diff --git a/doc/release-notes/9728-universe-variablemetadata.md b/doc/release-notes/9728-universe-variablemetadata.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..66a2daf151b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/release-notes/9728-universe-variablemetadata.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+universe field in variablemetadata table was changed from varchar(255) to text. The change was made to support longer strings in "universe" metadata field, similar to the rest of text fields in variablemetadata table.
diff --git a/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/datavariable/VariableMetadata.java b/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/datavariable/VariableMetadata.java
index 29e821c28a4..147c2c004db 100644
--- a/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/datavariable/VariableMetadata.java
+++ b/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/datavariable/VariableMetadata.java
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ public class VariableMetadata implements Serializable  {
     /**
      * universe: metadata variable field.
      */
+    @Column(columnDefinition="TEXT")
     private String universe;
 
     /**
diff --git a/src/main/resources/db/migration/V5.13.0.3__9728-universe-variablemetadata.sql b/src/main/resources/db/migration/V5.13.0.3__9728-universe-variablemetadata.sql
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8e311c06b32
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/resources/db/migration/V5.13.0.3__9728-universe-variablemetadata.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+-- increase field universe from 255 to text
+ALTER TABLE variablemetadata ALTER COLUMN universe TYPE text;