The Hunter Centre will jointly be providing training for hundreds of graduates over the next three years as part of an initiative aimed at providing Scottish university graduates with vital real-life business experience and helping companies achieve crucial growth.
The TalentScotland Graduate placement programme was launched on October 11 at the Scottish Graduate Fair in Glasgow. Over the next three years the programme will match 750 skilled graduates with growing Scottish businesses to carry out innovative projects the business would otherwise not be able to progress.
Highlands and Islands Enterprise approached all Scottish Dr Levieuniversities with an invitation to tender for the graduate training element of the programme and the Hunter Centre was selected to work with the Aberdeen Business School at Robert Gordon University on a proposal for funding the training element to the Scottish Funding Council under their 'Horizon' programme. At this stage Scottish Enterprise got involved to make it a pan-Scotland programme.
The bid for Horizon funding was successful and the resulting funds are to be split equally between the Hunter Centre and Aberdeen Business School. Dr Jonathan Levie is the lead academic from the Hunter Centre, with one additional member of staff expected to be recruited as a result.
Each year, around 250 graduates will be supported, and placements will vary between three and 12 months. Each graduate will receive dedicated, residential entrepreneurship training funded by the Scottish Funding Council and delivered by the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship at Strathclyde and the Robert Gordon University.
Placements will capitalise on the graduates' cultural and learning experiences and cover a wide range of business challenges such as designing and developing a new product; adapting products for overseas markets; introducing new processes for the company or undertaking marketing and market research.
The training will be delivered during placements to equip graduates for their work experience as well as improve their employability, innovation and leadership skills to drive business growth.
Dr Levie commented, "HIE-funded graduates will be put through a five-day intensive residential course in business development near the beginning of their placement with web facilities for further learning and social networking. Scottish Enterprise-funded graduates will receive a two day intensive residential course, focussing on leadership. The courses will have a strong entrepreneurship and innovation flavour.
"The aim of the training element is to better equip graduates to understand their placement business and hit the ground running in the project they are assigned to do within the business. Beyond this, they will learn practical tools and techniques in business that they might not have gained during their degree programme."