Professor Paul McSweeney is Vice-President for Learning and Teaching in University College Cork, Ireland (UCC). His office coordinates the activities of the University’s Centre for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (CIRTL), Adult Continuing Education (ACE), Centre for Digital Education, Skills Centre, Examinations Appeals, Careers' Service and the university's Library system and Cork University Press, together with responsibility for delivering aspects of the University’s Academic Strategy and strategic plan.

Professor McSweeney holds a Personal Chair in Food Chemistry and has an active research profile in dairy chemistry and cheese science. He is an experienced lecturer and researcher and has successfully managed research projects funded through the Food Industry Research Measure and its predecessors administered by the Irish Department of Agriculture and Food, the EU Framework programmes, the US-Ireland Co-operative Programme in Agriculture/Food Science and Technology, Bioresearch Ireland and industry.

In UCC, Prof McSweeney is a member of  University Leadership Team (ULT), Academic Board and chairs the Examinations Appeals Committee and the Institutional Review Group. He is also a member of the Student Experience, Teaching and Learning Committee of Ireland’s Higher Education Authority and the Royal Irish Academy.

Professor McSweeney's research interests include Dairy Biochemistry with particular reference to factors affecting cheese flavour and texture, including proteolysis during cheese maturation, the role of non-starter lactic acid bacteria and smear microorganisms, the ripening of hybrid and non-Cheddar varieties, the specificity of proteinases on the caseins, proteolysis and lipolysis in cheese during ripening and characterization of enzymes important to cheese ripening (proteinases, peptidases, amino acid catabolic enzymes), factors affecting texture development during ripening.

Prof McSweeney’s research career highlights include:

• Widely published: ca. 230 papers, reviews, book chapters, extended conference papers (but excluding abstracts); 18books.
• Highly cited with a H-index of 83 (Google Scholar); October 2025.
• Member of the editorial board of international journals and frequent referee
• Regular guest lecturer at universities abroad
• Recipient of the Marschall Danisco International Dairy Science Award of the American Dairy Science Association (2004).
• Awarded a higher doctorate (DSc) on published work by the National University of Ireland (2009).

Professor McSweeney teaches a range of courses in Food Chemistry and Food Technology, with particular emphasis on dairy chemistry and cheese science and technology.

Project: Teagasc Walsh Fellowship Colette Healy - Development of Natgural Concentrated Cheese Flavours ( R13043)
Funding Body: Teagasc
Start/End Dates: 01-FEB-09 / 31-JAN-11 Award: €42,000.00 Project: [DAFF 00/R&D/TD/58] {Morris, Prof. E} N ( R10084)
Funding Body: Department of Agriculture Fisheries & Forestry (DAFF)
Start/End Dates: 01-OCT-00 / 30-SEP-03 Award: €92,056.00 Project: [EU QLRT-01-02461Safesmear]{McSweeney} V ( R10930)
Funding Body: European Union
Start/End Dates: 01-FEB-03 / 31-JAN-06 Award: €40,000.00 Project: [BRI AND L'OREAL]{McSweeney,Dr/Fox,Pr} N ( R10465)
Funding Body: Industry
Start/End Dates: 01-JAN-90 / 25-APR-15 Award: €162,086.00 Project: Research to modulate and intensify the flavour profile and application of existing and next generaion molecular techniques to determine the role of NSLAB microflora in defects in Cheddar-variants and ( R14392)
Funding Body: Teagasc
Start/End Dates: 01-JAN-12 / 31-DEC-15 Award: €86,750.00 Project: Natural Ingredient Cheese Solutions ( R12921)
Funding Body: Department of Agriculture Fisheries & Forestry (DAFF)
Start/End Dates: 01-DEC-08 / 30-NOV-12 Award: €122,190.00 Project: Investigating the potential of Attenuated Strains of Lactobacilli and Lactococcus for use as Adjunct Cultures to improve Flavour Development in Cheddar Cheese. ( R13444)
Funding Body: Teagasc
Start/End Dates: 07-DEC-09 / 06-JUN-12 Award: €52,500.00 Project: Novel Strategies for Optimization of the Cheddar Cheese Manufacturing Process ( R12922)
Funding Body: Department of Agriculture Fisheries & Forestry (DAFF)
Start/End Dates: 01-DEC-08 / 30-SEP-13 Award: €267,075.00 Project: National Cheese Research Programme 2015. ( R14360)
Funding Body: Department of Agriculture Fisheries & Forestry (DAFF)
Start/End Dates: 01-NOV-11 / 31-MAY-16 Award: €170,300.00 Project: Teagasc Walsh Fellowship "EPS Production by Cheese Flora" ( R12041)
Funding Body: Teagasc
Start/End Dates: 01-NOV-06 / 31-OCT-10 Award: €84,000.00 Project: Teagasc "Development of a range of innovative speciality cheeses and determination of ¿" ( R12050)
Funding Body: Teagasc
Start/End Dates: 01-FEB-07 / 31-JAN-09 Award: €42,000.00 Project: To Investigate Underlying Causes of Secondary Fermentation Defect in Irish Continental-type Cheeses ( R12341)
Funding Body: Teagasc
Start/End Dates: 01-OCT-07 / 30-SEP-11 Award: €84,000.00 Project: FIRM "Understanding the biochemistry and enzymology of cheese ripening and development of novel ( R11290)
Funding Body: Department of Agriculture Fisheries & Forestry (DAFF)
Start/End Dates: 01-JAN-05 / 30-JUN-09 Award: €526,738.00 Project: Novel strategies for the optimization of the Cheddar cheese manufacturing process. ( R13294)
Funding Body: Teagasc
Start/End Dates: 01-OCT-09 / 30-SEP-13 Award: €84,000.00 Project: [DAFF 00/R&D/TD/66] {McSweeney, Dr. P} N ( R10012)
Funding Body: Department of Agriculture Fisheries & Forestry (DAFF)
Start/End Dates: 01-JAN-01 / 31-DEC-03 Award: €316,619.00 Project: [WALSH FELLOWSHIP-Cronin]{McSweeney P} N ( R10761)
Funding Body: Teagasc
Start/End Dates: 01-SEP-02 / 30-AUG-05 Award: €45,000.00 Project: Teagasc "Development of Technologies to control the development of wild NSLAB in cheese" ( R12051)
Funding Body: Teagasc
Start/End Dates: 01-JAN-07 / 31-DEC-09 Award: €63,000.00 Project: Eliminating prinking defects from cheese. ( R15540)
Funding Body: Teagasc
Start/End Dates: 01-JAN-14 / 28-FEB-19 Award: €88,000.00 Project: Visiting Researcher Reseach and Development in Cheese. ( R15520)
Funding Body: Foreign Industry
Start/End Dates: 01-MAR-14 / 28-FEB-17 Award: €74,147.00 Project: Modification of Cheddar cheese flavour through the use of surface flora. Andrea Bertuzzi ( R14980)
Funding Body: Teagasc
Start/End Dates: 01-OCT-13 / 30-SEP-17 Award: €84,000.00 Project: Food Health for Ireland. ( R15358)
Funding Body: Enterprise Irl
Start/End Dates: 02-SEP-13 / 30-JUN-18 Award: €418,179.00 Project: The physiochemical Basis of cheese texture, theology and functionality ( R13213)
Funding Body: Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering & Technology (IRCSET)
Start/End Dates: 01-OCT-09 / 30-SEP-13 Award: €72,003.00 Project: FIRM "Exploitation of cheese flora for flavour diversity and functionality" ( R11293)
Funding Body: Department of Agriculture Fisheries & Forestry (DAFF)
Start/End Dates: 01-FEB-05 / 30-SEP-09 Award: €213,096.00 Project: To Fund PhD Student and also for Post graduate and PI to attend Conferences. ( R18050)
Funding Body: Miscellaneous
Start/End Dates: 01-FEB-18 / 30-SEP-25 Award: €19,625.00 Project: Future Proofing the Irish Cheese-Whet Industry ( R17362)
Funding Body: Department of Agriculture Fisheries & Forestry (DAFF)
Start/End Dates: 01-NOV-16 / 31-JAN-22 Award: €179,400.00 Project: Megamilk Snowbrand Ltd"Access and Collaboration Agreement" Prof P McSweeney ( R17376)
Funding Body: Foreign Industry
Start/End Dates: 15-NOV-16 / 14-NOV-17 Award: €48,199.00 Project: Future Proofing the Irish Cheese Whey Industry. ( R17441)
Funding Body: Teagasc
Start/End Dates: 01-NOV-16 / 11-FEB-22 Award: €88,000.00 Project: Use of Whey Protein and B-Casein. ( R17442)
Funding Body: Teagasc
Start/End Dates: 01-NOV-16 / 17-APR-21 Award: €88,000.00