Background
The UCD Research Staff Association (RSA) was established on the 11th of August 2010. Ever since its inception, the RSA has worked on improving working conditions for the research staff, voicing its concerns in various UCD committees and signalling the areas for improvement. However, many of our concerns have not been addressed, therefore in 2025, the RSA has decided to become a branch of SIPTU (Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union), the strongest trade union in Ireland. SIPTU was one of the organisations that negotiated the public sector pay raises. By unionising and organising ourselves into a substantive group, we can seek to negotiate better working conditions for postdocs and other research staff.
We are working to promote the interests of all research staff (post-docs, research assistants, research scientists, etc.) at University College Dublin. We are a welcoming and inclusive community, and we are convinced that the improvement of working conditions for researchers also furthers the University's excellence in research.