Master in Sustainable Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Antwerp, Belgium
Master degree
DURATION
1 year
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
31 May 2026*
EARLIEST START DATE
07 Sep 2026
TUITION FEES
EUR 19,500 / per year **
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* for EU/EEA students, the deadline is 31st of August
** International trips included
Key Summary
Whether you aim to make an impact in the corporate world, work with an NGO, launch your own start-up, or pursue another path, you’ve come to the right place.
This master's program in management will give you a strong foundation in strategy, marketing, sales, tech management, finance and boosts professional skills that last a life time and that employers are looking for: creative thinking, pitching, problem solving, collaborating in multicultural teams, resilience.
Each course of the MSIE program offers an optimal balance between theory and practice and is characterized by a “learning by doing” approach. You will learn how to build a strong business case, by directly applying what you learn: during 8 months, you will work on your own start-up, or an in-company project. You will also participate in a three week innovation sprint for a company, together with students from PoliDesign in Milan. Personal contacts are made with real entrepreneurs, seasoned investors and top sustainability managers, so you will become part of an interactive and global network in no time.
In short, this master will not only give you a degree, but a skillset for life and it will boost your career as a sustainable entrepreneur and innovator, in any industry.
Personal Development Journey: Global Leadership
Module I: INSPIRE
Leading sustainable transformation
In this course, different guest speakers will open your minds to the real sustainability challenges in this world. Prof. Jamie Anderson will teach you the basics on creativity and talk about how to take the lead to tackle these challenges in line with your own values and passions. Sustainability expert prof. Jan Beyne and his team will show you that sustainability is an imperative for any business. The real challenge is knowing how to transition from commitment to action, to successfully navigate the complexity of a sustainability transformation.
Technologies of Tomorrow & ethics
Technologies of tomorrow will give you a basic understanding of the key technological trends as part of a unique collaboration with IMEC ID lab – one of the best technology research centers in the world. Technologies such as Blockchain, Artificial intelligence, 5G, will be discussed and applied to your case while dealing also with the ethical questions around it. In addition, this course will also look into how you can protect your ideas and solutions.
Design Thinking
Part I: Identifying and researching problem spaces (3 ECTS)
Once you have spotted different interesting opportunities, you need to learn how to investigate and define the problem properly and find the right problem-solution fit. The design thinking methods will support you in this process.
Part II: Corporate Sustainability sprint (6 ECTS)
The Corporate Sustainability sprint is a three-week sprint to come up with innovative and sustainable business concepts for a corporate company. You will be able to apply your design thinking methods once more and collaborate in Milan with design students from Poli.Design (Politechnico di Milano).
Module II: ACT
Impact Strategies & Business Modeling
This course is structured to provide a deep understanding of the core strategic choices facing start-up and corporate innovators. It makes nascent start-up and corporate innovators aware of the core strategic choices early in a venture’s lifetime that can have substantial impact on the venture’s future development and growth. Instead of reacting on and fighting against forces that innovators cannot control, participants will learn to take matters into their own hands by following a proactive choice-centered approach, instrumental for developing a superior entrepreneurial strategy.
Corporate Innovation & Consultancy
This course will train you to become an innovation leader in a corporate or an innovation consultant. It will focus
on the specific context of corporates and their challenges to innovate.
Financial Planning & Raising Capital
The finance course teaches you to make a strong and solid financial plan that determines the funding gap. It will open your eyes for funding possibilities and will support you in the process of raising capital for sustainable solutions.
Module III: GROW
Digital Marketing & storytelling
This course acknowledges all forms of marketing - be it offline (e.g. billboard advertising, newspaper ads) or online (e.g. keywords advertising, social commerce). Yet, the course sets a strong focus on digital marketing because (i) marketing channels are intertwined in Omni channel strategies, (ii) digital marketing is offering strong potential for growth and (iii) traditional channels are enhanced through digital technology (e.g. a personalized billboard ad). This course also gives you insights into how you create a strong story and make impact with a very limited marketing budget.
Global Scaling
Once a problem-solution fit is created, entrepreneurs might want to create impact on a larger scale. The scaling process is a challenging one. We cover the foundations of scaling and look into growth opportunities for long term impact. You will also travel to Berlin to dive into the inspiring sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem. The goal of the trip is to identify growth opportunities, understand the circular ecosystem DNA and learn how to enter this landscape.
Master Project
You will be working on an in-company project (a venture building project) or on your own start-up for eight months. Whatever you choose, you will directly put theory into practice. Throughout these eight months you will be investigating and challenging the potential of business ideas by transforming them in real business cases, including market research, a product-market fit business model, a sound financial plan and ambitious go-to market strategy.
Through the EQUIS accreditation of the Faculty of Business and Economics of the University of Antwerp, AMS has joined a select group (1%) of business schools worldwide with three international accreditations (AACSB, AMBA and EQUIS), or a so-called "Triple Crown”.
AMS is also listed in the Financial Times Rankings.
AMS takes into account the principles of responsible management education as presented by PRME.
Our EMBA has just climbed 10 steps in the Financial Times Ranking and is now n° 45 worldwide.
Our master's programs are highly ranked in Eduniversal Rankings en QS World University Rankings. In the QS World University Rankings, you can find our programs in the top 10 Best value for money.
Eduniversal Master Ranking 2024:
N°10 in Entrepreneurship
This program was one of the first in his kind worldwide and improved every year in the rankings. Now it is among the best 30 entrepreneurship master's in the world.
After attending this program:
- you have acquired state-of-the-art knowledge of, and practice with digital & disruptive business models, design thinking, innovation strategy and management, lean start-up methods and tools and marketing & finance for new entrepreneurs and innovators;
- innovation and entrepreneurship will be part of your DNA;
- you have developed the creative mindset and innovation skills of an entrepreneurial leader;
- you are able to identify future opportunities faster and to evaluate them more thoroughly so that you can make the right strategic decisions;
- you know how to turn a creative idea into a sustainable successful product or service within an existing company or your own start-up;
- you have broadened your network by meeting entrepreneurs, corporate innovators and CEOs of innovative companies during the corporate workshops, innovation and entrepreneurship labs and Master Project.
Scholarships
For select students, a scholarship is awarded in the form of a tuition fee reduction.
The scholarship is awarded in the form of a tuition fee reduction, covering 25 to 50% of the tuition expenses depending on your profile. The scholarship amount will be deducted from the total tuition fee prior to the commencement of the academic year.
Although we aim to distribute scholarships fairly across different Full-Time Master's programs, in some cases, we may give priority to applicants from certain programs.
- You are recently graduated and have little or no work experience
- You have an interest in starting up your own company in the short or long term
- OR you have a real interest in how to run innovation projects in organizations or how to turn innovative ideas into new products or services within existing companies
- You are open-minded in creativity as well as in working/collaborating with people from all over the world
The program is designed to empower, challenge and support young professionals in creating an incredible advantage for their international career.
Throughout the academic year, several activities will be organized at AMS by the Career Management Services which can inspire and help you in making a good career decision, including job interview trainings, career fairs, networking events, case evenings. Individual and peer coaching is offered to help you explore your talents, interests and needs, relate these to what companies offer in terms of jobs and career opportunities, and prepare yourself for job interviews and assessments.
Graduates from this program start working in a variety of companies and industries either driving innovation in a corporation, accelerating in leading innovation firms or revamping the family business. Companies include Google, Ecover, EY, Salesforce, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Unilever, AB Inbev, Nestlé, Too Good To Go, LEGO, Deloitte, and Showpad.
Or graduates found their own start-up: Twikit (Scale-up of the year 2018), Bao Living, Poppy, Board of Innovation, Captain Kombucha, Jakhals, Loop, Zetapulse, Sealjobs, Getintheloop, Brauzz, and many more.