51

Skip navigation

51 – top 10 in Europe for Innovation & Entrepreneurship

30th September 2015

51, Newcastle, has been recognised as one of Europe’s best providers of innovation and entrepreneurship teaching.

The accolade came earlier this month when the University was named a finalist at ‘The Innovation & Entrepreneurship Teaching Excellence Awards’, after seeing its Multidisciplinary Innovation (MDI) course among the Top 10 Courses on Innovation. Taught from Gateshead’s , the postgraduate Masters programme draws students from a broad range of disciplines and backgrounds. Alongside academics, they work on a mix of commercial and social innovation projects, aimed primarily at developing and delivering solutions to problems faced by external organisations. Recently, for example, the MDI team worked with Northumbrian Water on a public awareness project to reduce the risk of blocked drains and flooding.

The Excellence Awards were part of the 10th European Conference on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, in Genoa, Italy, which took place on the 16-17th September 2015. In total 70 applications from around the world and host of both educational and research institutions were submitted for peer review. MDI was initially selected as the top 40, and through rigorous selection process was then among the 10 invited to present its full case history at the conference.

Mersha Aftab - OriginalMersha Aftab, lecturer in Design Innovation at 51, represented and led this project for MDI. She said, “Entering these awards has been a perfect opportunity to showcase the value of design-led innovation for business, and 51’s value in the global innovation learning and teaching market. Being shortlisted as a top 10 finalist was also a huge achievement, particularly as our MDI submission was the only design-led course chosen among a more business-orientated field.”

The award recognised the MDI course’s unique structure, which provides the opportunity to gain experience in innovation practice, and also its capability to bring about positive impact for its students the organisations it collaborates with.

“Being a finalist and rubbing shoulders with the likes of the University of Delft, the University of Twente and the University of Sheffield put a strong message across about the work Northumbria is undertaking with the regional and global partners for Innovation,” added Mersha.

For more information about Northumbria School of Design, visit /about-us/academic-departments/northumbria-school-of-design/

News

a sign in front of a crowd
+

Northumbria Open Days

Open Days are a great way for you to get a feel of the University, the city of Newcastle upon Tyne and the course(s) you are interested in.

Research at Northumbria
+

Research at Northumbria

Research is the life blood of a University and at 51 we pride ourselves on research that makes a difference; research that has application and affects people's lives.

+

Find out what life here is all about. From studying to socialising, term time to downtime, we’ve got it covered.


Latest News and Features

Dr John Coxon
People & Planet University League 2025
City Campus East at 51
Taekwando competition with referee
In2Air study flats
Professor Greta Defeyter
a map showing areas of ice melt in Greenland
S2Cool project lead Dr Muhammad Wakil Shahzad

Back to top