THE RESEARCH merger between UCD and TCD entered a new phase with the opening of the Innovation Academy yesterday.
Described as “the educational centrepiece of the TCD-UCD Innovation Alliance’’, the academy promises to “develop a new breed of graduate by imbuing graduate research and education with creative thinking and innovation”.
Located beside the Bank of Ireland building on College Green, the new academy has 33 PhD students enrolled. A new joint TCD-UCD graduate certificate in innovation and entrepreneurship is the first programme to be offered by the academy.
The alliance was established last year. The move, strongly supported by Taoiseach Brian Cowen, drew criticism from other universities worried about the development of a “two-tier’’ sector.
But UCD and TCD insisted the alliance is essential to provide the critical mass capable of delivering world-class research.
Between them, UCD and TCD account for 50 per cent of all PhD training in science, engineering and technology in Ireland.
Earlier this year, the alliance secured a major share of a new €358 million fund for third-level research.
UCD and TCD say their alliance has the potential to create 300 new businesses and up to 30,000 jobs over the next decade. But these claims were greeted with scepticism in other colleges.
Welcoming the opening of the academy, the provost of TCD Dr John Hegarty and the president of UCD Dr Hugh Brady said it represented a practical demonstration of the progressive co-operation between Ireland’s leading universities: “With the Innovation Alliance, we laid out our vision for a meaningful partnership which was built upon the strengths of our institutions.
“In reaching this important milestone, it is very clear that we are competitors not against one another but in the world arena. Together, through the realisation of the Innovation Academy, we have demonstrated the capacity and drive to deliver this new approach to graduate education in Ireland. The academy is about people. In partnership with industry expertise, it is a powerful model for equipping the future thought leaders of this country with the capacity to combine cutting-edge research with the entrepreneurial and innovative abilities so needed for Ireland’s sustainability and revival.”
Prof Paul Coughlan (TCD) and Prof Suzi Jarvis (UCD) are leading the development of the academy.
Prof Coughlan explained: “We are educating our PhD students to recognise the innovation potential of their research and to exploit their new ideas in multidisciplinary teams in a competitive world. We see innovation in its broadest sense, encompassing the creative arts, social entrepreneurship, science, engineering, technology, humanities and business.”
Prof Jarvis said Ireland had created first-class research programmes over the past 10 years and built a PhD education that attracts students from all over the world.
“We are ideally placed in this country to engender innovation in our graduates, given our strong history of invention, culture and entrepreneurship.”