UCD Innovation Impacts
University College Dublin is a key component of Ireland’s innovation ecosystem and is an engine of growth with a global reach.
Growth and employment creation is the major challenge for the world’s economies. Productivity growth will determine future living standards. Improving productivity involves supporting talented people to use their knowledge and skills to find ingenious ways to combine inputs to create new and better products and services. Therefore, innovation is a crucial driver of competitiveness and economic renewal.
A strong human-capital base, an education system which fosters independent thinking, creativity and innovation, and a strong research base are critical parts of an effective economy and therefore, universities have a key role in innovation.
As Ireland’s largest university, UCD is fully committed to its role in economic and social development through innovation. We take a broad view of innovation as encapsulating technological and process innovation as well as policy innovation and transfer, social and cultural innovation.
The impact of a selection of University College Dublin's innovation activities for the period 2004 to 2011 are summarised below:
- Over 30,000 students enrolled in UCD Horizons
- Almost 12,000 UCD Horizons’ graduates
- Introduction of thematic PhD programmes
- Over 200 currently participating in Innovation Academy modules
- Over 300 industry partnerships
- 21 new UCD spin-out companies incorporated
- 370 inventions disclosed
- 239 patents filed (including 125 priority patent applications)
- 88 licence agreements concluded
- Over 60 start-up companies occupied incubation space at NovaUCD
- Over 115 new ventures supported at NovaUCD
- UCD spin-out company ChangingWorlds acquired for over $60million and UCD spin-out BiancaMed also acquired
- 101 new ventures and 170 individuals completed the UCD Campus Company Development Programme.
