South East Technological University (SETU) is based in various locations across the southeast of Ireland, including Wexford, Kildare, Waterford, Wicklow, and Kilkenny. This established institution, founded in 2022, currently welcomes 18,247 students and employs over 2,000 staff members.
Strategically positioned in multiple locations, SETU’s mission is to catalyse the growth and transformation of the region through education. They strive to foster knowledge and skill among their students, offering a plethora of varied tertiary-level courses to a global audience. Over the next five years, the institution aims to steadily anchor itself as the leading institution in the southeast, playing a crucial role in the area’s ongoing development.
Under the strategic plan named “Connecting for Impact” for 2023-2028, SETU is on a trajectory to become one of the world’s leading technological universities. It aims to effect positive transformation not only within the local community, but also in the wider region and beyond, according to a university representative.
SETU specialises in a broad spectrum of disciplines with particular emphasis on healthcare, business, and engineering. The university is also reputable for its strengths in sectors like sports coaching, rehabilitation, marketing, content creation, cybersecurity, software development, sustainable farming management and agribusiness.
SETU acknowledges the significance of research in fostering the social capital, supporting communities and informing governmental strategies and policies. As part of its strategic plan, one of its main objectives is to foster research and innovation, providing enriching and transformative postgraduate research initiatives.
Striving to consistently develop new educational opportunities, SETU contributes significantly to the enhancement of the region’s labour force skills and capacity. It also drives regional innovation, thereby promoting the creation of top-tier jobs and subsequently enhancing the quality of life for everyone in the region.
SETU’s campuses, spread across the southeast of Ireland, are state-of-the-art and feature remarkable facilities for study, encompassing disciplines as diverse as nursing, aerospace engineering, culinary arts hospitality, software and gaming development, TV and radio broadcasting, and sports coaching and rehabilitation. Its world-class laboratories and training facilities offer students unique hands-on learning experiences across these disciplines.
The institution affirms its dedication to cultivating spaces that are both inviting and transformative for all employees, students of varying ages and backgrounds, researchers, and collaborators, both domestically and internationally.
The primary Carlow campus encompasses 16 structures spanning roughly 37,500 square metres, including sports fields and parking facilities. The complex is approximately 30 hectares in size.
There’s a top-notch outdoor sporting facility within the campus, the freshly constructed €15 million South Sports Campus. This sizeable facility consists of six new LED-lit fields, a 1.6km walking path, a 400m racetrack, and a pavilion structure.
Student living quarters are provided on its Waterford, Carlow, and Wexford campuses.
An exemplar academic course is the bachelor of arts in content creation and social media, which targets students intrigued by the prospect of exploiting the €20 billion global influencer market.
Participants in this programme will be trained to excel in social media theory and application, with a selection of varied subjects such as video creation, celebrity studies, psychology, data analytics, podcasting, and work experience.
The primary objective of this course is to transition students’ casual practice of engaging with individuals online into a professional career, by teaching them to approach their online practice in a more sophisticated manner.