U21 social work community of practice

University College Dublin

Social work has had a long presence at University College Dublin. Over many decades, our social work programmes have graduated high quality professionals who have been employed in many social, health and community settings in Ireland and internationally. Our Professional Master of Social Work (PMSW) is the largest postgraduate programme in the Republic of Ireland and is approved by Ireland’s multi-professional health and social care regulator, CORU, with graduates working in Ireland and in many international contexts, including the UK, Australia and the US. Our programme enjoys very strong partnership arrangements with a range of social work, health, and community agencies. Our programme is premised on a philosophy of reflexive and anti-oppressive practice with our social work education aiming to develop practitioners who are critically reflective, theoretically-informed, evidence-informed and research active.

The Professional Master of Social Work (PMSW) sits within the School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice, which is an interdisciplinary hub for teaching and research related to policy, practice and equality. As well as the social work programme, the School offers a range of other undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, along with outreach and professional development opportunities. The School’s research has a tripartite disciplinary focus, covering the broad subject areas of social policy, social work and social justice and its affiliated centres provide an intellectual home for a dynamic and strongly multidisciplinary research programme. Researchers on the social work team work collaboratively with school and university colleagues, with international collaborators, and with policy makers and practitioners in conducting research that is of national and international relevance. The topics being researched include:

  • Adult safeguarding
  • Child welfare and protection 
  • Domestic violence
  • Migration and forced displacement
  • Mental health
  • Social Work education and practice learning

You can find out more about our School here, about social work at UCD here, and about our staff here.