Budding innovators and entrepreneurs are being encouraged to apply for the 2026 DigiBio Healthtech Innovation Programme. The closing date for applications is April 30, with the course commencing in September.
Hosted and managed by Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) in partnership with core partner RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences and Dublin City University, Trinity College Dublin and the Tyndall National Institute, the programme delivers hands-on training in needs-led innovation based on a tried-and-trusted needs-led model developed by Stanford University.
The course combines design thinking with entrepreneurship, helping innovators to identify real-world healthcare needs, invent novel technologies in response to those needs and test your business case in a clinical environment.
12 candidates
Participants receive €38,000 tax-free to participate in the 10-month full-time postgraduate programme, during which they participants will spend up to eight weeks in a healthcare environment identifying real healthcare problems to address.
Carl Power, DigiBio Healthtech Innovation Programme Director, said: “By providing aspiring innovators and entrepreneurs with the training, resources and support they need to succeed, this programme will play a vital role in shaping the future of healthcare with impactful solutions.
“We are looking for 12 quality candidates, with five or more years of professional experience, who are looking to get into a start-up or perhaps a career change as an innovation leader. It’s a very hands-on programme where you also get direct access to healthcare environments. At its core, the programme is about learning and applying a specific approach to finding a problem worth solving and building a commercial case to bring it to market.”
Third year
This is the third year of the programme. In the past it has attracted participants from a wide range of backgrounds including GPs, nurses, physiotherapists, software engineers, digital health designers, medical device engineers, entrepreneurs, accountants and digital transformation managers. Graduates have progressed to establish digital health opportunities in the areas of dementia, inflammatory bowel disease, effective urine capture, and alopecia, amongst others.
One such past participant is Ava O’Flynn. Speaking about her experience of the DigiBio Healthtech Innovation Programme in Cork, Ava said: “I wrapped up the DigiBio Healthtech Innovation Programme last summer, gaining deep insight into the Stanford Biodesign process and an MSc in Health Technology Innovation, alongside meeting some of the most impressive people. Since then, I’ve joined the team at Santegic as a Health Technology Advisor, working on impactful projects in the digital health space.
“At the same time, myself and a fellow programme participant, Padraig McGirr, have been working to address a clinical need we identified in gastroenterology during the programme. I’m delighted to say that we have secured Commercialisation Funding from Enterprise Ireland, and are now focused on building something that can genuinely make a difference for patients.”
DigiBio is supported under the Innovators’ Initiative Programme co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union through the Southern, Eastern & Midland Regional Programme 2021-2027.
