Development, Technology and Innovation Policy MPA
London, Bloomsbury
This is the programme information for 2024 entry
Study mode
UK tuition fees (2024/25)
Overseas tuition fees (2024/25)
Duration
Programme starts
Applications accepted
Applications closed
Applications closed
About this degree
From adapting to climate change to enhancing agricultural productivity and providing water, energy, medicines and education to the billions without access, countries the world over need to harness scientific and technological innovation to transform their economies and improve human wellbeing. However, most countries, developing countries in particular, often have innovation systems that are weak, fragmented and not designed to respond to pressing national and local priorities.
Our Development, Technology and Innovation Policy MPA takes candidates through an experiential learning journey in which they will emerge equipped with the tools, mental models and skills to creatively tackle persistent and emerging development questions in pursuit of vibrant, sustainable, profitable and inclusive economies across the developing world.
This MPA will tackle a series of pressing questions for policymakers, such as:
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How can countries, in particular low- and middle-income countries, achieve their development goals in the face of rapid technological change, increased global interdependencies, and a wide range of wicked problems such as disease epidemics and climate change?
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How best can countries engage in policy experimentation and/or prototyping in pursuit of their development targets?
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Should emerging economies follow innovation and development models used by advanced economies or should they pioneer new approaches to innovation?
Who this course is for
This is a practitioner-oriented, professional programme with practical learning activities aimed at students who want to be part of the next generation of thinkers and practitioners influencing the interfaces between national and global development imperatives with tools from science, technology, innovation, engineering and public policy. This MPA draws students from diverse technical and non-technical disciplinary backgrounds and levels of work experience. A key requirement is for candidates’ interest in and willingness to engage with and interrogate ideas from science, technology, innovation and engineering and their contribution to societal development.
What this course will give you
This MPA offers empirically and conceptually grounded experiential learning to sharpen the skills needed for managing the interface between policy, technologies, innovations and societal objectives. Students can learn through inquiry, going beyond describing or explaining the concepts learnt, to applying and interrogating the different concepts and tools in different scenarios of development challenges.
Students undertake a week-long scenario activity on the policymaking process, engaging with external experts and UCL academics. Students go on to undertake a nine-month major group project on a policy challenge for a real-world client or undertake their own individual project independently or with an existing employer. Development-oriented policy areas explored in past projects include health, agriculture, energy, waste, transport, and digital technologies.
Students also have the opportunity to network with UCL STEaPP's broad range of international partners, expert Faculty members and a diverse range of academics and professionals from across the department's MPA and doctoral programmes, as well as the wider UCL community.
Making an impact
Case study: Urban Legends
We work with partners like Arup, C40 Cities and UN agencies to grow initiatives impacting city leadership globally.
The foundation of your career
Graduates from the Development, Technology and Innovation Policy MPA have gone on to work in international development organisations, government departments, supranational and global agencies, corporate regulatory affairs departments, in advocacy groups, think tanks or consultancy firms, doing legislative, regulatory or policy analysis work. Other graduates proceed to PhD or Doctor of Public Administration (DPA) studies.
Compared to other postgraduate degrees, the MPA lies at the frontier between the academic and professional environments, which is more valuable for any postgraduate student.
Employability
This MPA equips candidates to tackle inequality, vulnerability and exclusion that societies face in many sectors, including access to energy, health, education, infrastructure, water and sanitation and finance.
Networking
There will be various networking opportunities throughout the degree including:
- participation in relevant STEaPP research clusters;
- participation in relevant departmental, faculty and university seminars;
- leveraging our location to facilitate exposure visits to and from development agencies, policy organisations and industry;
- opportunities for co-publishing with faculty and other cohort members.
Where you'll study
Based in the Faculty of Engineering Sciences, STEaPP is committed to mobilising science, technology, engineering and policy expertise to help change the world for the better. The Department brings together policymakers, industry and academia to design innovative solutions to society’s biggest challenges, from sustainable development to health innovation. The Department is located in Bloomsbury, in the heart of London, with some teaching also taking place at the new UCL East campus, on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford. As a member of our university community, you will also have access to top-tier resources and study spaces, such as UCL’s award-winning Student Centre and 18 specialist libraries.
Got questions? Get in touch
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