Prosperity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship MSc
London, Stratford (UCL East)
This is the programme information for 2025 entry
The Prosperity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship MSc will prepare you to become one of a new generation of global leaders and entrepreneurs. At the core of our course is the concept of transformative entrepreneurship, which involves the development and implementation of innovations to address the causes and consequences of environmental degradation, economic inequality and social injustice.
Study mode
Overseas tuition fees (2025/26)
Duration
Programme starts
Applications accepted
Applications open
Applications open
Entry requirements
A first or upper second-class UK Bachelor’s degree in an appropriate subject, or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard from a recognised higher education institution. Evidence of extensive experience may be considered in lieu of the above, subject to approval.
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The English language level for this programme is: Level 3
UCL Pre-Master's and Pre-sessional English courses are for international students who are aiming to study for a postgraduate degree at UCL. The courses will develop your academic English and academic skills required to succeed at postgraduate level.
Further information can be found on our English language requirements page.
Equivalent qualifications
Country-specific information, including details of when UCL representatives are visiting your part of the world, can be obtained from the International Students website.
International applicants can find out the equivalent qualification for their country by selecting from the list below. Please note that the equivalency will correspond to the broad UK degree classification stated on this page (e.g. upper second-class). Where a specific overall percentage is required in the UK qualification, the international equivalency will be higher than that stated below. Please contact Graduate Admissions should you require further advice.
About this degree
We find ourselves at a formative moment wherein growth-based financial models and increasing economic and social inequality are driving new forms of conflict, dislocation and ecological damage, challenging the veracity of our economic and political systems. These challenges necessitate a bold re-thinking of the relationship between economic activity and global prosperity.
Transformative entrepreneurship is at the heart of this degree. This involves the implementation of innovations that address the causes and consequences of environmental degradation as well as economic and social inequality. Entrepreneurship is widely associated with the promise of technological innovation and the emergence of new markets. Concepts such as social, sustainable, and community enterprise explore the potential of market actors and mechanisms to advance positive social and environmental change. The notion of transformative entrepreneurship takes these a step further by examining to the potential for entrepreneurship to provoke fundamental systemic change in the service of inclusive prosperity.
The Prosperity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship MSc will allow you to explore both the research and practice of transformative entrepreneurship. Conceptually, it provides a broad understanding of entrepreneurship as a practice, policy, intervention and institution. It also gives you an opportunity to critically explore both the promise and limits of entrepreneurial activity to provoke societal, economic, environmental and political change. Moreover, because standard notions of entrepreneurship are dominated by Western conceptions of markets and market activity, the Programme encourages different perspectives and forms of enterprise attuned to a variety of contexts and lived experiences. In this way, the Programme offers you the chance to embrace a genuinely global notion of transformative entrepreneurship. Practically, the Programme equips you with skills for evaluating the impact of social entrepreneurship, design thinking, prototyping with enterprise stakeholders, and values-based leadership.
Who this course is for
This unique transdisciplinary programme is not a standard business, economics or development studies degree. We are seeking students with a strong personal vision for social, economic and digital transformation. We are especially searching for students with diverse knowledge and abilities with a desire to work as part of a dynamic and inclusive community of entrepreneurs, organisational change makers and social innovators. We welcome students from social science and humanities, as well as natural science and engineering backgrounds with skills in both quantitative and qualitative research. In particular, individuals who already have a postgraduate degree and/or significant real-world experience in business, government, community, and third and fourth sector organisations are encouraged to apply.
What this course will give you
As a multidisciplinary global university with wide resources at its disposal, UCL is the ideal environment in which to study transformative entrepreneurship. UCL is ranked the #9 university in the world according to the QS World University Rankings 2025 and is situated within London, the best student city in the world (QS Best Student Cities Ranking 2025).
The mission of UCL's Institute for Global Prosperity is to rethink social and environmental prosperity and to generate new entrepreneurial models and measures to deliver prosperity. Prosperous communities are socially inclusive, equitable and sustainable; however, radical changes are required to overcome today's grand challenges and to enact such prosperity. We are pioneering research into questions of prosperity and driving forward novel transdisciplinary engagements to deliver new, more prosperous social and economic forms.
As a student in the Institute, you will have the opportunity to become part of this emerging community, to learn from and participate in our research, and to help shape debates around what a prosperous society should be. We expect you to become value-driven leaders and entrepreneurs who go on to deploy in your future careers the ideas and practices you have learnt. You will have the opportunity to engage with our researchers, partners and affiliated fellows with possibilities of developing academic, policy or entrepreneurship projects.
The foundation of your career
After graduation, we expect you to go on to define new routes to prosperity through working in your chosen field. Our alumni work in wide range of careers including in business, industry, entrepreneurship, social impact investing and finance, policy making and politics, NGOs and the third sector, and further advanced study. Previous graduates of the Prosperity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship MSc have gone on to do outstanding work in the UK and overseas, including at McKinsey, the Industrial and Commerical Bank of China, Ant Group, SadaPay, London’s Local Authorities, the German Development Cooperation (GIZ), and the Australian Trade and Investment Commission. Many have set up their own enterprises or grown their existing ones. Discover what our alumni have gone on to achieve after graduating from the Prosperity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship MSc via the Life of PIE video series on YouTube.
The degree is guided by the principles of the connected curriculum and calls for students to engage in research that reaches out beyond the academy. It is shaped by a commitment to diverse global, social and cultural perspectives and a commitment to inclusivity, equality and equitable partnerships. These commitments are reflected in the diversity of the external networks that you will experience as a student. We run several events across the academic year with alumni who provide an important network and resource for our new graduates. We aim to build a community of like-minded and self-supporting leaders for change. Our alumni play a crucial role in achieving this and in enhancing your educational experience.
Our Institute also coordinates an affiliated network of young entrepreneurs called Fast Forward 2030. We also have a network of entrepreneurial, academic, non-governmental and policy partners across the globe with dense networks in London, Lebanon and Kenya. Students and alumni have access to this global network of like-minded transformative entrepreneurs. As a student, you will be strongly encouraged to engage with these networks, which will be mobilised, to contribute to dissertation activities, societal engagement, partnerships and creating future employment opportunities.
Alumni experiences
“This experience is opening a lot of new doors for me in the UK. First of all, due to the placement, I have been able to keep in touch with some of the social enterprises I met and now I am working with some of them in my dissertation.” - Ignacio Gutierrez Gomez, Prosperity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship MSc graduate
“The knowledge and expertise I gained on subjects such as innovation and entrepreneurship, the international exposure at UCL, and the practical experience of working as a business development consultant helped me immensely in making this career switch from military to international business development.” - Bidisha Pandey, Director of Trade and Investments for Austrade and Prosperity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship MSc graduate
“I loved the people the course attracted, and from whom I learned an immense amount from. The diverse backgrounds (age, professions culture etc) allowed me to learn so much more than I thought. It allowed me to challenge my own ideas and understandings of how I believed the world function.” - Justin van Wyk, Co-Founder of start-up focusing on AI and working within Wealth Management and Prosperity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship MSc graduate
“The course has been tremendously impactful on my career trajectory. It provided me with crucial knowledge and skills in innovation, entrepreneurship, and sustainability that have informed my current PhD research and future academic career goals. Additionally, the course equipped me with invaluable research methodology toolkits and the experience of working in cross-cultural teams.” - Patricia Naya, PhD student and Prosperity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship MSc graduate
Discover more student and alumni stories ▶
Employability
Prosperity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship MSc will encourage you to think beyond standard notions of entrepreneurship towards conceptions and practices capable of engendering systemic change. It will encourage you to think critically about both the promise and limits of transformative entrepreneurship, and equip you with skills in design thinking, prototyping with enterprise stakeholders, social impact assessment, and values-based leadership. Throughout the degree you will be exposed to both rigorous theoretical training and engaged practice. The knowledge and skills gained in the programme will support your ability to respond to the challenges of building prosperous societies through entrepreneurship and social innovation, be it as a transformative entrepreneur, change-maker or policy leader.
A unique differentiator for the MSc is the holistic, interdisciplinary, and prosperity-oriented view of entrepreneurship and innovation. Within a few decades, entrepreneurship and social enterprise thinking and practice has infused all sectors of society and is quickly expanding globally. However, entrepreneurship and innovation teaching and training remain almost exclusively within the domain of business and management schools, which are overwhelmingly focused on for-profit enterprises and Western conceptions of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs. We seek to recruit and enhance the skills of graduates with existing entrepreneurial backgrounds and those working across the public, private and non-profit sectors. In particular, the degree fills a market gap between the social and public sectors where there is a need for graduates with a deep understanding of entrepreneurship, who are trained to deploy entrepreneurial skills in the pursuit of public policy, social impact, and non-profit aims.
Beyond academic skills and training, the programme will also provide you with a unique set of career and skills-enhancement sessions. These sessions are delivered by both internal specialists and external consultants can include:
- Engagement with Public Policy.
- Web-design and blogging.
- Writing for the media.
- Academic writing.
- Presentation skills.
- Film and audio media skills.
- Personal leadership skills.
- Mindfulness and study skills.
- Careers advice.
Networking
Studying with us means joining the Institute for Global Prosperity community. We have a global network of alumni, partners and collaborators all making positive change in the world. Throughout the academic year we host careers and alumni events, allowing current students to engage with alumni and to build on this growing network of change-makers. We also host a vibrant public events series, giving you the opportunity to network with researchers, policy makers and professionals whilst discussing the latest in prosperity research and engagement. You will also have the chance to meet with the people who work on our research, including Fast Forward 2030, and our Prosperity Co-Labs (PROCOLs) in East London, Kenya and Lebanon.
We collaborate closely with UCL Careers, UCL Innovation and Enterprise, UCL Volunteering Service, and Base KX in Kings Cross, who directly contribute to the delivery of of the course and organise a number of activities bringing our students together with a wider UCL community. Prosperity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship MSc students benefit from a wide range of professional and social networking opportunities at UCL East in Stratford and on the central London UCL campus in Bloomsbury.
Teaching and learning
Teaching and learning methods/strategies involve:
- Critical engagement with literature through seminars, guest lectures, in-depth discussion and exploring competing ideas.
- Engagement with world-leading academics and non-academic practitioners through our Director's Seminars and Soundbites.
- Grounding core concepts and theories through teaching cases, and application of core concepts through learning-by-doing methods including prototyping and design to explore how theory and practice inform one another.
- Enhancing student participation through flipped-learning methods and regular group assignments and activities.
- Connecting to practice/industry through engagement with entrepreneurial leaders, as well as policymakers and practitioners, through tutorials, guest lectures, site visits and the Connected Innovation Project.
Prosperity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship MSc students are integral part of our research and enterprise ecosystem that spans across UCL East and UCL Bloomsbury campuses. During term time, there are weekly events that will require you to travel between both campuses. While all core teaching activities are delivered at UCL East, some complimentary research- and practice-led activities are delivered in Bloomsbury. Students are also able to select their optional modules from an extensive suite of elective modules delivered by the Institute of Global Prosperity and other UCL academic departments on both UCL campuses.
All modules contain a balance of formative, in-class exercises and peer to peer learning combined with a diversity of summative assessments. We offer a series of writing workshops designed to help you improve general writing skills and broader written structure and argument, tailored and timetabled to module assessments.
Assessments include:
- Individual and group assignments, including case studies, essays, literature reviews, blog posts, and a transformative entrepreneurship design project.
- Business model design and pitching.
- Innovation project with external stakeholders.
- Dissertation
In terms one and two full-time students can typically expect between 10 and 12 contact hours per teaching week through a mixture of lectures, seminars, workshops, and tutorials. Outside of this, students typically study the equivalent of a full-time job, using their remaining time for self-directed study and completing coursework assignments. In term three and the summer period students will be completing their own dissertation research, keeping regular contact with their dissertation supervisors.
Modules
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The Prosperity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship MSc is a one-year taught degree, combining a range of class- and seminar-based teaching with practical research based activities.
The curriculum design is equally balanced around two general teaching and learning themes; conceptual/theoretical and design/engagement.
The conceptual/theoretical theme involves a critical and comprehensive exploration of transformative entrepreneurship:
- Transformative Entrepreneurship and Prosperity: Core Concepts
- Researching Transformative Entrepreneurship
- Dissertation
The design/engagement theme involves design thinking and prototyping as well as engagement with practitioners, policymakers and entrepreneurial networks:
- ‘Transformative Entrepreneurship and Prosperity: Design’
- ‘Connected Innovation Project’
Full-time students will undertake theory and methods-based modules 'Transformative Entrepreneurship and Prosperity: Core Concepts' and 'Researching Transformative Entrepreneurship' during term 1. Design and practice-based modules 'Transformative Entrepreneurship and Prosperity: Design' and 'Connected Innovation Project' are taken during Term 2, with a focus on the dissertation for the rest of the academic year.
You must also choose up to 30 credits of optional or elective modules.
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In their first year, part-time students will need to take a minimum of 60 credits of modules. In the second year, you will take the remaining taught modules up to 30 credits, plus the dissertation (90 credits), for a maximum total of 120 credits.
The curriculum design is equally balanced around two general teaching and learning themes. These are conceptual/theoretical and design/engagement.
The conceptual/theoretical theme involves a critical and comprehensive exploration of transformative entrepreneurship:
- Transformative Entrepreneurship and Prosperity: Core Concepts
- Researching Transformative Entrepreneurship
- Dissertation
The design/engagement theme involves design thinking and prototyping as well as engagement with practitioners, policymakers and entrepreneurial networks (50% of the core modules):
- Transformative Entrepreneurship and Prosperity: Design
- Connected Innovation Project
Students must take 'Transformative Entrepreneurship and Prosperity: Core Concepts' ahead of 'Transformative Entrepreneurship and Prosperity: Design', and 'Researching Transformative Entrepreneurship' ahead of 'Connected Innovation Project'. We would also strongly encourage students to take the former Transformative Entrepreneurship modules ahead of the latter Methods and Practice modules.
Apart from the core modules, 30 credits of optional/elective modules will be distributed across the 2 years. The distribution of core and elective/optional modules should be discussed with the programme director ahead of initial enrolment.
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The Prosperity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship MSc is delivered over a period of two to five years when taken on a flexible basis. You may structure your core and optional modules flexibly across the five years, provided you complete 180 credits by the end of year five.
The curriculum design is equally balanced around two general teaching and learning themes. These are conceptual/theoretical and design/engagement.
The conceptual/theoretical theme involves a critical and comprehensive exploration of transformative entrepreneurship:
- Transformative Entrepreneurship and Prosperity: Core Concepts
- Researching Transformative Entrepreneurship
- Dissertation
The design/engagement theme involves design thinking and prototyping as well as engagement with practitioners, policymakers and entrepreneurial networks (50% of the core modules):
- Transformative Entrepreneurship and Prosperity: Design
- Connected Innovation Project
As a flexible student, you must enrol first on the Transformative Entrepreneurship modules in order ('Transformative Entrepreneurship and Prosperity: Core Concepts' and 'Transformative Entrepreneurship and Prosperity: Design'), followed by the research methods modules ('Researching Transformative Entrepreneurship' and 'Connected Innovation Project') also in their order.
You will also be expected to complete the majority of your taught modules before undertaking your dissertation.
In addition to the compulsory modules, 30 credits of your optional/elective modules will be dedicated to optional/elective modules to extend your knowledge in specific areas of interest, which may include conceptualising prosperity, financing prosperity, transformative entrepreneurship, and urban futures. For a more comprehensive list of optional modules, please refer to the ‘Optional modules’ section and the UCL Module Catalogue. The distribution of your compulsory and elective/optional modules should be discussed with the programme director ahead of your initial enrolment.
Compulsory modules
Optional modules
Please note that the list of modules given here is indicative. This information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability are subject to change. Modules that are in use for the current academic year are linked for further information. Where no link is present, further information is not yet available.
Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits. Upon successful completion of 180 credits, you will be awarded an MSc in Prosperity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
Fieldwork
Short, half-day field trips are a component of some of our modules. Fieldwork related to your dissertation, both in the UK or elsewhere in the world, will need to be assessed in discussion with the Programme Leader and according to the circumstances at the time.
Placement
The Connected Innovation Project module allows you to work on a project in collaboration with a research team at the UCL Institute for Global Prosperity or another external organisation. These are not conceptualised as a formal internship.
“I chose to collaborate with the London Borough of Hackney… The placement allowed me to put into practice some of the methods we learnt. As an example, I engaged in in-depth discussions with Council members and developed a well-defined strategy to conduct interviews and gather valuable insights from social enterprises in Hackney. Additionally, I used different theoretical frameworks to analyse what the Council is implementing so far and how it can be reshaped towards a more social approach." - Ignacio Gutierrez Gomez, Prosperity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship MSc graduate
Accessibility
Details of the accessibility of UCL buildings can be obtained from AccessAble. Further information can also be obtained from the UCL Student Support and Wellbeing Services team.
Fees and funding
Fees for this course
| Fee description | Full-time | Part-time |
|---|---|---|
| Tuition fees (2025/26) | £20,500 | £10,250 |
| Tuition fees (2025/26) | £33,000 | £16,500 |
Programme also available on a modular (flexible) basis.
The tuition fees shown are for the year indicated above. Fees for subsequent years may increase or otherwise vary. Where the programme is offered on a flexible/modular basis, fees are charged pro-rata to the appropriate full-time Master's fee taken in an academic session. Further information on fee status, fee increases and the fee schedule can be viewed on the UCL Students website: ucl.ac.uk/students/fees.
Additional costs
For Full-time and Part-time offer holders a fee deposit will be charged at 10% of the first year fee.
For flexible/modular offer holders a £500 fee deposit will be charged.
Further information can be found in the Tuition fee deposits section on this page: Tuition fees.
You may need to spend a minimal amount (ie £20) on local transport for short field visits in London. Teaching is delivered at both UCL's East and Bloomsbury campuses, requiring travel between the two sites.
If you are concerned by potential additional costs for books, equipment, etc. on this programme, please get in touch with the Programme Administration via email at igp@ucl.ac.uk
UCL’s main teaching locations are in zones 1 (Bloomsbury) and zones 2/3 (UCL East). The cost of a monthly 18+ Oyster travel card for zones 1-2 is £114.50. This price was published by TfL in 2024. For more information on additional costs for prospective students and the cost of living in London, please view our estimated cost of essential expenditure at UCL's cost of living guide.
Funding your studies
UCL offers a range of financial awards aimed at assisting both prospective and current students with their studies.
The UCL Institute for Global Prosperity aims to support students’ studies on the course with the Institute for Global Prosperity Equity Fund and Global Scholarship for Prosperity in the 2025-26 academic year.
The UCL East Scholarship works to support the ambitions of east Londoners by funding the fees and living costs of eligible Master's programmes including this MSc at UCL.
In our faculty, The Bartlett Promise Scholarship aims to enable students from backgrounds underrepresented in the built environment to pursue master's studies. Please see the UK Master's scholarship and Sub-Saharan Africa Master's scholarship pages for more information on eligibility criteria, selection process and FAQs.
Any additional funding available from the UCL Institute for Global Prosperity and the Built Environment Faculty Office are advertised on the respective websites.
For a comprehensive list of the funding opportunities available at UCL, including funding relevant to your nationality, please visit the Scholarships and Funding website.
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Bartlett Promise Sub-Saharan Africa Masters Scholarship
Deadline: 28 March 2025Value: Fees, stipend and other allowances (Duration of programme)Criteria Based on financial needEligibility: EU, OverseasBartlett Promise UK Master's Scholarship
Deadline: 31 May 2025Value: Tuition fees plus £15,864 maintenance/yr (Duration of programme)Criteria Based on financial needEligibility: UKCommonwealth Shared Scholarship Scheme (CSSS)
Deadline: 12 December 2024Value: Full fees, flights, stipend, and other allowances (1 year)Criteria Based on both academic merit and financial needEligibility: EU, OverseasIGP Global Scholarship for Prosperity
Deadline: 27 June 2025Value: £10,000 towards tuition fees (1 year)Criteria Based on academic meritEligibility: UK, EU, OverseasInstitute for Global Prosperity (IGP) Equity Fund
Deadline: 27 June 2025Value: £5,000 towards fees (1 year)Criteria Based on both academic merit and financial needEligibility: UKUCL East London Scholarship
Deadline: 26 June 2025Value: Tuition fees plus £16,000 stipend ()Criteria Based on financial needEligibility: UK
Next steps
Students are advised to apply as early as possible due to competition for places. Those applying for scholarship funding (particularly overseas applicants) should take note of application deadlines.
There is an application processing fee for this programme of £90 for online applications. Further information can be found at Application fees.
Your application must consist of both a personal statement and a CV. This is not a standard business, economics or development studies degree. The programme aims to address major challenges in our current social, economic and environmental conditions, and students are encouraged to consider how they would work to contribute to addressing such challenges. We place considerable emphasis on your personal statement and how you have tailored this for your application to the Prosperity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship MSc. We particularly value personal statements that outline a clear vision for transformative change and directly explain how the degree programme will help you realise the changes you would like to see happen. We also encourage students to explain how their past experiences have directly led them to this degree programme and to outline how the skills and knowledge they have acquired will help them to realise their goals for transformation.
When we assess your application we would like to learn:
- Why you want to study Prosperity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship at graduate level.
- Why you want to study Prosperity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship at UCL Institute for Global Prosperity.
- What particularly attracts you to this programme.
- How your academic and professional background meets the demands of this challenging programme.
- How you can make a unique contribution to our innovative academic community.
- How you see this degree programme leading to a future transformative career.
Together with essential academic requirements, the personal statement is your opportunity to illustrate whether your reasons for applying to this programme match what the programme will deliver.
We advise applicants to upload any supporting documents related to research, work experience, extracurricular activities or other projects mentioned in the personal statement or CV.
Please note that you may submit applications for a maximum of two graduate programmes (or one application for the Law LLM) in any application cycle.
Choose your programme
Please read the Application Guidance before proceeding with your application.
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