About Us
Maynooth University enjoys an eminent reputation as a centre for research excellence and influence in the social sciences, and is committed to supporting high quality fundamental research, publicly engaged scholarship, evidence informed policy making and innovation based commerce and enterprise.
Established in 2015 as part of the University’s ambitious Research Strategy (2012-2017), the Maynooth University Social Sciences Institute (MUSSI) brings together, consolidates and scales existing social scientific research expertise and research infrastructure across the campus as part of a single enterprise.
The purpose of MUSSI is to coordinate and direct a collaborative network which includes twelve Faculty of Social Sciences academic departments (Adult and Community Education; Anthropology; Applied Social Studies; Business; Design Innovation; Economics, Finance and Accounting; Froebel Department of Childhood and Primary Education , Education; Geography; International Development; School of Law and Criminology; Sociology), and three existing Faculty of Social Science based research Institutes (National Institute for Regional and Spatial Analysis, National Centre for Geocomputation and the Edward M Kennedy Institute). It will also house Maynooth’s new and innovative Education Workspace.
Its mission is to lead the development of two of Maynooth University’s six research priority areas: People, Place and Environment and Social and Economic Transformations.
MUSSI also manages, supports and develops, a number of critical national data infrastructures including the All-Island Research Observatory (AIRO), the Irish Qualitative Data Archive (IQDA), and Digital Repository Ireland (DRI).
MUSSI is home to two European Research Council (ERC) fellows, has won Horizon Europe funding, is a founding partner of the International Centre for Local and Regional Development (ICLRD), and the Irish Social Sciences Platform (ISSP) and serves as the national contact point for Ireland for the European Observation Network for Territorial Development and Cohhesion (ESPON)
MUSSI is keen to build links and networks with other public, private, and third sector institutions nationally and internationally, to undertake grant led inter-disciplinary and inter-institutional collaborative research, to undertake commissioned consultancies and deliver bespoke research services, and to pioneer a new generation of graduate training initiatives and professional development opportunities.