Farmleigh Fellowship Programme established

University College Cork (UCC) has established the Farmleigh Fellowship Programme with the support of the Nanyang Business School at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore. The new programme is aimed at providing Irish graduates with an understanding of the dynamic Asian region, both in terms of its culture and in doing business in Asia.

The programme has been endorsed by the Irish government, with its Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Micheál Martin, pledging partial state funding for the project, due to begin in the final quarter of this year. Mr Martin made the announcement during the first meeting of the Asian-based members of the Global Irish Network at the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai on May 27th 2010.

The Farmleigh Fellowship programme was developed by members of the Irish business community in Singapore who participated in last year’s Global Irish Economic held at Farmleigh House, Dublin. The result is that two leading universities on different sides of the globe, NTU and UCC, have come together to create the new MBS Asian Business programme. This new course will be conducted by UCC’s School of Asian Studies and UCC’s Faculty of Commerce in collaboration with the Nanyang Business School, the only business school in Singapore to be ranked in the top 27 of the Financial Times Global MBA 2010 rankings, and fourth in Asia. The pioneer batch will have 25 participants, all from Ireland.

The programme aims to foster greater business skills and understanding amongst Ireland’s future business leaders who look to Asia as the world’s fastest growing region. Nanyang Business School was a natural choice, given its strategic location in Asia and its global standing.

The Fellowship will provide the participants with the opportunity to study in Singapore and work in an Asian country over a 12-month period. The study programme will be coordinated by the two universities, while selected companies from the more than 70 Irish-owned businesses operating in Singapore, will offer practical work experience. Each participant will prepare an actionable Asian business strategy for the sponsoring companies who will help to guide and support the programme.