University of Galway

Overview

The MSc in Agricultural Innovation and Entrepreneurship at University of Galway equips students with the skills necessary to address real-world challenges in the agri-food sector. This program emphasizes developing an innovative mindset while providing practical skills in customer discovery, design thinking, and disciplined entrepreneurship tailored for rural and agri-food organizations.

What you'll study

The curriculum is structured around three key pillars that guide students from identifying agricultural needs to developing and validating innovative solutions with a business focus.

• Agri-Needs Finding: Gain insights into research fundamentals such as observation, interviews, and surveys to conduct primary market research, define challenges, and validate demand in agriculture.
• Design Thinking for the Agri-Sector: Learn to apply design thinking to transform insights from users and stakeholders into sustainable concepts, prototypes, and approaches that can be tested.
• Disciplined Entrepreneurship: Engage in a structured entrepreneurship process to create a minimal viable business product (MVBP) and refine it based on evidence gathered from users and stakeholders.

Capstone Project: The program culminates in an innovation-focused deliverable, such as an MVBP along with supporting documentation. For specific module names and assessment formats, please refer to the program's official website.

Industry Engagement: Learning is augmented through consultations with agri-food enterprises and sector stakeholders, ensuring that projects remain relevant to current industry challenges.

Entry requirements

• Applicants must have an undergraduate degree with first or second class honours in any field, along with three years of relevant industrial experience; or
• An Ordinary or 3rd class honours undergraduate degree and five years of relevant industrial experience; or
• A recognized professional qualification accompanied by five years of relevant industrial experience.
• Candidates who do not meet the minimum criteria may be invited for an interview to assess their suitability.

Career prospects

Graduates of the MSc in Agricultural Innovation and Entrepreneurship are well-positioned for diverse career paths in the agri-food sector, including roles in innovation management, entrepreneurship, and agricultural consultancy. They may also pursue opportunities in research, policy development, or start their own ventures, leveraging the skills and knowledge acquired throughout the program.