Creativity, Innovation & Entrepreneurship

By the end of the Graduate Certificate in Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, you will:

• Acquire a toolkit that helps you to validate and execute new ideas using key frameworks and methodologies.

• Cultivate a personal brand identity and build your creative confidence. 

• Develop and understand the entrepreneurial mindset that enables you to realise your career aspirations.

• Use prototyping and pitching skills to solve real-world problems.

• Apply learning to be able to develop business models for new ventures.

• Build a peer network of contacts and collaborators who have the skills to lead change in organisations and start new ones.

• Develop a skill set that entrepreneurs need and employers value including creative thinking, collaborative problem solving, communication & presentation skills, team working & networking skills.

• Collaborate effectively and gain exposure to new perspectives and alternative skill sets.

• Gain knowledge through informative online fireside chats with external speakers.

• Leave with a clear action plan to reimagine and relaunch your career.

• Gain a joint Level 9 qualification awarded by University College Dublin.

People with power skills in creative problem solving, innovation, and entrepreneurial thinking are in high demand right now. 

Whether you see yourself as an entrepreneur at the head of a new venture, or bringing more creative ways of working to an existing employer, you’ll develop serious skills in a creative way. 

You’ll leave the course feeling inspired and perfectly positioned to grab emerging opportunities, or create your own.

Graduates of this course have gone on to establish exciting new business ventures like Fiid and Peachy Lean. Others have launched award-winning social enterprises like Buddy Bench, Streetsmart Ireland, and The Upcycle Movement. 

As one of our exclusive club of graduates you’ll have the qualities employers are looking for. Our graduates have applied what they’ve learned to change careers, working with organisations from Accenture to The Department of An Taoiseach, and even here at the Innovation Academy.

€4,600 (EU) or €4,600 (Non-EU)

This fee is 100% or 90% funded for eligible applicants through the HEA Springboard+ Initiative.

FREE for eligible jobseekers: those who are currently receiving eligible DEASP Payments.

FREE for returners to work and carers.

90% subsidised (student pays €460) eligible individuals in employment or self-employment, and the formerly self-employed.

See ‘How to Apply’ section on our website for eligibility criteria.

This course is open for initial applications through the HEA's Springboard+ website. If you are seeking Springboard funding, please apply on Springboard first - you will be instructed when you should apply to the course on this UCD page to finalise your enrollment on the programme. If you require more information, please register your interest on our website or book a call with our team and we will be in contact with you shortly. Applications will be reviewed and places offered on a rolling basis until the course is full. Please read on for further information regarding the application procedures and funding eligibility for this course. These are subject to change.

How To Apply

This programme is funded through the Higher Education Authority Springboard+ Initiative, with 90 – 100% funding available to eligible applicants, for full-time residents in the Republic of Ireland. See the Springboard eligibility criteria here.

If you are an international student or ineligible for Springboard funding, please contact a member of our recruitment team at innovation.academy@ucd.ie for assistance before proceeding with direct application to the course. There is no alternative funding available for applicants who are ineligible for Springboard funding and are applying directly for this programme.

You must submit the following initial supporting documents on your Springboard application:

A) Current CV

B) Letter of Motivation (one page), addressing the following:

• Why you want to do the course at this time
• What you hope to achieve from doing this course
• What you can contribute to this course

C) A copy of your academic transcript to show that you have a minimum of an Undergraduate Honours Bachelor’s Degree (NFQ Level 8, 3-4 years of study). This is required for admission to a UCD Level 9 programme. If you previously studied at UCD, please provide your UCD student number on a Word document/PDF. Please note a degree certificate/parchment unaccompanied by a transcript will not suffice. You need to upload your academic transcript or diploma supplement.

D) Applicants who do not have a level 8 qualification can apply through Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL). Full details of minimum requirements and the RPL policy are available here. You are strongly advised to get in touch with UCD Innovation Academy for further guidance. before commencing an RPL application.

E) If English is not your first language, an English language qualification is required. Click here for full English Language Requirements for UCD.

If you are successful following review of these initial documents, you will be offered a provisional offer on Springboard. You should then make your application here on UCD to formally enroll on the programme.

Following provisional offers, UCD Innovation Academy will request evidence of eligibility in respect of holding a valid PPSN; Nationality; Current Residency in Ireland; 3 of 5 Years EU/EEA residency; and current Employment Status between six weeks and two weeks from the stated course start date.

It is only at this point that eligibility for funding through the HEA Springboard initiative can be ascertained.

Visit our FAQs here.

Part Time option suitable for:

Domestic(EEA) applicants: Yes
International (Non EEA) applicants: No

Perfect for lifelong learners if you are keen to change direction and reinvent yourself and your career.

You might be;

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  unemployed or formerly self-employed,

  
  


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  a carer or returner to work, a career changer,

  
  


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  an aspiring entrepreneur or intrapreneur or,

  
  


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  someone keen to take a more innovative approach to the workplace.

  
  

Part Time option suitable for:

Domestic(EEA) applicants: Yes

International (Non EEA) applicants currently residing outside of the EEA Region. No