26th November 2001

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The Northern Ireland Centre for Entrepreneurship (NICENT), led by the University of Ulster, has been awarded £678,000 by the Office of Science and Technology (OST) to accelerate activities related to the development of entrepreneurship.

The funding was awarded on a competitive basis and it will bring entrepreneurship training and education to Northern Ireland’s Agri-food sector in partnership with Loughry College, the University of Ulster and Queen’s University Belfast.

The award is one of only six made in the UK through the Science Enterprise Challenge.

NICENT Programme Manager, Peter Corrigan said:

“We are particularly pleased considering the calibre of the competition. This additional funding will enable us to consolidate the excellent work we have done to date and assure NICENT is at the forefront when it comes to entrepreneur training and education.

Director of NICENT, Professor Terri Scott from the University of Ulster added: “Universities have a pivital role to play in promoting and developing entrepreneurship. The award is a vote of confidence in our activities to date and will allow us to work more closely with key stakeholders in the region.”

Chairman of NICENT Board, QUB’s Professor Bryan Keating said: “The Agri-food industry is Northern Ireland's largest single industry accounting for almost 10% of employment and 7.5% of GDP. In a regional context, the sector is almost three times as important as at UK level. The Board is looking forward to working with Loughry College to support and enhance innovation in the Agri-food industry.”

The funding will finance the development and implementation of the programme until 2005.

NICENT’s key objective is to embed entrepreneurship training within the Universities’ science and technology degrees, ensuring that all students gain awareness of the value and methods of business development skills.

For further information, please contact:

Press Office Department of Communication and Development
Telephone: 028 9036 6178
Email: pressoffice@ulster.ac.uk