Gardaí confirmed yesterday they were investigating the third serious assault on a female student at the University of Limerick in the past 10 days.
The latest attack happened at around 10.20pm on Wednesday shortly after a female student had left the college bar on campus.
She was walking towards College Court when she was grabbed from behind by her assailant who tried to pull her to the ground.
The woman managed to kick her attacker and fled the scene before giving gardaí a detailed description.
The attacker is described as 5ft 8in, unshaven with short spiked dark hair, wearing a dark hooded top, blue jeans and runners.
Gardaí at Henry Street said they were treating the incident very seriously and have appealed for witnesses to come forward.
Gardaí confirmed that at least one of last week's incidents was being treated as an attempted rape. However, it was unclear whether the same culprit was behind all three attacks.
Meanwhile, the students' union at the university has appealed to students to report all incidents of crime on campus, no matter how small.
The union is also selling personal alarms at cost price in the student shop in response to the attacks.