Northern Ireland's new graduates should set their sights on becoming entrepreneurs rather than bureaucrats, Robert Cormack, pro vice-chancellor of Queen's University Belfast, told a graduation ceremony.
Professor Cormack said the people of the province should "take their destiny in their own hands" instead of relying on others to shape their future.
But Queen's vice-chancellor, George Bain, later warned the province's new administration that local prosperity is being threatened by research funding cuts to Queen's and Ulster universities.