January NUI Galway Partner with UiPath to Train Accountancy Students in Robotic Process Automation

NUI Galway has announced a new partnership with leading enterprise Robotic Process Automation (RPA) software firm UiPath, making it the University the first in Ireland to offer robotic process automation content to accounting and finance students.

At postgraduate level, the partnership will feature as part of an innovative ‘Disruptive Technologies in Accounting and Finance’ Summer School offered to students on the Master of Accounting, MSc in International Accounting and Analytics, and MSc in Corporate Finance programmes. Students will develop practical skills in RPA, mapping of workflow processes, Data preparation and Data Analytics, and Artificial Intelligence (AI). The summer schools are designed for two cohorts of students - those about to commence their accounting/finance careers and early/mid-career professionals wanting to upskill and prepare for a transformed workplace.

At undergraduate level, RPA awareness training will also be incorporated into a redesigned first year module offered to all accounting students.

Siobhan Ryan, Sales Director, UiPath, said: “Through the Academic Alliance partnership, NUI Galway becomes the first Irish institution of Higher Education to join the programme. This is a timely occasion for Irish students to gather automation skills that are very much needed in the market. We are honoured to have a prestigious institution such as NUI Galway pledge towards aligning their curricula to the industry’s needs and thus include RPA into their accounting and finance curriculum. Within the next short years, both private and public companies will seek new talents, especially in the Finance and Accounting departments and embracing these new technologies will enable students to bring much value to the workplace.”

Professor Breda Sweeney, Head of Accountancy and Finance Discipline, J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics, NUI Galway, said: “Through our expanding suite of postgraduate summer schools and redesign of undergraduate modules, we are equipping students with cutting-edge skills in RPA and analytics. This will undoubtedly enable them to be at the forefront in meeting the needs of an accounting and finance world that is undergoing radical and rapid transformation.”

The summer school will be led by Sharon Cotter, NUI Galway, who has 27 years of experience working in finance functions in industry. The summer school incorporates guest lectures from leading companies in Ireland on their experiences of RPA and practical hands-on workshops in using UiPath software.

Sharon Cotter, Lecturer, Accountancy and Finance Discipline, J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics, NUI Galway, said: “I am delighted that UI Path are partnering with us and that our students will acquire important learning in accounting and finance, but not as we know it, through the opportunity to engage with the technologies which are disrupting the traditional work of accounting and finance professionals.”

For more information about the MSc programmes email accounting@nuigalway.ie or visit http://www.nuigalway.ie/accountancy-finance/.

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