NUIG first opened its doors to 63 students on 30th October 1849 and the University, then known as Queen’s College, Galway was born. The University was one of three Queen’s Colleges, the others located in Cork and Belfast.

In the first academic year, 1849—1850, the University began with three faculties, Arts, Medicine and Law but there were also schools of Agriculture and Engineering. Female students later joined the student body and in 1906 Alice Perry graduated from the college, believed to be the first female engineering graduate in the world to receive a first class honours degree in civil engineering.

NUIG is a research-led University with internationally recognised expertise in selected priority areas. Research at NUIG is forward-thinking and global in scale. Today NUIG is leading the field in a wide range of areas including stem cell and gene therapy research, human rights law, environmental change, and developing the next generation of internet technology.