UCD Professional Diploma in Creativity, Innovation and Leadership

By the end of the Professional Diploma in Creativity, Innovation and Leadership, you will:

• Be inspired
• Gain an innovator’s mindset
• Build creative confidence via practical challenges
• Build your CV with a substantial innovation project module
• Develop your leadership skills to engage others
• Build a peer network of friends, contacts and collaborators
• Leave ready to apply your new skills to progress your career
• Have a Level 9 qualification from UCD

Please note that applications are reviewed and places offered on a rolling basis so we encourage you to apply early to secure a place on the programme.

Deadline to Apply: 12th February 2025

If you have any questions or would like to speak with a member of the Innovation Academy team about your application, email us at innovation.academy@ucd.ie or call us at 01 716 2065. We’d be happy to support you staring your education journey.

How To Apply

If you are an international student or ineligible for Springboard funding, please see ‘Applying Directly to UCD’.

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.

Funding:

• FREE for eligible jobseekers: those who are currently receiving eligible DEASP Payments.
• FREE for returners to work and carers.
• 90% subsidised (student pays €260) eligible individuals in employment or self-employment, and the formerly self-employed.

Please follow the steps below to apply for a Springboard funded place.

Step 1)

Begin your Springboard application HERE

Step 2)

Upload the required documents listed below:

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). If you previously studied at UCD, please provide your UCD student   number on a Word document/PDF.

D) Applicants who do not have a level 8 qualification can apply through Recognition of Prior Learning.

Under UCD’s Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) policy, consideration will be given on a case by case basis to applicants who do not hold a primary degree but who can demonstrate extensive professional experience. Typically, such applicants would have five years or more experience where their role includes managing teams, leading projects, programmes or business units.

If you are applying under RPL, please review your CV to ensure that it clearly demonstrates the following-

• Any experience of leadership and self-direction
• Any experience of management or entrepreneurship
• A description of employee, budget and client responsibilities

RPL applicants should also upload two recently dated professional/employment references. These should be on headed paper or from an official email address and including the referees name, role and email address.

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

Step 3)

If you are successful, you will be offered a provisional offer.

Following provisional offers, UCD Innovation Academy will request evidence of eligibility in respect of holding a valid PPSN; Nationality; Current Residency; 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

Applying Directly to UCD

Step 1)

Apply for the course via UCD. You will need to create an account if you do not already have a UCD Connect account.

APPLY HERE

Step 2)

Upload the required documents listed below

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). If you previously studied at UCD, please provide your UCD student number on a Word document/PDF.

D) Applicants who do not have a level 8 qualification can apply through Recognition of Prior Learning.

Under UCD’s Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) policy, consideration will be given on a case by case basis to applicants who do not hold a Level 8 primary degree (Honours Bachelor’s Degree) but who fulfil either of the following criteria:

Holding a Level 7 primary degree (Pass/Ordinary Bachelor’s Degree): upload your academic transcript of your Level 7 and demonstrate min. 2 years work experience on your CV. Professional references may be required.

No Level 7/8 degree: min. 5 years work experience and 2 recently dated professional/employment references required. These should be on headed paper or from an official email address and including the referees name, role and email address.

Please review your CV to ensure that it clearly demonstrates the following:

a. Any experience of leadership and self-direction;

b. Any experience of management or entrepreneurship;

c. A description of any responsibilities that demonstrate accountability, resource management, or client engagement (if applicable).

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

As the course involves continuous assessment, students must attend all class sessions.

The rest of the course is assessed through a combination of individual and team assignments, project reports and presentations.

IA40110:

• 30% Participation in challenges and exercises
• 40% Active participation and engagement
• 30% End of module reflection report

IA40260:

• 20% Presentation pitching your action learning project
• 40% Active participation and engagement
• 40% End of module reflection report

IA40500:

• 70% Project report and presentation
• 30% End of module reflection report

All courses at the Innovation Academy are developed and facilitated by our exceptional team of educators. 

The team boasts a wealth of experience from a wide variety of backgrounds. They are international entrepreneurs, doctors (both medical and academic), robotics experts, storytellers, conservationists, campaigners, and creatives. 

What they all have in common is their love of the innovative, learning-by-doing approach to learning and their devotion to delivering a world-class student experience. 

Read more about the people behind this course.

• Maurice Knightly Course Director and Entrepreneurial Specialist
• Eina McHugh Entrepreneurial Specialist
• Fergal Brophy Entrepreneurial Specialist

In an IBM study of 1,500 CEOs, creativity came out as the most important leadership quality.

This course will teach you the skills you need to become your organisation’s champion for creativity and innovation.

ACCREDIBLE

UCD Innovation Academy is delighted to partner with Accredible in the provision of digital credentials across all of our programmes. We believe lifelong learning should be encouraged and celebrated, and digital credentials will allow you to share your accomplishments on LinkedIn and other online platforms to promote among your network. 

Students who successfully complete and pass this programme will receive a digital certificate of completion. The certificate is issued online once the UCD Exam Board sits and approves your grade. UCD Exam Board sits three times a year (Autumn, Spring, Summer trimester) and approval times vary depending on the Exam Board calendar. The certificate of completion is separate to the official parchment, which arrives in hard copy at a later date.

You’ll explore how innovation can solve some of the most challenging issues facing Irish businesses – Covid-19, automation, disruption – and equip you to face whatever’s next.

Employers are looking for people who can think their way around these problems. If you’re looking for your next job, having this Diploma on your CV will be sure to make you stand out from the crowd.

If you’re already in work, you’ll be primed to take on new responsibilities and step into more senior roles. Expect your employer to get you working more closely with senior management, running business-critical projects, and to put you top of the list for promotion.