College has announced that students and staff are eligible to enter a competition with a prize of €150 by suggesting a name for the new innovation hub at Trinity East.
In an email to students, Provost Patrick Prendergast confirmed that College had recently received planning permission to build a 5,500 square metre innovation hub at Trinity East, the first development of both the Dublin Innovation District and the new campus.
The site is intended to expand College’s activities in education and research, and initiate the development of the Grand Canal Innovation District, which was formally endorsed by the Government in 2020.
According to former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, the Innovation District is part of a plan “to make Ireland the tech capital of Europe”.
Trinity East, which will be at the centre of the Innovation District, is said to represent College’s “exceptional level” of partnership with industry.
Additionally, the new campus will house the E3 Research Institute, part of Trinity’s E3 project. The “Engineering, Environment and Emerging Technologies” project integrates research and education from across the Schools of Engineering, Natural Sciences and Computer Sciences.
The E3 Research Institute will focus on the impact of technological innovation on the natural world, aiming to find solutions for a sustainable future which also support economic and societal development.
The Innovation Hub will be used by entrepreneurs, start-ups and larger corporates’ innovation teams. Regular events will be held for academics, local enterprisers and the community. The hub will also have a public square, inspired by squares on College’s main campus, in order to “[connect] Trinity East with the city”.
Provost Prendergast claimed that Trinity is a “high global performer in innovation because of the excellence of the research performed here, and by the entrepreneurial ambitions of staff, students and alumni”.
“In the past we have not had sufficient dedicated space to house our spin-in or spin-out companies”, the provost continued, adding that the Innovation Hub changes this. The new site will set out to enable the Trinity community to benefit from the “ongoing rewards” of these entrepreneurial activities.
College has invited students and staff to suggest a name for the new Innovation Hub, expressing its desire that “the name comes from within the innovative Trinity community”.
Proposals will be evaluated by a committee, and the successful entrant will win €150.
