The Trinity-IMI Graduate School of Management will form a partnership with US business school Babson College, whose Entrepreneurship MBA was ranked number one worldwide by Business Week and the Financial Times.

The graduate school, established by Trinity College Dublin and the Irish Management Institute (IMI), said the collaboration with Massachusetts-based Babson would include student-exchange programmes for PhD, MBA, MSc(Mgt) and undergraduate students, as well as a joint academic programme with a special emphasis on MBAs. Trinity-IMI students also will have access to Babson's professors.

"We aim to place Trinity-IMI within the top 25 executive education schools in the world within a decade," said Trinity provost Dr John Hegarty. "It is through international collaborations with top quality institutions that will help us achieve that goal."

Babson is one of the top 20 providers worldwide of executive education programmes, according to the Trinity-IMI graduate school, which was established in October.

There are currently no Irish executive education programmes amongst the global top 20, Trinity-IMI said.

"If Ireland is to produce internationally recognised business graduates, we need to provide international standards in our courses," said Dr Tom McCarthy, chief executive of IMI.