Research

Prendergast has published more than 200 articles and volumes, including on topics around medical engineering, such as tissue mechanobiology, and the design of implants.^[4] His work has won funding from Science Foundation Ireland, often as Principal Investigator, as well as from the EU and some industry sources.^[1] He was a member of the Glion Colloquium of University Presidents where he published two papers on strategy and leadership.^[5][6]

Provostship

In 2011, he was elected as the 44th Provost of Trinity College, for a ten-year term.^[7] For external purposes, the post is elaborated to Provost and President. During his term, Prendergast has focused on the university's rankings from QS, the Times HES and Shanghai,^[8] and on increasing sources of funding.^[9]

In September 2016, a "Provost's Council" was created, made up of alumni and benefactors of the university, it advises the Provost on how Trinity might advance, for example by financing new projects and initiatives.^[10] In November 2016, it was announced that Trinity College Dublin would be joining the League of European Research Universities (LERU). It is the first and only university on the island of Ireland to become a member.^[11]

In May 2018, Prendergast unveiled plans for a new €60 million Institute in Engineering, Environment and Emerging Technologies (E3), funded by an Irish philanthropic donation and Government funding,^[12] and the E3 Learning Foundry is now under construction in the university. The renovation of the magnificent Old Library of Trinity College, with a €25m contribution announced by government Minister Darragh O’Brien of Fianna Fail, is also going ahead.^[13] However, it is not known if a more a more controversial project to develop a new campus announced as Trinity East with the Grand Canal Innovation District will proceed.

In April 2019, Prendergast gave a wide-ranging interview to the music magazine Hot Press.^[14] He was involved in several controversies, most notably over branding and "Take Back Trinity", a student movement to resist commercialisation within the university.^[15] He was often accused of being out of touch with student and staff concerns. Despite this he wrote a monthly article for the Irish Times on Higher Education espousing his views on how Irish higher education should develop,^{[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]} one of which proposed a Cabinet Minister and associated Department for Higher Education.^[19] This idea, considered far-fetched at the time, was implemented by the new Taoiseach Micheál Martin, his main change in the new government formation. Prendergast gave his last speech as Provost to Northern Ireland alumni advocating special measures for NI students not to pay the non-EU fee post-Brexit.^[24] The students’ final assessment of Prendergast was probably a good summary: “His trademark lack of regard for the on-the-ground effects of his decisions had a certain nobility to it. One may disagree with them, but at least there was no pretense of consensus building”.^[25]