Local colleges get €15m to fund exciting new projects in region: Kilkenny TD
More than €15.4 million has been allocated for projects led by IT Carlow and Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) to fund new projects with other colleges and industry partners inside and outside of the region.
The funding has been amde available by the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris under the Human Capital Initiative.
Five of the 22 successful projects are headed up by Institutes of Technology in the region.
Kilkenny TD John Paul Phelan said innovative methods of teaching and delivery will be promoted on the projects so that students will benefit from “improved quality and more engaging ways of learning on enterprise-focused courses, providing lifelong learning and upskilling opportunities for all”,
Deputy Phelan added: “These projects will develop and change teaching and learning. This global pandemic has reinforced the need for us all to be agile and diverse. Crucially though it requires us to develop new skills and equip the next generation with the critical importance to the economy and the workplace of the future.”
The successful projects headed up by WIT are as follows:
*€2,152,349 for Additive Manufacturing Advancing the South East, a project which will see it collaborate with Carlow and with industry in the region;
*€2,048,180 towards Strengthening and Protecting the Funds Industry in Ireland, a project which also involves CIT as well as Kilkenny-based State Street.
The projects headed up by IT Carlow to receive funding include:
*€6,904,176 towards realising the potential of recognition of prior learning and lifelong learning in Irish higher education;
*€1,725,343 for a Centre for Insurance, Risk and Data Analytics Studies (CIRDAS);
*€2,568,083 towards a project with DCU designed to support a Postgraduate Certificate in Innovative Materials for Industry.
Deputy Phelan said: “The additional funding will increase the South East’s appeal as a great place to study, to work, a hive of innovation and a region where academics work closely with industry to ensure we emerge from Covid as a stronger, more independent rural economy.”
