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Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship MSc

  • Level(s) of Study: Postgraduate taught
  • Start Date(s): September 2024
  • Duration: One year full-time
  • Study Mode(s): Full-time
  • Campus: City Campus
  • Entry Requirements:
    More information

Introduction:

The MSc Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship course has been designed for individuals with an entrepreneurial mind-set. It is open to students from any academic discipline who are looking to set up their own business, become future entrepreneurs or those looking to take over their family business. This course combines rigorous academic theory with the practical skills, hands-on experience and valuable networks you need to make your business a success.

The course is designed to stimulate the entrepreneurial ethos of individuals and develop their skills and capabilities to lead and direct start-ups. Study throughout your first two semesters will immerse you in an entrepreneur's journey and introduce you to the networks and investment opportunities you will need to get your ideas off the ground. This will culminate in a large-scale final project.

In your final semester you’ll undertake the Business Model and Entrepreneurship Project, which enables you to kick-start your venture and find opportunities to finance for growing it to a sustainable one.

What you’ll gain from this degree?

  • through the Business Model and Entrepreneurship Project you will have the opportunity to set up and establish your own enterprise and be mentored by experts in the field, or perhaps develop ideas for a family business with which you are involved already. You will have the opportunity to pitch directly to venture capital investors and business angels with the opportunity to raise funding or further collaborations.
  • during the course your professional and business networks will be enriched by an international experience, following a ‘young’ entrepreneurial firm, experiencing directly the entrepreneurial journey.
  • the course provides you a unique seed fund and access to the entrepreneurial community, presenting you with connections to experts, entrepreneurs, business angels and capitalists.
  • will have access to NTU Enterprise, a purpose built centre dedicated to helping turn business ideas into reality., a purpose built centre dedicated to helping turn business ideas into reality.
  • develop management skills to explore new venture opportunities and advance participants’ ideas to feasible enterprises.
  • You will be allocated an Academic Mentor at the beginning of the academic year and you will meet with them regularly throughout the year. Academic Mentors help you make the most of your time at NBS.
  • You will have access to NTU Enterprise, a purpose built centre dedicated to helping turn business ideas into reality.

Join our internationally accredited business school

Nottingham Business School is accredited to AACSB and EQUIS, the highest international standards for business school education. We are one of 47 global PRME Champions - a United Nations-supported initiative leading the way with sustainable and responsible management education.

  • EQUIS logo
  • PRME Champions Logo

What you’ll study

This course aims to stimulate the entrepreneurial ethos of individuals and develop their skills and capabilities to lead and direct start-ups. This is done in four phases:

  • Phase 1: developing and screening your business ideas - your business ideas will be challenged by your peers and other business colleagues to see if they are sustainable and have the potential value in the current global climate. It will encourage you to plan ahead and anticipate any changes within your market so you are prepared to face them.
  • Phase 2: creating your offer and finding opportunities - you will define your value proposition and position it within the market against competitors and the current market conditions. This will also give you the opportunity to ‘hire’ your fellow classmates who ideas do not pass this stage to help develop yours.
  • Phase 3: utilise global market conditions - your skills in innovation and core competencies will be advanced to face international challenges and gain confidence to deal with diverse cultures and attitudes.
  • Phase 4: convincing markets and investors - here you will be pitching your business idea to venture capitalists and other business centres such as Wave Venture and 3i, to try to secure funding for your business idea to start to develop and grow it. You will have the opportunity to seek advice on internationalising your own concepts from experts and contacts that the course team will introduce you to.

This entrepreneurial journey exposes you to the networks and investment opportunities you will need to get your ideas off the ground, and there is even the chance to access seed funding directly from the Business School.

At NBS you can create a personalised learning experience, giving you a unique Masters degree that equips you with the skills you'll need, for the career you want. Each of the modules will be delivered over a four week period, with teaching delivered in three weeks and the fourth week left clear for assessment work. This enables you to focus on one subject at a time, whilst allowing time for preparation and assessment work.

Semester one modules

  • Enterprise Context and Business Values
  • Entrepreneurial Ethos: Leadership, People & Team Management
  • Marketing and Customer Thinking

Semester two modules

  • Uncap Creativity & Innovation
  • Value Chain: Partnerships & Resources
  • Internationalisation Consultancy Project

Semester three 

Business Model and Entrepreneurship Project (40 credits)

Semester one

Enterprise Context and Business Values (20 credits)

This module will help you to critically apply knowledge, tools and techniques to resolve issues in new and diverse situations within the entrepreneurship discipline. You will be able to apply knowledge and understanding to compete for opportunities and transform them to viable concepts and business modules.

Entrepreneurial Ethos: Leadership, People & Team Management (20 credits)

On this module, you will be able to stimulate your entrepreneurial ethos and develop your management skills and capabilities to lead and direct start-ups.

Marketing and Customer Thinking (20 credits)

This module will help articulate a critical understanding of the contemporary issues , theories and conceptual frameworks used to explain and guide conventional marketing activities in organisations. More specifically, you will be introduced to the core marketing functions and develop an understanding of the key concepts, frameworks and models encountered in marketing.

Semester two

Uncap Creativity & Innovation (20 credits)

This module provides an opportunity for you to understand how to map and analyse value chains, as well as providing tools and ideas to improve value chains and to design alternative structures of a value chain.

Value Chains: Partnerships & Resources (20 credits)

This module will provide you with the mental tools that help entrepreneurs and managers orchestrate innovation activities throughout value networks. It describes the role of innovation within current complex markets and provides a strategic framework for development and protection of offers that are valued by the market and customer.

Internationalisation Consultancy project (20 credits)

On this module, you will have the opportunity to experience international entrepreneurial decision making by working intensively for a period of four weeks on a business case for ‘going global’ in a different country and market.

Semester three

Business Model and Entrepreneurship Project (40 credits)

Business Model and Entrepreneurship Project is the culmination of the MSc Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship course and stages the ambition to kick-start your venture and find opportunities to finance for growing it to a sustainable one. The experience allows you to channel the skills, knowledge and inquisitiveness you have acquired in the module to develop your own business idea into an investment ready opportunity. At the end of the module you will be able to pitch and defend your proposition in front of business angels and potential investors. During this project a selection of students will compete to participate at the European Innovation Academy Challenge and present their propositions to mentors and investors from the Silicon Valley.

Ongoing learning

Throughout the year you will also study the following modules which will help you understand how to manage your own continuous personal and professional development (PPD).

Professional Practice (10 credits)

The purpose of the module is to increase your understanding of your own personal and professional development needs to enhance your business acumen and improve your employability. The module utilises a series of taught sessions to help you explore the human side of enterprise and deploys a series of diagnostics tests to help you evaluate yourself and develop an individual action plan. It will combine teaching with individual and group mentoring to help you execute your plan. The module also promotes engagement with internal and external workshops, lectures, experiential learning opportunities and extra-curricular events to help you expand your knowledge and skills, whilst challenging your attitudes and behaviours. You will gain a deeper understanding of the importance of continuous professional development from the perspective of professional bodies, such as the CMI, CIM, APM and SPE.

Customer Insight through Marketing Research (10 credits)

The aim of this module is to develop your skills as an effective decision maker - organisations require insight to make effective decisions and effective marketing research has been an integral part of how decision makers in organisations understand consumers and market dynamics; and as an effective academic - philosophical debates and methodological issues will be explored as a foundation to understanding marketing research.

Professional development

NTU Enterprise

NTU Enterprise is Nottingham Trent University's purpose-built Centre for Entrepreneurship and Enterprise. They help turn business ideas into a reality through their support network, mentoring and training programmes. So if you have a business idea or even just want to go freelance, get in touch and see how they can help you. Visit NTU Enterprise for further information.

Societies

As an Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship student you will have the opportunity to join many different societies across the University to share ideas and make new friends:

Our course in parallel gives you the opportunity to prove yourselves as highly skilled professionals and influential leader, which are invaluable skills for any future career path. Examples of this activity include:

  • The International Experience module, where you will travel for two weeks to a partner institution in Europe to provide real-time advice in relation to internationalisation and new market entry strategies to local start-ups.
  • Collaboration with BioCity, the largest Biotechnology Incubator in the UK, to design a marketing strategy for some of their activities.
  • The design and participation of a symposium about social entrepreneurship and sustainable future development.

Don’t just take our word for it, hear from our students themselves

Student Profiles

Osita James Uche

What has really stood out for me since I arrived in September is the dedication of the NBS team to support the students. I have felt very supported in my startup. The courses are all tailored to equip one with skills and knowledge to succeed as a business manager.

Thi My Dung Huynh

The standout feature is the range of engaging and interactive learning experiences (the course) provides. We have the opportunity to work with real businesses, create poster and video presentations, deliver podcasts, and design our own business ideas.

Samuel Grantson

I saw a huge potential for personal and professional growth here at NBS in terms of accreditation and opportunities which was proven beyond my expectations.

Chathura Sudharshan

The MSc Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship course provided me a solid foundation to begin a business with a set of practical examples and experience.

Ashley Bird

Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship

This course has provided the perfect mix of academic theory and hands on experience. It has helped develop my confidence in business and being an entrepreneur whilst improving my skills and capabilities to lead my own business start-up.

Faisal Sohail

During one of our assignments, a team of us worked as a business consultant for an incubator and travelled to Toulouse, France at Toulouse Business School. I learned a lot from these experiences.

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How you’re taught

Teaching and Learning

Nottingham Business School adopts a distinctive approach to the design of student learning opportunities. Your learning is structured around theory, practice, experience & observation, and reflection & improvement. At each level (course, module and session), you will study different theories, concepts and approaches and be given opportunities to apply these in a range of practical settings. The aim is to enhance your understanding through the direct experience of business, where you will have opportunities to observe business practices and behaviours (including your own) and analyse these using theoretical knowledge. It is our intention that by reflecting on these experiences, you will be able to use these theories to guide your actions and decisions in a business context or even consider how a theory itself might be improved. In this way, we aim to enhance the quality of your learning.

Professional Mentors

Throughout your studies the students will be having sessions with Professional Mentors who will be helping you to improve all the skills you need to become a successful entrepreneur. They will help you with negotiation skills, how to pitch and present to different groups of people and more importantly how to generate your personal brand. They will support you in developing and enhancing the qualities and transferable skills necessary for your studies, career progression, professional and personal development.

Assessments

A range of assessment methods are used across the course, the choice of which reflects the needs and demands of the different types of module. Some modules will assess the ability to work collaboratively in a team and others will assess individual capability. Types of assessment will range from examinations to group presentations including essays, reports, financial analyses, literature reviews and research based projects.

The interactive nature of the taught sessions offers opportunities to gain feedback on your performance before being formally assessed and increasing use is made of eLearning to further support the feedback process.

Working with Industry

During your first semester you will have the opportunity to work in collaboration with BioCity - the largest biotech incubator in the UK – providing advice for their operations.

In-sessional English language support

In-sessional English language classes are offered to international students at no extra cost. The classes aim to provide focused support in the skills you need in order to develop your English in your subject area.

Further information please contact the Nottingham Language Centre based in the DICE building on City Campus:

Tel: +44 (0)115 848 6156 | Email: englishsupport@ntu.ac.uk | Website: www.ntu.ac.uk/nlc

Personalisation

We know our postgraduate students are a diverse group, with different levels of academic knowledge in their chosen area of study, different cultural and educational backgrounds, and varying levels of personal and professional skills and competencies.

At NBS we strive to ensure that these two motivating factors are nurtured and therefore supported. Our students are encouraged to practice and develop the skills and competencies required to critically reflect on their learning, and on their ability to apply this learning to their studies and to real world complex issues within the workplace. Through a series of curricula and extra-curricular initiatives, strengthened by tailored academic mentor support, NBS provides all our postgraduate students with the ability to participate in a range of challenging and unique activities, projects, events and experiences to enable our students to succeed in a competitive and dynamic global environment.

Staff Profiles

Paul Wreaves - Senior Lecturer

Nottingham Business School

Paul Wreaves

Careers and employability

You’ll develop a wide range of skills and abilities, enhancing your entrepreneurial skills and therefore your employability. You’ll be able to:

  • become an entrepreneur starting your own venture
  • identify career opportunities towards an entrepreneurial role
  • develop the skills to gain accelerated promotion in your chosen profession
  • lead change as an entrepreneur inside a larger organisation
  • carry out consultancy work in a wide range of sectors, e.g. manufacturing, services, retailing
  • advise other entrepreneurs
  • undertake further study within the field of entrepreneurship.

From the last cohort three students have set up their own businesses, one student is employed in Switzerland and the remaining students are taking over areas within their family businesses.

Employability Team

We have a dedicated Employability Team who not only help you during your time with us but also following graduation, they’ll continue to support you by providing a number of services that will help kick-start your career.

Our Employability Team offer a wide range of support from one-to-one appointments with our specially trained consultants, to arranging recruitment fairs and skill building workshops.

Services they provide include:

  • Finding placements, internships and part-time work
  • Helping you to pursue self-employment
  • Advice on taking gap years and time out
  • Information and help on getting into volunteering
  • Providing advice on further study.

As a student you will have access to our virtual learning environment, where you will be able to get in touch with our Employability team for CV support, application, interview and job hunting advice, career ideas and employer videos.

You can visit the Employability Team on your local campus every day during term time. They are also open outside of term time too, except on University closure days. So drop in, say hello, and get help with quick enquiries or book an appointment with a careers consultant from your school.

Re:search Re:imagined

To us, research is about more than writing papers and proposing new ideas. By daring to think differently, we’re disrupting the research landscape and finding the answers to the questions that really matter. From ethics, innovation and entrepreneurship to behavioural science, we’re inspiring the brightest minds to rise up and find solutions to some of the most significant global challenges facing society.

Find out more: ntu.ac.uk/research

Campus and facilities

We are continually investing in our facilities, and transforming our learning and teaching environment to create an inspiring and innovative atmosphere.

The School is based in the impressive Newton Building on NTU's City Campus.

Postgraduate Centre

A short walk from the Newton building and Boots library, the Postgraduate Centre facilitates on-campus teaching for Nottingham Business School’s postgraduate and executive education courses.

Dryden Centre

Benefit from the newly built NTU Dryden Enterprise Centre that provides dedicated support for entrepreneurs, start-ups, small and medium-sized enterprises.

Fantastic facilities

  • You can take advantage of the Link Lounge, a space dedicated to Business School students, located on floor zero of the Newton building.
  • Explore your career prospects with the help of the University's Employability Team.
  • You will benefit from spacious teaching rooms and lecture theatres.
  • We provide students with a variety of social spaces.
  • Your studies will benefit from the £13 million Boots Library.
  • You can take advantage of our 24-hour IT facilities.
  • Our Student Services Centre will also be on-hand should you need support.

The location of the City site also means that you have easy access to:

  • sports facilities
  • shops
  • student accommodation
  • music venues
  • cafés.

Entry requirements

  • You will need an undergraduate degree equivalent to a UK undergraduate honours degree (2.2 or above).
  • All applicants will be required to demonstrate a commitment to the subject they wish to study and should demonstrate how their chosen programme of study will benefit them in their future career.
  • One academic reference is required.

Get in touch If you need any more help or information, please contact us at Ask NTU or call on +44 (0)115 848 4200.

NTU may admit a student with advanced standing beyond the beginning of a course, through an assessment of that student's prior learning, whether it is certificated or uncertificated. Our Recognition of Prior Learning and Credit Transfer Policy outlines the process and options available to these prospective students, such as recognising experiential learning or transferring to a similar course at another institution, otherwise known as credit transfer.

All prospective students who wish to apply via Recognition of Prior Learning should initially contact the central Admissions and Enquiries Team who will be able to support you through the process.

Getting in touch

If you need more help or information, get in touch through our enquiry form

  • You will need an undergraduate degree equivalent to a UK undergraduate honours degree (2.2 or above).
  • All applicants will be required to demonstrate a commitment to the subject they wish to study and should demonstrate how their chosen programme of study will benefit them in their future career.
  • One academic reference.

International qualifications

We accept qualifications from all over the world – check yours here:

Postgraduate preparation courses (Pre-Masters)

If you don’t yet meet our entry requirements, we offer Pre-Masters courses through our partner Nottingham Trent International College (NTIC), based on our City Campus:

English language entry requirements

You can meet our language requirements by successfully completing our pre-sessional English course for an agreed length of time, or by submitting the required grade in one of our accepted English language tests, such as IELTS:

Would you like some advice on your study plans?

Our international teams are highly experienced in answering queries from students all over the world. We also have members of staff based in Vietnam, China, India and Nigeria and work with a worldwide network of education counsellors.

Fees and funding

Home fees for September 2024 entry

Study routeHome fees

One year (full-time)

£13,750

Funding your studies

Preparing for the financial side of student life is important, but there’s no need to feel anxious and confused about it. We hope that our fees and living costs page and funding pages will answer your questions.

Postgraduate loans

The government introduced a new postgraduate loan scheme for Master degrees. The loan will be a contribution towards the costs of study and it will be at the student's discretion to use the loan towards fees, maintenance costs or other costs. Find out more on our postgraduate loans page.

Scholarships

You might be able to get a scholarship to help fund your studies. We award scholarships to those students who can demonstrate excellent achievement, passion and dedication to their studies.

Alumni Discount

We’re happy to be able to offer a 20% alumni discount to most current NTU students and recent NTU alumni. This discount is currently available for those starting an eligible postgraduate taught, postgraduate research or professional course.

Getting in touch

For more advice and guidance, you can contact our Student Financial Support Service on Tel: +44 (0)115 848 2494 or for Scholarship help please contact us on Tel: +44 (0)115 848 4460.

International / EU fees for September 2024 entry

Study route

International / EU fees

One year (full-time)

£22,000

Scholarships

We offer scholarships of up to 50% of your tuition fee. You can apply for your scholarship when you have an offer to study at NTU.

Living costs

Get advice on the cost of living as an international student in Nottingham and how to budget:

Paying fees

Find out about advanced payments, instalment plan options and how to make payments securely to the University:

Would you like some advice on your study plans?

Our international teams are highly experienced in answering queries from students all over the world. We also have members of staff based in Vietnam, China, India and Nigeria and work with a worldwide network of education counsellors.

Additional Costs

Your course fees cover the cost of studies, and include loads of great benefits, such as the use of our library, support from our expert Employability team, and free use of the IT equipment across our campuses.

Library books

Most study modules will recommend one or more core text books, which most students choose to purchase. Book costs vary and further information is available in the University’s bookshop. Our libraries provide a good supply of essential text books, journals and materials (many of which you can access online) – meaning you may not need to purchase as many books as you might think! There may also be a supply of second-hand books available for purchase from previous year students.

Field trips

All essential field trip costs will be included in your course fees. There may be the opportunity to take part in optional field trips, which do incur additional costs.

Print and copy costs

The University allocates an annual printing and copying allowance of £20 depending on the course you are studying. For more details about costs for additional print and copying required over and above the annual allowance please see the Printing, photocopying and scanning information on the Library website.

How to apply

Ready to join us? Apply through our NTU Applicant Portal.

  1. Register as a new applicant and create an account in the Applicant Portal - don't worry you won't need to complete your application at once, you can come back to it so keep your details safe.
  2. Fill out and submit your application - make sure to check all the information such as entry requirements before submitting.
  3. Track the progress of your application – you can do this by logging into the Application Portal.
  4. Check your offer – As long as you’ve provided all the information we need, we’ll try and make a decision on your application within five to ten working days. However, this can take longer and you should allow at least three weeks for a decision.
  5. Accept your offer within four weeks - Remember that competition for places is high, and if you don’t accept your offer within four weeks it may lapse. After eight weeks it will be automatically withdrawn.
  6. Meet the conditions of your offer (if you have any) - Upload all the documents required to meet the conditions of your offer using the My Documents section of the Applicant Portal.

Don’t worry if you’re waiting for results – we recommend applying now, and then adding them to your Application Portal once they arrive.

If you need some help in writing your application you can view our handy tips.

Good luck with your application!

Apply online through our NTU applicant portal.

Application advice

Apply early so that you have enough time to prepare – processing times for Student visas can vary, for example.  After you've applied, we'll be sending you important emails throughout the application process – so check your emails regularly, including your junk mail folder.

Writing your personal statement

Be honest, thorough, and persuasive – we can only make a decision about your application based on what you tell us:

Would you like some advice on your study plans?

Our international teams are highly experienced in answering queries from students all over the world. We also have members of staff based in Vietnam, China, India and Nigeria and work with a worldwide network of education counsellors.

The University's commitment to delivering the educational services advertised.

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