UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School

The Smurfit MBA: What You Need To Know

With a dedicated campus in Ireland’s biggest university, the Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School at University College Dublin MBA offers cutting-edge business education in the pleasant, vibrant, and historic location of Dublin. 

This is an intimate MBA, with class sizes in the 30s, although 60% of students are international. As well as the thirteen core courses, there are six elective modules, of which students take three. They include executive decision-making, managing the negotiation process, and entrepreneurship.

Smurfit is a member of GNAM (the Global Network for Advanced Management), which means that it is able to offer a wide range of international trips and electives taken in collaboration with its partner schools. MBA students take four trips overseas in their year-long course, including a GNAM week in October, an international markets week in spring, and a live consulting project in summer. Smurfit also sends teams to international MBA competitions, previously winning the prestigious John Molson MBA International Case Competition. 

Being in the center of one of Europe’s biggest hubs for finance, fintech, and tech start-ups, this MBA offers great opportunities for people interested in those sectors. The school also says it is bringing data analytics into more of its courses in the near future. 

Unlike British business schools, the Republic of Ireland is in the EU, so any worries about post-Brexit visa problems won’t affect those who are job-hunting in Dublin. In fact, as businesses relocate operations out of the UK, the market for top-notch positions in Dublin is predicted to heat up. 

Cal Muckley, Academic Director Smurfit MBA Programs 

We are looking to provide a transformational experience, and we achieve that by challenging the students from a high enough level from enough angles so that we change the way they see the world. We have a very small class with a big support team to help them meet their goals. We have a very international cohort and lots of overseas trips and projects, because that is really what transforms people’s outlook. Also, we are located in a great city for business; Dublin has a flourishing finance industry and is one of Europe’s hotspots for fintech innovation start-ups. 

John Keegan, MBA 2018

I was a teacher in a state secondary school but I wanted a change. I’d been involved in elite sports — I represented my country at basketball and still play inter-county Gaelic football — so I enjoy being out of my comfort zone. After talking to Smurfit graduates, I decided it was for me. The class was very diverse but had a real sense of togetherness that took me aback at first. I genuinely think the bond we formed will last a lifetime. The alumni network was very forthcoming, too. People are very happy to help. Perhaps the most valuable thing, on top of all the new knowledge, is that I’ve come out with a real sense of pride and belief in my own abilities, and I’m now able to apply for jobs that I couldn’t have dreamed of a year ago. I’m now working as a consultant.

Watch Poets&Quants’ John A. Byrne interview Dean Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh of UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School.  Watch the full interview.

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