The building has been named in honour of Sir Allen McClay, a major benefactor of Queen's University and of the Library.

[11] In June 2010, the university announced the launch of a £7.5 million Ansin international research hub with Seagate Technology.

[12] Also in that year, Queen's was one of the largest employers in Northern Ireland, with a total workforce of 3,903, of whom 2,414 were members of academic, academic-related and research staff and 1,489 were administrative employees.

These colleges offer teacher training for those who wish to pursue teaching careers and a range of degree courses, all of which are centred around a liberal arts core.

Each of the faculties operate as a primary management unit of the university and the schools are the focus for education and research for their respective subject areas.

[7] The role of chancellor is a largely a ceremonial one, involving attending graduations, acting as an ambassador for the university abroad and serving as an advisor to the vice-chancellor.

Research at the university includes investigations of cancer, sustainability, radiocarbon dating, wireless technology, creative writing, pharmaceuticals and sonic arts.

[36] The university has been awarded the Queen's Anniversary Prize for Further and Higher Education on several occasions, including for work in comprehensive cancer services and improving survival rates for patients in Northern Ireland.

[4] In the 2016–17 academic year, the university had a domicile breakdown of 87:4:9 of UK:EU:non-EU students respectively with a female to male ratio of 56:44.

[51] The growing share of Catholics in the student population is partially due to the tendency of middle-class Protestants to attend university in Great Britain rather than in Northern Ireland.

Interim facilities were provided in other university buildings on Elmwood Avenue and, for the Speakeasy bar, an acquired space on the Lisburn Road (opposite the Medical Biology Centre).

[53] The students' union provides services including an advice centre with full-time staff to help with issues such as money problems, accommodation and welfare.

More than fifty sporting clubs and over one hundred non-sporting societies are recognised by the Students' Union Council and are therefore eligible to apply for an annual grant from the university.

The Queen's University Mountaineering Club is notable for producing three Everest summiteers including Ireland's first, Dawson Stelfox.

[57] QUB is one of only 20 universities in the United Kingdom to have an AIESEC local chapter, developing leadership, business and soft skills in highly motivated students, as well as providing international opportunities through their work abroad program.

[58] The university provides accommodation on a purpose-built student village called Elms Village, which has its own bar and shop, located on the Malone Road, south of the main campus, as well as in a number of houses in the South Belfast area, including at College Gardens and on Mount Charles.

[63] Housed in the Lanyon building since 2001 is a marble statue by Pio Fedi of the great physicist Galileo, portrayed deep in thought.

By holding performances from the diverse student community, Queen's provides one of the largest showcases of international culture in Northern Ireland.

This building houses many squash courts, several climbing walls and is home to QUB's senior men's and women's basketball teams.

Queens Gaelic football team compete in the Sigerson Cup and have won the trophy on 8 occasions, with the last victory coming in the 1999/2000 academic year.

Other alumni include poet Paul Muldoon; actors Liam Neeson and Stephen Rea; comedian and presenter Patrick Kielty; novelists Patrick Hicks and Brian McGilloway; broadcasters Nick Ross, Bernadette Collins and Annie Mac; journalist Chris Smith; scientists John Stewart Bell, Frank Pantridge and Thomas Henry Flewett.

Other alumni include John Bodkin Adams, Trevor Ringland and David Cullen (2007 winners of the Arthur Ashe for Courage Award), David Case (Air Commodore, the highest ranking Black officer in the British Armed forces), Tim Collins (former Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment), Michael Farrell (an Irish civil rights activist, writer and former leader of People's Democracy), Drew Nelson former Grand Secretary of the Orange Order, and Elizabeth Gould Bell, the first woman to practice medicine in Ulster.

Notable academics who have worked at Queen's include Paul Bew, Baron Bew, Sir David Bates (physicist), Sir Bernard Crossland, Tony Hoare, Michael Mann, poet and critic Philip Hobsbaum, John H. Whyte and poet Philip Larkin was a sub-librarian at the university in the early 1950s.

John Carey Hall served in the British Japan Consular Service for more than 40 years, retiring as consul-general in Yokohama.

Queen's participates in the European Union's ERASMUS programme, allowing undergraduate students to study for a period at universities in Austria, Finland, Iceland, Portugal, Belgium, France, Italy, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, the Czech Republic, Greece, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Poland and Switzerland.

[72] Ching Yun University in Zhongli District, Taoyuan City, Taiwan, lists Queen's as a 'sister institution'.