MSc (AgInnovation: Agricultural Innovation & Entrepreneurship)

The Masters in AgInnovation is a one-year programme that provides students with the concepts needed to develop technological solutions to the problems confronting Irish agriculture and the food sector.  The course combines MIT’s "Disciplined Entrepreneurship" curriculum with concepts from design thinking and customer discovery.  An important feature of the course is that students learn to work with a variety of groups to understand needs and opportunities.  The course highlights both business analysis as well as communication skills so that the programme’s graduates are well-equipped to either launch their own enterprise or manage innovation projects within a larger organization.  Funded by HEA through its Springboard programme, AgInnovate is delivered as a mix of on-line lectures and monthly sessions on campus.

This course teaches people how to: -

• Identify areas for innovation specifically within the agri-domain;  
• Create innovation-driven enterprises or new business units within an existing company. 
• Particular consideration is given to helping participants address:  
• Challenges around commercialising innovations (ideas and technologies);  
• Business constraints and guidelines (margins, CAGR, lifetime value, COCA, etc.);  
• Other difficulties related to getting new agri-products to sizeable markets;  
• Communication skills and self-awareness vital to creating successful innovation-driven enterprises.  
• Building on the TechInnovate programme at NUI Galway, this MSc in AgInnovation has three core pillars:  

Agri-Needs Finding: Students learn the fundamentals of ethnographic research [i.e., observation, interviews, and surveys] which allows them 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 particularly relevant to those interested in innovation in the agricultural domain since it allows students to investigate specific, real-world needs of the agricultural sector and use those insights to develop sustainable solutions.  

MIT's Disciplined Entrepreneurship: The successful and real-world oriented "Disciplined Entrepreneurship", 24-step process from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) forms the basis for developing minimal viable business products (MVBP) for the agri-domain.