Innovation Academy to provide Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training for Brazilian Academics
Posted on: 10 February 2015
The Innovation Academy at Trinity College Dublin and UNISUAM, a non-profit educational institution in Brazil, have joined forces to deliver innovation and entrepreneurship training to UNISUAM academics in 2015. The programme will be delivered in both Rio de Janeiro and Dublin.
Trinity’s Dean of Research for Trinity, Professor Vinny Cahill and the Director of Innovation and Development at UNISUAM, Carlos Henrique Xerfan recently signed the licence agreement in Dublin.
Commenting on the significance of the agreement, Professor Cahill said: “Trinity has several interactions with Brazilian universities and UNISUAM represents a new type of collaboration. They are deeply embedded in their local community and in supporting social and economic innovation. This is something we look forward to contributing to and learning from.”
UNISUAM’s Provost, Arapuan Netto visited Trinity in March 2014 as part of an international delegation of Brazilian educators visiting Europe. They identified Trinity College and the University of Warwick as leaders in Innovation and Entrepreneurship training and participated in a short training programme whilst at the Innovation Academy.
The Director of the Innovation Academy in Trinity College, Dr Barry McMahon on a return visit to UNISUAM said: “It was great to visit Provost Netto and his team and get a real sense of their passion for educating young adults in Rio de Janeiro. We are delighted they are moving forward with us in a plan to bring innovation and entrepreneurship training to their staff and students.”
The move reflects Trinity’s ongoing internationalisation efforts in both research and education. It is also at the core of the university’s Strategy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, which aims to support and accelerate the growing entrepreneurial culture across campus and beyond. Major initiatives within this include the Science Gallery International, which plans to open eight Science Gallery locations in partnership with leading international universities in urban centres including New York, Singapore and Moscow by 2020. Another key development is the new €70 million building, which will house the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Hub, and the Trinity School of Business. This aims to further position Trinity and Dublin as a global node for innovation and start-up enterprises.
The Innovation Academy
The Innovation Academy was established in 2010 and is a collaboration between Trinity College Dublin, UCD and Queen’s University Belfast in order to provide PhD students from across all disciplines with the skills, confidence and networks to translate their research into a commercial, social, cultural or policy innovation. It recently graduated 32 doctoral students from the inter-university collaboration. The students from Trinity and Queen’s University Belfast were presented with Graduate Certificates in Innovation and Entrepreneurship by the Minister for Education and Skills, Jan O’Sullivan TD, at a special graduation ceremony in the Department of Education and Skills.