Assoc ProfessorPat Gibbons

Pat Gibbons, PhD is Director of the UCD Centre for Humanitarian Action (CHA) and lead academic for UCD’s Africa Strategy 2023–2028. He spent over a decade working on humanitarian and development programmes in Africa and Ireland before joining UCD in 1997.

Pat introduced humanitarian studies to UCD through the creation of the Master’s in Humanitarian Action, developed in collaboration with colleagues in Agribusiness, Rural Development and Extension under the Network on Humanitarian Action (NOHA), where he later served as President (2007–2014).

In 2012, he founded the UCD Centre for Humanitarian Action to advance education and research in the field, leading an interdisciplinary team engaged with academics across UCD and with global higher education partners. From 2014–2016, he represented Ireland in the World Humanitarian Summit consultative process, chairing the Irish Humanitarian Summit Steering Committee.

His research examines the role of higher education in building state, societal, and community resilience. He has led major projects including the Horizon 2020 RISE programme Preparedness and Resilience to Address Urban Vulnerabilities, Building Resilience through Education, and UCD’s Erasmus Mundus ICM Africa initiatives in Ghana and Ethiopia.

Pat teaches modules in Advanced Humanitarian Action, Humanitarian Management, and Localisation. While continuing to guide the Centre for Humanitarian Action, his current priority is establishing a ‘partnership university farm’ in Ethiopia.