2023
UCC Innovation launches Ireland’s first digital badge in Innovation and Intellectual Property
- UCC Innovation launches digital badge in Innovation and Intellectual Property (IP) – the first of its kind in Ireland.
- Pilot course geared towards postgraduate students, researchers and staff in the UCC College of Science, Engineering and Food Science.
- Course aims to empower and educate researchers to be more informed about the opportunities around University IP.
9 March 2023: UCC Innovation today launched a new digital badge in Innovation and Intellectual Property (IP) for Scientists and Engineers.
The UCC Innovation digital badge in Innovation and IP is a short course designed to support UCC scientists and engineers in learning about how to protect and commercialise their research and innovations. It is the first digital badge in Ireland on this topic and will be delivered by UCC Innovation in collaboration with the College of Science, Engineering and Food Sciences (SEFS).
It will focus on key aspects of Innovation and IP Management – introduction to good IP management, the different forms of IP, IP protections such as patenting, and commercialisation activities such as licensing and creating spinout companies.
The course will begin on Wednesday, 5 April and run for 4 consecutive weeks. It is hoped that the course will run bi-annually, with enrolment opportunities for a spring and winter cohort.
The course was developed by Dr Karen McCarthy, UCC Innovation Commercialisation Case Manager, in collaboration with Dr Gerald McGlacken, Vice Dean for Research and Innovation, SEFS, and Dr Susan Joyce, School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, SEFS.
Awareness and experience with innovation and IP management is an essential skill for researchers, both in the academic and commercial environment. The goal of the UCC Innovation digital badge in Innovation and IP is to empower and educate researchers to be more informed about the opportunities around IP.
Speaking at the launch, Professor John Cryan, Vice President for Research & Innovation at University College Cork said: “I am delighted to see the launch of the Digital Badge in Innovation and IP, the first of its kind in Ireland. The course will significantly add to the skills of researchers in the College of SEFS, informing them about opportunities around University IP. As our UCC Futures programme continues to drive research in the University, the digital badge in Innovation and IP will enhance researcher knowledge of commercialisation opportunities and create awareness on what their research can offer in this area.”
Professor Sarah Culloty, Head, College of Science, Engineering and Food Science said: "An understanding of the importance of intellectual property is an increasingly significant aspect of academic research. This programme will equip our researchers with the skills necessary to transfer their knowledge and ideas into commercially viable solutions that can address our social, economic and environmental challenges".
Dr Sally Cudmore, Director of Innovation at UCC, said: “IP refers to creations of the mind, such as inventions, literary and artistic works, software code, new product designs, brand names, symbols etc. IP may have significant commercial and/or societal value which can benefit the national economy, UCC and the inventors. This digital badge course will help researchers identify IP in their research, describe the ways to protect and commercialise IP and the UCC supports available. It is a vital skill set for any scientist or engineer to have on their CV for a broad range of future careers from academia to industry.”
Enrolment for the digital badge is now open for UCC applications – interested participants can email innovationdigitalbadge@ucc.ie to express their interest. Places are limited and will be confirmed in advance of the course beginning Wednesday, 5 April.
About UCC Innovation:
UCC Innovation, part the Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation, is responsible for creating economic and societal impact from UCC research through the commercialisation of ideas and technologies and knowledge exchange.
UCC has a long legacy of technology transfer with its Industrial Liaison Office being established in 1982, the first such office in Ireland. In 2006 this changed to the Office of Technology Transfer, and in 2019 was rebranded as UCC Innovation, which today provides a greater breadth of supports to the university community and industry.
The team in UCC Innovation maximises the impact from UCC research through licensing technologies, and by providing UCC expertise through consultancy. It also nurtures the establishment of new ventures through its accelerator programmes and incubation facilities. GatewayUCC supports the development of researcher led high-tech and knowledge-intensive spin-out companies, that have created more than 450 jobs since 2012. UCC supported spin-out companies have raised over €50 million of public and private investment and contribute around €25 million a year in salaries to the local economy. IGNITE, a 12-month start-up incubation programme for recent graduates, has supported 166 founders working on 138 start-up ideas in the last 10 years. These founders are actively involved in 83 businesses today that have created 315 jobs. They have raised €18M in funding and are estimated to have contributed €40M in salaries to date.
About the College of Science, Engineering and Food Science (SEFS)
With 600 academic and research staff, over 5,000 students and generating 1,200 graduates annually, the College of Science, Engineering and Food Science (SEFS) plays a significant role in the advancement of STEM, both in Ireland and around the world. Overall, SEFS represents approximately half of the research activity at UCC and hosts over 50% of UCC PhD students. It is home to 24 STEM Research Institutes and Centres, with particular strengths in the areas of food and nutrition; future and emerging technologies; health and wellbeing; sustainability and climate action; and pharma.