STAFF at Ulster University and Queen's University Belfast are expected to take part in 18 days of strike action before April.
The workers, who are members of the University and College Union (UCU), will take to the picket lines in a dispute over pay, conditions and attacks on pensions.
The union said that more than 70,000 staff at 150 universities across the UK will strike for 18 days between February and March. It said the precise dates of the action will be confirmed next week.
The UCU, which represents lecturers and support staff, said the "clock is ticking" for university bosses to avoid widespread disruption this year, which also comes after workers took part in strike action in November and December.
The union said it intends to re-ballot staff to allow it to call for further action, including a marking and assessment boycott from April, unless the disputes are settled.
It is calling for a "meaningful pay rise to deal with the cost-of-living crisis as well as action to end the use of insecure contracts".
It said the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA), which represents university employers, made UCU a pay offer worth between four and five per cent on Thursday.
But UCU said the offer was "not enough".
In the pension dispute, UCU is demanding employers revoke the cuts and restore benefits. The package of cuts made last year will see the average member lose 35 per cent from their guaranteed future retirement income.
It said for those at the beginning of their careers, the losses are in the hundreds of thousands of pounds.
UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: "Today our union came together to back an unprecedented programme of escalating strike action.
"The clock is now ticking for the sector to produce a deal or be hit with widespread disruption.
"University staff dedicate their lives to education and they want to get back to work, but that will only happen if university vice-chancellors use the vast wealth of the sector to address over a decade of falling pay, rampant insecure employment practices and devastating pension cuts.
"The choice is theirs."
