UCD enters into new EU-funded project alongside the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, set to commence in January 2026.
UCD has entered into an EU-funded project alongside the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology. Mana.bio, an Israel-based biotechnology company, is also involved in the project.
The project, which aims to study nucleic acids, is funded through Horizon Europe. Horizon Europe is the EU’s major funding model for research, and has a budget of more than €93.5 billion. The EU contribution for the nucleic acids project is €4.5 million. The project is scheduled to commence in January 2026, and conclude in December 2029.
An article published today in The Electronic Intifada states: “Funding medical research projects involving Israel can never compensate for the crimes Israel has committed against healthcare and against humanity itself. And the Technion’s medical research activities will never cancel out how the institute serves as a laboratory for Israel’s arms industry.”
Technion’s Advanced Defense Research Institute (ADRI) has direct links to the Israeli government and Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), and offers dedicated programmes in Systems Engineering for IDF Officers funded by the Israeli Ministry of Defense. Current head of Technion’s Advanced Defense Research Institute is Jacob Nagel, an active IDF brigadier general. In an interview in March 2025, Nagel said, “Our expertise in aerospace engineering is unique and critical to the development of next-generation UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles], hypersonic missiles, and directed-energy weapons.” He continued, “The Technion is working on AI-driven decision-making, quantum computing, and space technologies — all of which will define the future of warfare.”
In a comment to the University Observer, UCD Students' Union (UCDSU) stated, "UCD Students’ Union has a clear democratic policy opposing institutional cooperation with Israel and with organisations complicit in the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people. We note reports that UCD is participating in a new EU-funded project involving Israel’s Technion, an institution with well-documented links to the arms industry. Whether this partnership was brokered at school level or centrally, UCD management cannot disclaim responsibility: these projects are carried out in the name of the university. Students expect UCD to ensure that all international collaborations uphold its stated commitment to human rights and do not undermine solidarity with the Palestinian people."
UCD Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (UCD BDS), in a comment to the University Observer, stated, "The University's new research partnership with Technion University is hugely disappointing, and once again breaches the spirit of the agreement we worked so hard to achieve with them during the [2024] encampment. By partnering with an openly and proudly complicit institution such as Technion, UCD is legitimising genocide against the Palestinian people. We ask them - have you no shame?"
The statement from UCD BDS continues, "So much for an 'anti-apartheid campus'. Divest from all institutional ties now. "
CATALOOP Project
In March 2025, The Electronic Intifada reported that UCD was entering the CATALOOP project alongside Technion and Israel’s Ben-Gurion University. The aim of the CATALOOP project is to “develop powerful and readily applicable workflows for data-driven development of stereoselective catalysis.” The project commenced in March 2025 and is set to conclude in February 2029.
This move was strongly criticised by students and organisations within UCD. On March 13 2025, a joint statement by Academics for Palestine, UCD BDS, UCDSU and UCD Justice for Palestine, called on UCD to ‘withdraw’ from the partnership.
Demonstration continues
An activist for the pro-Palestine movement enters into his third day of protest regarding UCD’s academic connections with Israel. The individual was removed from UCD campus at midday on Monday 8th, and has relocated his demonstration to the N11 bus stop. According to the individual, Gardaí told him he could, “leave or be arrested,” before accompanying him off campus. UCD Estates removed the individual’s belongings from the scene.
Yesterday saw further confrontation between UCD Estates, Gardaí, and the individual. At 2pm, Gardaí and UCD Estates staff, along with external security personnel, directed the individual to remove his tent from where it was pitched, to a location closer to the bus stop. A member of UCD Estates, who referred to himself as, “a representative of UCD,” claimed that the individual was enroaching on the University’s property. UCD Estates directed the individual to move his tent to around two to three meters from its initial location, onto public grounds - an area that was acquired by the National Transport Authority as part of a 2023 Compulsory Purchase Order. Upon the individual’s refusal, UCD Estates staff began removing his tent and flags from the area. The individual held onto a flagpole to hold his tent in place, but was physically removed by two Gardaí. The individual’s tent, his flags and his personal belongings were then moved to the public area surrounding the bus stop.
In total, four members of UCD Estates, three Gardaí, and three members of external security were present at the scene.
Via National Transport Authority. Highlighted area marks land acquired as part of 2023 Compulsory Purchase Order.
At the scene, in a comment to the University Observer, the individual stated, “UCD belongs to the people and the students, but today it is serving the Zionists.”
His demonstration continues today.
UCD has been approached for comment.
This article was updated at 14:00 on September 10th to include a comment from UCD Students' Union (UCDSU).
This article was updated at 13:00 on September 11th to include a comment from UCD Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (UCD BDS).