Six Trinity academics have expressed interest in succeeding the Provost of TCD, Dr Tom Mitchell, when he steps down in August. They are the Dean of Research, Dr John Hegarty, Professor of Genetics Dr David McConnell, Professor of Economics Dr Francis Ruane, Professor of Hebrew Dr Andrew Mayes, Professor of Gerontology Dr Davis Coakley, and Dr Micheal Mac An Airchinnigh, who lectures in computer science.

The provost of TCD is elected - at other universities, candidates undergo a recruitment process.

So far, no candidate has officially declared. In order to do so, they must be nominated by 12 members of the college's electoral roll. The date of the election is March 10th and the closing date for nominations is four weeks before that. The election is open to outsiders, provided they can marshal sufficient nomination support. It is believed that it would be difficult for an outsider to secure enough votes to win. It is not, however, impossible. Of the names already in the ring for the provostship, Mac An Airchinnigh, who has held no college office, is regarded as the outsider. David McConnell, who also ran in the last election, is the current Vice-Provost, a former registrar and a famous geneticist. Davis Coakley is a former Dean of Health sciences and an expert on Oscar Wilde. As Dean of Research, physicist John Hegarty has played a major role in the development of the college's research strategy. Andrew Mayes is a former vice-provost and registrar, while the only female candidate, Frances Ruane, has been college bursar.