Innovation through Design Thinking

Course Outline
Even though there is a constant focus on innovation within business, few possess the know-how to make it a reliable and repeatable practice. As businesses are facing significant challenges to build sustainability into their future business models and practices, the need to be innovative has increased further. As a result, new approaches to tackling this innovation dilemma are needed across all sectors.

Design Thinking is one of the world's most popular approaches to establishing dynamic, human-centred, goal-oriented innovation. The Postgraduate Diploma in Innovation through Design Thinking educates design thinkers to work across a wide spectrum of settings and sectors.

In addressing the skills needs of the future workforce (skills to adapt to the changing workforce and business models of the future), this programme enhances the data, digital, and design literacy of the participants, thereby ensuring they develop new ways of doing business. We ensure the relevance of skills development and provision by facilitating active engagement with industry partners.

The programme's content and its delivery are tailored to personal and professional impact. Industry engagement is core to the programme USP as it ensures continuous applied learning addressing live issues encountered within a business context. Our objective is that all participants are immersed in a hands-on, real-world, work-ready learning experience.

Participants will learn how to:

employ a range of innovation and creativity techniques;
develop a systemised, data-driven approach to challenges;
develop innovations (products and/or services) for impact in business and in society; and
anticipate and respond to new digital trends and technologies.
The programme modules are as follows:

ED6076 Innovation, Creativity and Design Thinking [15 credits]
BU6008 Data and Digital Literacy [15 credits]
BU6009 Industry-in-the-Classroom Work-based Learning Project [30 credits]

Programme participants will learn how to:

-Apply innovation and creativity techniques in organisational settings to address real world challenges.
-Evaluate digital trends and technologies to develop innovations for business and societal impact.
-Develop a shared understanding to design sustainable data strategies and promote a data-driven mindset.
-Critically evaluate the digital footprint of an organisation and design a digital business model for products/services.
-Critique data-based decisions and actions in business and build the business case for analytics.
-Demonstrate an ability to clearly present and discuss their conclusions and the knowledge and arguments behind them, in dialogue with different stakeholders/groups, orally and in writing.
-Manage the practicalities of designing, building and evaluating a prototype solution where it is applied in an organisation.
-Demonstrate an ability to work individually as well as in groups in order to solve real-world "live" business problems.

Why Choose This Course
The Postgraduate Diploma in Innovation through Design Thinking offers you a unique perspective on innovation by bringing together three key literacies, namely: design literacy, data literacy and digital literacy. Now more than ever, there is a need to be skilled in the art of "finding a way" as businesses are facing significant challenges to build sustainability into their future business models and practices. Now is the right time to locate yourself at the "sweetspot" of these literacies in order to build your knowledge and skills in the pedagogy and practice of innovation.

This programme affords you the opportunity, whether you are upskilling or reskilling, to immerse yourself in a hands-on, real-world, work-ready learning experience. As part of the "industry-in-the-classroom" work-based learning project, you will be provided with the practical experience of undertaking a project in collaboration with an industry partner and applying skills and theories acquired on the programme to live issues encountered within a business context.

Industry partners from sectors such as

financial services,
technology, retail and
pharma
will enable this action-oriented, applied problem-solving to take place.

By adopting an Action-Design approach, you will develop critical thinking skills through using the industry partner as a site of inquiry and reflection. It is this ongoing proximity to industry mentors that will strengthen your employability.

The programme modules are as follows:

ED6076 Innovation, Creativity and Design Thinking [15 credits]
BU6008 Data and Digital Literacy [15 credits]
BU6009 Industry-in-the-Classroom Work-based Learning Project [30 credits]

Applicants must have a Second Class Honours in a primary honours degree (NFQ Level 8) or equivalent in any discipline.

A quota will be allocated to applicants who do not meet these entry requirements. These applicants will be considered under Recognition of Prior Learning and assessed on the following factors:

Academic achievement
Prior Work Experience
Letter of Reference
Personal Statement

All applicants whose first language is not English must provide evidence of English language proficiency. See our English language profiency requirements.

Fill out our Expression of Interest Form for 2022 (Online)

Interest in Human Capital Initiative Form

Applications will be accepted online at Springboard Application System

2021 Application Information:
Candidates are advised to apply early as high demand is anticipated and places are limited.

Applications will only be assessed when all supporting documentation has been received. Please ensure that you have the documentation below available at the time of application. Documents must be combined into one zip file and uploaded. Uploading of multiple documents is currently not facilitated.

For mainstream applications, you will need:

Copies of transcripts and parchments for any previous relevant educational qualifications
Personal / Motivation Statement - In 500 words or less, please state:
1) Why you wish to study this programme at University College Cork
2) How you meet the programme entry requirements.
Current CV
Copy of an up to date University approved English language exam e.g. IELTS, TOFEL, Duolingo etc., for non-native English speakers
For applications considered under Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), you will need:

Copies of transcripts and parchments for any previous relevant educational qualifications
Current CV
References where applicable
Personal / Motivation Statement - In 500 words or less, please state:
1) Why you wish to study this programme at University College Cork
2) How you meet the programme entry requirements.
Copy of of an up to date University approved English language exam e.g. IELTS, TOFEL, Duolingo etc., for non-native English speakers

Apply online via the Springboard Platform

1 Year

Skills and Careers Information
As part of this skills-focused programme, we aim to design the student learning experience in accordance with participants' ambition and situation. Adopting this approach ensures that each participant is afforded a student learning experience that meets their employability needs.

We envisage that graduates of the Postgraduate Diploma in Innovation through Design Thinking programme will have the ability to change the business conversation through their problem solving and have the confidence to lead the change thereafter, when they themselves are in positions of employment.

The demand for innovative thinkers with design, data and digital literacy skills is growing. Business have no shortage of problems that need to be solved but there is a shortage of talent with this unique blend of literacies to be the "agents of change" who will take a lead role in solving these problems.