AgInnovation: Agricultural Innovation & Entrepreneurship (MSc)

Program Overview

This one-year Master's program in AgInnovation equips students with the skills to address challenges in agriculture and the food sector. It combines design thinking and entrepreneurial principles to foster innovation, with a focus on developing viable business solutions. The program aims to create job creators and innovators in the agri-domain, including roles such as founders, innovation managers, and product developers.

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

The Masters in AgInnovation is a one-year program designed to equip students with the knowledge and skills to develop technological solutions for challenges facing Irish agriculture and the food sector. It combines MIT's "Disciplined Entrepreneurship" curriculum with design thinking and customer discovery principles. The program emphasizes collaborative learning, enabling students to work with diverse groups to understand needs and opportunities. It focuses on both business analysis and communication skills, preparing graduates to launch their own ventures or manage innovation projects within established organizations. The program's objectives are to teach students how to:

• Identify areas for innovation within the agri-domain.
• Launch innovation-driven enterprises or create new business units within existing companies.
The program specifically addresses:
• Identifying opportunities through design thinking and opportunity recognition.
• Developing concepts and validating markets.
• Overcoming challenges related to bringing new products to market.
The program emphasizes critical thinking, curiosity, and the use of tools to manage the innovation process. Experiential learning is central to the MSc, fostering a learn-by-doing atmosphere.

Outline:

The MSc in AgInnovation is structured around three core pillars:

• Agri-Needs Finding: Students learn ethnographic research methods (observation, interviews, surveys) to conduct primary market research, market validation, and problem definition specific to the agricultural environment.
• Design Thinking for the Agri-Sector: The Design Thinking methodology is applied to investigate real-world needs of the agricultural sector and develop sustainable solutions.
• MIT's Disciplined Entrepreneurship: The 24-step "Disciplined Entrepreneurship" process from MIT provides a framework for developing minimal viable business products (MVBP) for the agri-domain.

Careers:

The program aims to create job creators of the future, both as new venture creators and innovators within organizations. Graduates will develop skills relevant to roles such as:

• Founder
• Innovation manager
• Head of Innovation
• Business manager
• New product development
• Design thinking
• Sales
The program emphasizes critical thinking, communication skills, and customer focus, building empathy for people. It also covers topics in creativity, team forming, mindsets, and bias awareness, which are transversal skills across many sectors.

Other:

The program is funded by the HEA through its Springboard program. It is delivered as a mix of online lectures and monthly sessions on campus. The program is designed to help individuals, farmers, and those engaged within the agri-domain who have great ideas but need a better understanding of the dynamics of innovation. The program is also suitable for individuals who want to drive change within an organization.

Fees: EU

€8,200 p.a. (including levy) 2024/25

Fees: Tuition

€8,060 p.a. 2024/25

Fees: Student levy

€140 p.a. 2024/25

Fees: Non EU

€25,500 p.a. (€25,640 p.a. including levy) 2024/25