UCD Smurfit Full-time MBA Programme jumps 22 places in FT Rankings

The UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School Full-time MBA programme has been ranked 64th in the world, according to the 2013 Financial Times Top 100 Global Full-time MBA Rankings, published today. The School was ranked 18th among the top MBAs in Europe. This is the fourteenth consecutive year that UCD Smurfit School has been included in the global top 100. The School is the only Irish business school listed in these prestigious rankings, maintaining its status as Ireland’s leading centre of excellence in business education.  It is also among less than 50 schools worldwide that have been consistently ranked in the top 100 over the last fourteen years.

So what’s behind this? MBA Director Orla Nugent believes it’s a combination of continuous improvement; a collegiate learning environment coupled with small class sizes, dedicated programme and academic teams and outstanding alumni. “For example we are currently undergoing an academic review of our curriculum, the objective being to enhance student learning. We have streamlined our Leadership Development Programme, which includes team development and individual business coaching with experienced professional business coaches. Finally our MBA Careers Service continues to work on a one to one basis with our MBA students providing them with the skills to accelerate their career.”

Speaking about the ranking, Professor Ciarán O hÓgartaigh, Dean, UCD Business School said, “We are delighted that once again our MBA is ranked with the top business schools in the world – the only Irish business school to do so.  We are competing on the world stage to give our students the very best opportunities and to attract the best faculty, and ranking results such as these position us firmly amongst the world leaders in business education.”

The UCD Smurfit MBA’s placement in these global rankings follows UCD Smurfit’s successful re-accreditation in 2012 with one of the world’s leading international accreditations for business schools – AMBA.  UCD Business School is the only business school in Ireland, and one of less than 60 worldwide, to hold the ‘triple crown’ of accreditation from the three centres of business and academic excellence; EQUIS (Europe); AACSB (US); and AMBA (UK).

For further information on the rankings log onto www.ft.com/businesseducation

– Rikke Budolfsen, MBA Programme Manager

Christmas is coming…

The period coming up to Christmas always brings with it a flurry of activity.

The current classes have just  finished their modules and were sitting their exams last week. I think they were all looking forward to Saturday afternoon when exams were over and they could kick back and enjoy a few pints with their classmates, toasting to a job well done.

December also saw the graduation of the MBA classes of 2012! I still can’t believe that it has been more than a year since the FT MBA class of 2012 stepped in the door here at Smurfit -or indeed over two years. Read more about the graduation here.

However, now the MBA Programme will be taking a breather and will be back in early December with renewed energy to take on the many exciting activities and events that awaits!

Merry Christmas and Happy new Year to all !

– MBA Programme Team


Because you’re worth it….

Today’s Irish Times features an article about MBAs in Ireland.  The article quotes Smurfit MBA Director Orla Nugent on the increasing number of Smurfit executive MBAs who receive some form of sponsorship from their employer.

In the article, Smurfit FT MBA 2012 alumni Dave Byrne talks about how the year on the MBA offered him the ideal opportunity to get a business plan together and take the first tentative steps towards being an entrepreneur. “One of the key things about it is that it’s a risk-free environment. You’re very free to just take risks during the year, and if it doesn’t work out then it’s not the end of the world.”

Read more here..

– Rikke Budolfsen, MBA Programme Manager

MBA Past and Present Reception

Last Friday, UCD Business Alumni and the MBA Team hosted the annual MBA Past and Present reception. Kingsley Aikins delivered a great talk on the need to build networks and connect the dots to be successful in one’s career. Looking across the room it was great to see how connections are formed across classes -and who know what business opportunities might come out of it…


Me connecting FT MBA 2011 and FT MBA 2012 class


Personally, the reception is also a great opportunity to catch up with our alumni on their  “lives after the MBA” – new jobs, new house, new kids etc.. When you work closely with a group of people for an intense year, you  get to know them quite well. Needless to say then, it got late before I got home…

[More pictures here]

– Rikke Budolfsen, FT MBA Programme Manager

An exciting year ahead!

This week, the MBA team welcomed a new cohort of MBA students to a busy year ahead. The first week, Foundation  Week, will see the new classes get re-acquainted with the world of academia and studying after many years out of school. Equally important, this week aims to get the students know each other a lot better and build networks among the various classes.

Expect to see more stories from our new class -and our recent alumni- on this blog over the next few weeks…

An exciting year ahead indeed!

– Rikke, MBA Programme Manager