Globally, five major trends are shaping the educational mission of higher education in the current tumultuous social and economic environment.

• A dramatic upsurge in demand for flexible higher education provision orientated towards re-skilling, updating and continuing studies for professional purposes.
• A significant focus on inter-disciplinary, translational research which can make an impact on real world issues- including leading edge research relevant to fundamental challenges of innovation, policy and practice in education and training.
• A requirement for greater accessibility and openness of all public institutions, including universities, to be seen to be proactive in reaching out to serve the needs of the wider community.
• An emphasis on accountability in relation to the quality of teaching and learning, and associated student experience and successful outcomes.
• A decline in public investment in higher education and associated blurring of public and private with the growth of private higher education institutions, and market orientated provision within public institutions.

The current economic, social and political situation in Ireland gives an added urgency to all of the above (Hunt Report, 2011).

Building on an existing interdisciplinary research network, LEARN (Learning Education and Academic Research Network), DCU is investing in development of higher education research capacity, led at Professorial level by the Director of Higher Education Research and Development in the Office of the Vice-President for Learning Innovation. An explicit objective of HERC is to explore opportunities for synergy with colleagues in the Dublin Region Higher Education Alliance (http://www.drhea.ie/) , the Higher Education Authority (http://www.hea.ie/) and other HEIs.