UCD, the largest university in the State, has begun the task of finding a new president and a worldwide trawl is under way. Education Correspondent Emmet Oliver reports

Wanted: A leading academic with gravitas, managerial experience, political skills, international track record, entrepreneurial flair, research ability, charisma, dynamism...

A long list. But, as the State's largest university, University College Dublin demands nothing less. The search is under way for the college's next president and august journals around the world are filled with advertisements for the post.

The university was even prepared to shell out several thousand pounds to place a full-page advertisement in the current edition of the Economist.

Some may sneer at UCD's image of itself as an international powerhouse, but the university does occupy a central place in our national life. The university's identity and future is shaped by the personality of its president.

For the last decade avuncular historian Dr Art Cosgrove has tried to maintain the university's central position, but his successor will be operating in an altogether different world.

Getting somebody with at least some of the credentials listed above could prove difficult. University heads in this State are at the bottom of the pay league compared with the major British colleges. The university heads in the Republic remain - in almost all cases - the worst paid in these islands, despite receiving a 17 per cent increase as a result of the Buckley report earlier this year.

While parents and students are unlikely to shed too many tears over their position, the relatively low level of pay for senior academics does make it more difficult for colleges such as UCD to recruit truly international high-flyers. But a high-flyer is badly needed, suggest many UCD sources.

UCD presidents have traditionally been rather aloof scholarly characters who pride themselves on being unsullied by the crass commercialism of the outside world.

From John Henry Newman to the present day, UCD has eschewed the idea of the managerial president. Instead, the college has favoured popular academics who will promote the university, but also make sure its traditions are not eroded.

Dr Cosgrove, like his predecessors, was elected by members of UCD's governing authority. This process, a sort of academic beauty contest, involved aspiring candidates chasing fellow academics and county councillors all over the country for votes.

It also meant staff had to be very public about wanting the job. It was not for the squeamish, although it was an enjoyable blood sport for neutral observers out in Belfield.

This time the college wants to do things differently. Following an impressive report by Maurice Manning, the respected UCD academic, an American-style selection committee has been set up to choose a suitable candidate. The governing authority will still ultimately chose the next president - that is a legal requirement - but the selection committee will have a crucial role in the process.

As one UCD observer put it: "They have the real power. It would be very hard and possibly very damaging for the authority to reject the person they suggest".

The advent of the new system has made the race to be president less public than in previous years. Potential candidates are keeping a low profile, no doubt worried that too much self-promotion might irritate members of the selection committee.

However, Ireland being Ireland, names of potential candidates are circulating through Belfield and other far flung outposts of the UCD empire.

The dean of arts, Dr Fergus D'Arcy is one of them. Popular with staff and judged to be hugely successful in his current post, he is regarded as a serious candidate by most observers. However, he is a historian like Dr Cosgrove and the selection committee might want someone with a different background this time.

The current registrar, Dr Caroline Hussey, has the political skills, but her age might count against her. Dr Hugh Brady of the medical faculty is one of the younger potential candidates. He has an international track record and was involved in setting up UCD's impressive Conway Institute. UCD has had several doctors as president, but Dr Brady is still relatively inexperienced at this level.

Dr Mary Lambkin, from the marketing department, would give UCD its first female president. As dean of post-graduate and interdisciplinary studies, she has a high profile on campus. Then again there has not been a UCD president from the business side of the university for a very long time.

Another highly respected figure, Professor Brian McKenna, currently vice-president for faculties, has also been mentioned. He has lectured for several years in the agriculture area, but his profile outside UCD is relatively low.

Other names being mentioned are Dr Frank Hegarty, vice president of research, and the dean of medicine, Dr Muiris FitzGerald. But they are at this stage regarded as long shots by most observers.

Some of UCD's academics believe no single candidate stands out and the chance of an external candidate stealing the prize is high. The new system for selecting the president, plus the tone of the advertisement, suggests for the first time in its history a non-academic could make it.

"A Chris Horn or a Peter Sutherland-type figure would stand a very good chance if they went forward," surmised one observer. But the annual salary makes this a remote possibility.

Accepting these constraints, there is a general feeling in UCD that somebody different is needed this time out. "Look at what the president does. It is a classic CEO's job. While the eventual winner will obviously need strong academic credentials, this time other qualities will also come into play. Somebody who has been successful outside academe is not necessarily out of the question," says one observer.

A team of seven, mainly leading academics make up the selection committee that will go through the applications, interview candidates and presumably propose a name to the governing authority.

This selection committee includes the senior Trinity College figure, Professor David McConnell, chairman of The Irish Times Trust, who will be the non-voting chair. He is joined by Professor Niamh Brennan, a senior academic from the commerce department, county councillor Colm Wiley, Professor Thomas Brazil, Senator Maurice Manning, Dermot Gallagher, secretary-general of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Dr Onora O'Neill from Cambridge.

This group will ultimately decide if UCD is to have its first outsider or, whisper it, its first non-academic president.