For the Academic Year 2011-2012, the Innovation Academy is offering the core modules of the Graduate Certificate in Innovation and Entrepreneurship for the first time. The core modules focus on Creative Thinking & Innovation (worth 10 European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System units [ECTS]) and Opportunity Generation & Recognition (5 ECTS).

To be eligible for the award of the Certificate participants are required to reach a total complement of 30 ECTS, representing 600 hours of focused effort on behalf of the students.

For more information on the Certificate and optional modules in TCD please click HERE.

For more information on the Certificate and optional modules in UCD please click HERE.

In the first module in the Academy programme, the intention is to ignite creative thinking in students. The emphasis will be on fun foundations of non-discipline specific innovation as part of multi-disciplinary teams.

The aim of this module is to help PhD students to access their innate ability for independent creative thinking and innovation in its broadest sense and to assist them in discovering the potential for the development of their new ideas in a multi-disciplinary team environment.

As part of this core module multi-disciplinary teams of students will embark on short projects with mentors selected from the public or private sector. Designed to promote constructive team dynamics amongst individual researchers, the projects also foster long-term relationships between peers, potential patrons and employers.

The aim of this second module is to aid in the PhD student’s identification and assessment of which skill-sets they would require for the development of their own ideas. Following on from the ethos of a multi-disciplinary Academy, students are expected to develop a network of peers with complimentary skill-sets from alternative disciplines, with whom they may subsequently work towards the further development of new ventures.

Upon completion students should not only have the ability to develop and assess the most innovative aspects of their PhD research but also the ability to identify any potential pitfalls that they are likely to encounter during the development and implementation process and have the strategy to navigate around them.