MA/MSc Multidisciplinary Innovation
1 year Full-time classroom
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The management consulting services industry is expected to grow at an average rate of ten percent year-on-year, reaching a size of approximately 1.3 trillion U.S. dollars by 2026 (Statista 2022).
This exciting course will give you a transformative educational experience that combines design thinking, entrepreneurial leadership and real-world client briefs from start-up charities to Fortune 500 corporations to develop your innovative and entrepreneurial mindset.
You will learn in a creative environment and undertake live projects across the whole year, working with our academics and researchers alongside real-world clients in the designated design studio that replicates an agency environment.
Hear from the MDI team at Northumbria University
The MA/MSc Multidisciplinary Innovation programme is about using design-led innovation and entrepreneurial leadership to make the world a better place.
You will be taught by experts, work with leading professionals, and be coached by an innovator in residence at our design studio to develop high-level employability skills combined with creative confidence and an entrepreneurial mindset.
This Masters covers all stages of the innovation process, from research and exploring problems, through to developing strategies, presenting your ideas and analysing the outcomes. By the end of the course, you will be confident in putting your innovative ideas into practice.
Due to meaningful innovation happening when different disciplines work together, students from any discipline and background can join the course and benefit from gaining high-level employability skills combined with creative confidence and entrepreneurial agency.
This programme will enable you to engage directly with potential employers where you will showcase your skills and develop your confidence, capabilities and employability whilst building your professional network.
At the end of this course, you will be prepared to take on strategic roles by adding your critical thinking skills, strategic innovation, and research projects to your CV that you have undertaken with organisations from the likes of micro-charities to global corporations.
Previous graduates from this course have secured senior roles within large organisations, including roles such as:
Regardless of your discipline, MDI opens the door to many different options post-study. These can include finding an innovation-based career in a consultancy, starting up an enterprise or even a small business.
Hear from the MDI team at Northumbria University
Hear how we work with external organisations
Applicants with non-standard prior learning and or relevant work experience and training are encouraged to apply. A CV (curriculum vitae) made up of prior work experience and training would need to be submitted for consideration by our faculty alongside the standard application.
Candidates coming through the non-standard route, such as through relevant work experience or old qualifications, will be invited to discuss their application.
All applications will be considered on an individual basis.
Please note that if your qualifications are not in English, we might need certified translations in order to proceed with your application.
We accept a wide range of international qualifications. Please visit our entry requirements page for country-specific qualifications.
Please note that if your qualifications are not in English, we might need certified translations in order to proceed with your application.
Masters Foundation programme
Alternatively, you may also be eligible for one of our Pre-Masters courses. These are pathway programmes designed specifically for students who require additional support to meet the entry requirements of their chosen Masters degree.
All modules on this course are core and 60 credits unless otherwise stated.
In this module, you’ll learn about design-led innovation and how to put it into practice. We’ll cover various stages of the innovation process, such as setting up, exploring problems and solutions, developing strategies, presenting your ideas, and analysing the outcomes. You’ll also discover different methods and resources that support design-led innovation and be encouraged to question and adapt them.
You’ll be introduced to key concepts about being a professional in the field, including self-improvement and understanding the team, organization, and business environment. You’ll develop personally and professionally within multidisciplinary innovation teams. We’ll focus on project planning, coordination, and management skills.
As part of a multidisciplinary team, you’ll gain practical experience in various forms of innovation and design-led co-creation by engaging in activities like:
This module will enable you to carry out design-led innovation projects, and demonstrate your strategic innovation practice. You will learn how design-led innovation facilitates co-created strategy, develops new organisational creative functionality and establishes strategic insights and assets. You’ll also design innovative policies, systems, services, products, communications, strategies and ways of working within a team.
You will also be introduced to key concepts including understanding and leading teams, communities of practice, and competitiveness and strategy. Other key areas of focus will be the aspects of brand development, strategic goal setting, and business modelling.
In this module, you will develop your understanding of different forms of innovation and design-led co-creation, by:
During this module, you will undertake design-led innovation practice with a particular focus on responsibility. Through practice, you will learn how to lead organisations and communities; responding to their local issues in the context of mega trends; developing a proposal informed by the impacts and consequences of innovation.
Within a multidisciplinary team, you will go through design-led responsible innovation framing and address a complex innovation project within your client’s context. Individually you will produce a change plan for enabling your team’s proposal.
You will identify key concepts related to responsible business practice, resilient communities, and mega trends. You will also focus on the aspects of innovation horizons, local, national and global policies, and knowledge and transformation economies.
Within this module, you will refine your understanding about the value of design-led co-creation, by producing a responsible business proposal that justifies a vision and resourcing based upon:
The course information displayed on this page is correct for the academic year 2023/24. We aim to run the course as advertised however, changes may be necessary due to updates to the curriculum (due to academic or industry developments), student demand or UK compliance reasons.
Please note that your tuition fees do not include the cost of course books that you may choose to purchase, stationery, printing and photocopying, accommodation, living expenses, travel or any other extracurricular activities. As a Northumbria University London Campus student, you will have full access to our online digital library with over 400,000 e-books and 50,000 electronic journals.
The modules you will study do not require you to purchase additional textbooks although we recommend you allow an additional £100 for the duration of your studies should you choose to purchase any additional reading materials.
Information for international students
Northumbria University is committed to providing the best possible experience to all our students. To ensure you secure your place with us, we require our international students to pay a deposit towards their fees. More information can be found here.
Your tuition fees cover far more than your time in class with our expert academics, it covers the cost of providing you with excellent services and student experience.
If you are an international student and choose to study this programme, you may be eligible for a either bursary or academic scholarship.
All of our scholarships and bursaries are automatically applied when we process your application and our team will be able to confirm your eligibility.
If you need to spread the cost of your tuition, you may be eligible for our payment plan.
If you are a UK or Home student, you may be eligible for a postgraduate loan of up to £10,000+ from the UK Government. Click here to find out more about the loan and whether you are eligible to receive it.
Enquire now to find out to find out more information about the course, studying with us, the application process, and to ask any other questions you may have.
Once you’re ready to apply, you can apply online to study 1 year MA/MSc Multidisciplinary Innovation. This method allows you to upload your supporting documents at the time of application and automatically receive your student application number.
| Apply for January | |
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| Apply for January 2024 |
We strongly recommend that you submit your application as early as possible to allow you to complete all of the preparations needed to study your programme. After receiving an offer it can take time to arrange your finances and apply for your visa (if required) and it is important that you arrive in good time to enrol onto your course. Please refer to the Dates and Fees page.
Supporting documents
For us to assess your application in a timely manner, it is important that you provide us with the following documents:
You can check more information on how to apply here, including guidelines for the application forms.
At Northumbria University London we welcome applications from disabled students and are committed to ensuring an equal and accessible application journey. Your application will be considered on an equal basis to all other applications. Please contact us if you require any assistance. This website is continually optimised to adhere to accessibility best practice guidelines; tools to assist users with specific accessibility requirements have also been provided. More information is available in our accessibility statement.
Multidisciplinary Innovation (MDI) is a one-year masters course, either available as an MA or MSc, which focuses on teaching students how to use design-led innovation practice to tackle complex problems with creative solutions. Students will benefit from being coached by an innovator in residence at our design studio where they will experience an agency environment and work on live-client briefs.
This Multidisciplinary Innovation course is available to students from all disciplines and backgrounds, allowing you to grow your professional network in class and at industry events, as well as work alongside like-minded students and clients.
This Multidisciplinary Innovation programme is perfect for anyone looking to expand their current skills and knowledge, or are looking to embark upon a new career. Innovation skills such as Creative thinking, Analytical thinking and Systems thinking are highly sought-after in a wide range of occupations, so the expertise you’ll learn in this course will apply to a variety of job roles.
You will receive a Master’s Degree either in a Master of Arts (MA) or a Master of Science (MSc), depending upon which research methodology you develop for your thesis, as well as the experience of working on between 5-7 live client projects which will boost your employability when added to your CV.
Previous graduates from this course have secured senior roles within large organisations, started their own businesses and charities, or gone on to PhD level study and academic careers. With the knowledge, skills and experiences you’ll learn on this creative course, you’ll be at an advantage no matter the path you choose.
If you have more questions you would like answered, please enquire below and a study advisor will be in touch with you shortly.
Dr Daniel Harrison – Programme leader
Daniel is a designer, computer scientist, social scientist and ethnographic researcher who currently works as a programme leader at Northumbria University. Daniel has a cross-disciplinary background and research interests in human-computer interaction, behaviour change, health informatics, personal tracking and the application of AI, with experience in design and clinical settings.
Experience
Mr Charlie Richardson – Innovator in Residence
Charlie has been working as a lecturer for Northumbria University since November 2019, following his time working with many diverse businesses and backgrounds post-graduation.
Charlie has a strong passion for human-centred design and business innovation with experience in successfully launching a start-up business.
Experience
Postgraduate
UK/Home Fee: £9,250
International Fee: £17,500
Minimum 2:2 honours degree, or equivalent, from a recognised university in any subject
IELTS 6.5, with no single element below 5.5 or equivalent
Full-time classroom
1 year
Coursework
Available
Available
Available
January, September