Two new postgraduate certificate courses will run in Trinity’s Innovation Academy this autumn, after the academy received funding from the Higher Education Authority (HEA).
The courses will begin in late September and will run for 18 weeks on a part-time basis. The courses will offer postgraduate certificates – the first in creative thinking, innovation and entrepreneurship and the second in innovation and entrepreneurship. The courses,which are part of the government’s Springboard+ programme, will see students taught skills across a range of areas, including information and communications technology, digital marketing and project management.
Springboard+ is co-founded by the Irish government and the European Social Fund, offering level nine qualifications that aim to promote entrepreneurial skills, finance, interpersonal skills, innovation and creative thinking, as well as fostering skills such as confidence building and overcoming psychological barriers in returning to work. It provides free higher education courses at certificate, degree and masters levels for people who are unemployed, returning to work or employed and want to update their skills. The programme has also received support from Launchbox, the accelerator programme for student startups in Trinity.
The programme also offers partipicants the opportunity to work with entrepreneurs, business leaders and figures in Irish industry. In a press statement, Business Development Manager at the Innovation Academy, Ruth Kearney, said: “The great thing about these programmes is the willingness of industry to get involved. We have support from major recruitment companies including CPL and CareerZoo as well as the global movement 30% Club, Journey Partners and several of the major banks.”
“This is only the beginning, we plan on getting a lot more industry involved and really matching re-skilling with employment”, Kearney added.
Trinity has been slowly expanding its entrepreneurial ambitions in recent years. The college, which is consistently ranked as one of the most entrepreneurial universities in Europe, is currently developing a new technological campus in the Grand Canal Docks and is working to build an Innovation and Entrepreneurship Hub. The work on entrepreneurship is rooted in Trinitys 2014 – 2019 Strategy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, in which Provost Patrick Prendergast said he hoped it “will further embed a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship right across the university”.
