genocidal war on Gaza.”
Joining the Cataloop project has been described as “an act of insolence by UCD’s administration” by the article published in the Electronic Intifada, and accused the University of “insulting its own students,” whilst also “indicating that the shock it registered over the destruction of Gaza’s universities may not have been genuine.”
The Cataloop Project
The Cataloop project states its main research aim is to “develop powerful and readily applicable workflows for data-driven development of stereoselective catalysis” and is coordinated by the German Chemnitz University of Technology, with seven participating universities, including University College Dublin, Israel’s Ben-Gurion University, and Technion (Israel Institute of Technology).
The project was approved on 5 July 2024, and commenced on 1 March 2025. It is due to end in February 2029.
It is funded by the European Commission under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) programme, the seven participating universities receiving a shared total of €2,663,654.40. Projects funded by the European Commission through this programme should contribute to investments in EU policy priorities, over five areas: Digital agenda, Artificial Intelligence, Clean air, Climate action, and Biodiversity. This project is listed as contributing to Digital agenda, and Artificial Intelligence. UCD has received a net EU contribution of €286,488.00 towards this project, Ben-Gurion University has received € 271,432.80 and the Technion has received €271,432.80.
Ties with Israeli Universities
The University Observer reported in January 2024 that UCD had 10 active research projects with Israeli universities, despite calls at the time for a full academic boycott by UCD BDS, UCD Students’ Union, and UCD Academics for Palestine in light of the ongoing case against Israel for genocide in the International Court of Justice in The Hague. The collaboration with Technion on a research project was of particular controversy at the time, considering the university's ties with Elbit Systems in arms research and surveillance.
Technion’s Advanced Defense Research Institute (ADRI) has direct links to the Israeli government and Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), and offers dedicated curriculums in Systems Engineering for IDF Officers funded by the Israeli Ministry of Defense. Technion also runs annual competitions for student innovation in the field of security and defence and “anti-terrorism”, which are reviewed by representatives from the IDF.
Joint Statement
In a collaborative Instagram post on Wednesday 12 March, UCD BDS and UCDSU reacted to the article published by Electronic Intifada, saying they were “incredibly disappointed to hear that UCD researchers are collaborating with two Israeli Institutions complicit in the ongoing genocide and scholasticide in Palestine through a Horizon-funded project.”
The group claimed they “sent an email to the relevant bodies within UCD” and were awaiting a response. They stated that a public statement issuing demands would be made available to the public the following morning if they did not receive a response from the University.
Shortly after 10am, a joint statement was seen by the University Observer. The statement from Academics for Palestine, UCD BDS, UCD Justice for Palestine and UCD SU firstly condemned the University’s decision to enter into partnership with the Technion and Ben-Gurion University, describing it as “indefensible in the context of Israel’s genocide, settler colonial apartheid and occupation.”
The statement expressed “full support” for UCD BDS and UCDSU’s “critique of this latest project, and for any subsequent protests and solidarity actions undertaken by Palestine solidarity organisations on campus until the University fully withdraws and ceases its partnership with BGU and the Technion through CATALOOP”
It continued, calling for “urgent interrogation of this partnership and any other projects or partnerships with ties to Israeli institutions and industry and for the development of clear policy recommendations aimed at ending all complicity in Israeli apartheid, genocide, and occupation, as required by international law.”
The final and most comprehensive demand in the statement called for “full transparency in University College Dublin’s decision-making” and requested the University “develop a human rights impact assessment tool” and for the University to apply it “to the partnership with the BGU and Technion, detailing the grounds on which the project was approved, as well as applying it to all other existing collaborations with Israeli institutions.”
Furthermore, it expressed calls to “Establish a mechanism for students, researchers, and staff to raise issues regarding University College Dublin’s existing partnerships, agreements, or investments that do not comply with its human rights commitments.”
Finally, the statement called for UCD to “Reverse its funding approval and fully withdraw from any partnership involving the Technion, Ben-Gurion University or any other institution complicit in serious breaches of international law.”
“This commitment demands that University College Dublin fully divest from, cut existing ties, and not enter into any new partnerships, including research consortia, with Israeli institutions and all other complicit companies and institutions.”
The statement was signed by two representatives of Academics for Palestine, three representatives of UCD BDS, three representatives of UCD Justice for Palestine and the President of UCD Students’ Union, Miranda Bauer.
The statement came via an Email, and featured a link to a Google Form collecting signatures to call for UCD to withdraw from the Cataloop Project.
The Encampment and ensuing ‘Agreement’ with UCD
As is well-known, UCD Students’ Union, UCD BDS, UCD Academics for Palestine and UCD Justice for Palestine set up a Palestine Solidarity Encampment on UCD Campus in May 2024 to protest UCD’s stance on Palestine, and issued 12 key demands for the university to meet. The encampment lasted a month, before all involved parties formed an agreement. The agreement was a huge success for the encampment parties, with most demands met or a willing compromise reached. Both UCD and UCD BDS have repeatedly affirmed that progress on the agreement since the encampment has been positive, with both sides asserting that the other was collaborating openly.
A working group was created to develop a university policy on ethical investment, and a further review group was set up for UCD’s sustainable procurement policy. The agreement also required UCD to fully disclose all academic and financial ties to Israeli institutions or enterprises, with the Bursar of UCD, David Kelly, committing to annually reporting to the Finance, Remuneration and Asset Management Committee (FRAMC) of the Governing Authority on the location of all university investments. The President’s reports to the Governing Authority on the list of research grants was further required to include the international partners for each.
As a result, the newly revealed ties with Technion and Ben-Gurion University in the Cataloop research project should be fully disclosed by UCD.
One of the demands that UCD did not outrightly agree to was an academic boycott, an issue which at the time prolonged the encampment. In a meeting of the Students’ Union council in January 2025, UCD President Orla Feely was asked if the new UCD Strategy was “BDS Compliant”, to which she replied “No, and it doesn’t have to be.” She stated that BDS is not a university policy, though claimed the detailed agreement with UCD BDS and UCDSU is fully enacted.
The Cataloop project was approved on 5 July 2024, just one month after the agreement was reached between the encampment and UCD. Although UCD did not agree to an academic boycott, the policies of ethical investment and sustainable procurement, as well as the transparency and communication between UCD and UCD BDS are currently under scrutiny.
UCD's Response
Registrar, Deputy President and Vice-President for Academic Affairs Colin Scott provided the following comment to The University Observer:
"The University respects the academic freedom of researchers to participate in Horizon Europe, the EU’s main funding program for research and innovation collaborations involving multi-partner networks."