The Undergraduate Awards were founded in October 2008 by Paddy Cosgrave and Oisin Hanrahan. Its founding partners comprise the Higher Education Authority, the Department of Employment and Learning, the Royal Irish Academy, NTR plc, Google, the Irish Times and the Communications Clinic. Jim Barry, CEO of NTR plc, resides as chairman of the Board of Directors, Aine Maria Mizzoni, founder of Guardiano del Faro, is deputy chair and Oisin and Paddy sit as executive and non-executive directors consecutively.

Overall responsibility lies with the Management Board, which oversees the activities of the Undergraduate Awards programme manager, Louise Hodgson. It is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the awards programme. The management board consists of company directors and representatives from the founding partners.

The Academic Advisory Board – consisting of representatives from academic institutions, representatives from the founding partners, and company directors – is responsible for assessing the submissions and setting the framework for the judging process. Ultimately it will select the winning entries. Members include a selection of university, college, and IT presidents/directors or their nominees. The board also plays a key role in raising awareness of the awards.

There are 26 judging panels, one for each category, with three-to-seven members on each, depending on the size of the field. Each panel is grouped into the relevant disciplines and, where appropriate, industry professionals will also feature on the judging panel. Each panel has a chair, responsible for coordinating the judging of his/her category. Together, the 26 judging panels will aim to comprise representatives from every university, college, and institute of technology on the island of Ireland.