Overview of the Human Capital Initiative

The Human Capital Initiative, launched by the government in late 2019, will invest €300m over five years in increasing the capacity of higher education to meet skills needs of the future. The three pillars of the initiative cover the areas of Graduate Conversion Courses (Pillar 1), Additional Places on Existing Undergraduate Provision (Pillar 2), and Innovation and Agility (Pillar 3). The total funding available for the three Pillars totals €296m over five years and this type of funding mechanism represents how such future initiatives will be made available to HEIs in the future. Full details can be found on the HEA’s dedicated website.

Pillar 1 Graduate Conversion Programmes is providing for funding of approximately €68m across the sector; Pillar 2 Existing Places on Existing Undergraduate Programmes is providing funding of approximately €22m whilst Pillar 3 Innovation and Agility will provide a total of €206m across the sector over 5 years to fund innovation and agility in methods of teaching and learning and the ability to respond to emerging skills needs through, for example, delivery of new courses or adaptation of existing courses.

Under Pillar 1 Graduate Conversion Programmes, Trinity was awarded funding of €1.12m; Pillar 2 Existing Places on Existing Undergraduate Programmes was awarded €0.91m whilst under Pillar 3 funding, TCD was recently awarded €21m by the Government following submission of a proposal of 24 individual work packages under the umbrella theme of ‘Next Generation Teaching and Learning for the Changing Needs of Society and Enterprise’.