University courses
I2N has been purpose-built by the University of Newcastle to support entrepreneurship skill development, new ideas, and startups and supports all students regardless of their degree or discipline.
In conjunction with the Newcastle Business School's Major / Minor in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, our community will support the creation, development and implementation of your ideas.
You can receive $25,000 seed funding for your idea! Or up to $5,000 to travel and study overseas!
With grant funding from the Department of Education, students that undertake one of the below courses and that complete the I2N Accelerator program will receive $25,000 in seed funding for their idea.
We have also partnered with the Global Experience team, to provide you with up to $5,000 in New Colombo Plan grant funding for international opportunities to learn and work within global startup ecosystems.
Courses
BUSN3004
Complete your Career Ready Placement and discover what it’s like to work in a startup through the Startup Placement course. You will learn entrepreneurial and collaborative skills, and gain a better understanding of professional workplace standards.
During the course, students are supervised by I2N’s Manager, Pre-Startup Programs with weekly workshops to understand foundational innovation skills and mindset before forming teams to work together in understanding their allocated startup before delivering a response to a challenge for the startup.
Expect to:
- Complete your required Career Ready Placement with over 140 hours of supervised placement in working for an innovative startup
- Apply your knowledge, skills, and competencies from your discipline in an innovative workplace environment
- Improve your employability with hands-on experience
- Build your professional networks and develop professional behaviour practices
Who can enrol:
- Undergraduate students
When:
- Semester 1 yearly
BUSN3004: Startup Placement (Sem 1)
For the first time at the University of Newcastle, you can complete your career ready placement with a local startup.
BUSN3500
Complete your Career Ready Placement and discover what it’s like to work overseas in an international startup through the International Startup Placement course. You will learn entrepreneurial and collaborative skills, and gain multicultural and international professional workplace insights.
During the short course, students are supervised by I2N’s Manager, Pre-Startup Programs with weekly workshops to understand foundational innovation skills and mindset before forming teams to work together in understanding their allocated startup before delivering a response to a challenge for the startup.
From June 24 to July 21 (4 week program), I2N will be running a Hong Kong international startup placement program where each student receives $5,000 in New Colombo Plan funding. Only 25 spot available, so make sure to secure your spot with the EOI form below.
Expect to:
- Complete your required Career Ready Placement with over 140 hours of supervised placement in working for an international innovative startup.
- Apply your knowledge, skills and competencies from your discipline in a multicultural workplace environment
- Improve your employability with hands-on experience working overseas
- Build your international professional networks and develop professional behaviour practices
Who can enrol:
- Undergraduate students
- Can be taken as an elective from a different discipline (eg, Medical Science, Engineering)
When:
- Summer & Winter short course (4-weeks)
International Startup Placement
I2N has been granted over $572,000 in New Colombo Plan grants to take students to Hong Kong, India and Shanghai.
INOV3004
Imagine if your business could be one of the few that changes the world. Today, innovative solutions are creating real impact and solving challenges globally. To join this wave of change you need more than just an idea. You need an entrepreneurial mindset and the right tools to build sustainable impact. Over 90% of new business ideas fail. Our goal is to show you how to be in the 10% that succeed.
During this course, you will find like-minded peers and together, build out your ideas using lean startup methodology. In innovative teams, you will deeply understand a problem landscape and how it affects stakeholders, before developing a feasible solution. Your ideas can be business-based or have a social impact.
This structure of this course is designed as a pathway of development for an application into I2N's Accelerator program. Any student that completes one of these courses and completes the Accelerator program will receive $25,000 in seed funding.
Expect to:
- Identify and apply key principles of problem landscape discovery
- Utilise tools and frameworks coupled with secondary research
- Apply key principles of lean startup methodology to assess the desirability, viability, and feasibility of a new idea
- Build your professional networks within the I2N and broader Hunter and Central Coast region startup ecosystem.
Who can enrol:
- Undergraduate students
- Can be taken as an elective from a different discipline (eg, Medical Science, Engineering)
Topics Include:
- How to think innovatively
- Form dynamic teams
- Deeply understand problem landscapes
- Create and validate innovative ideas
- Build robust business models
- Persuasively present
INOV3004: Acceleration for Student Entrepreneurs (Sem 2)
The University of Newcastle has recently launched funding for student startups and for students working in startups, who participate in I2N’s curricular courses and who are consequently accepted into the Accelerator Program.
BUSN3600
Receive $3,000 in New Colombo Plan funding and join fellow students in exploring a foreign startup ecosystem with I2N's International Innovation Tours. You will learn entrepreneurial and collaborative skills, and gain multicultural and international professional workplace insights.
During the short 2-week course, students are supervised by I2N’s Manager, Pre-Startup Programs and discover foundational innovation and collaboration skills and cultural competencies whilst travelling overseas.
Expect to:
- Complete BUSN3600 course on a 2-week trip
- Apply your knowledge, skills and competencies from your discipline in a multicultural environment
- Improve your employability with cultural experiences touring overseas
- Build your international professional networks and develop professional behaviour practices
Who can enrol:
- Undergraduate students
- Can be taken as an elective from a different discipline (eg, Medical Science, Engineering)
When:
- Summer & Winter short course (2-weeks)
I2N International Startup Placement
I2N has been granted over 16 places for a Taiwan International Innovation Tour in 2025.
The University of Newcastle acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands within our footprint areas: Awabakal, Darkinjung, Biripai, Worimi, Wonnarua, and Eora Nations. We also pay respect to the wisdom of our Elders past and present.