Master's Degree Programme in Entrepreneurship Programme description

Pass/fail.

Five credits overlap with the course PARA1000Communication, Ethics and Culture.

Admission to this programme is regulated by Regulations Relating to Admissions to Studies at OsloMet.

Admission requires:

• general entrance requirements for Norwegian higher education, including proficiency in Norwegian (or any other Scandinavian language)
• a bachelor’s degree or equivalent degree
• an average grade of at least C (according to the ECTS grading scale) on your bachelor's degree
• an approved entrance test
• passed entrance interview

Along with the application it is required that candidates submit a completed entrance test where the candidate introduces themselves and answer questions and assignments designed to determine their suitability for the programme and for entrepreneurship. The entrance test will be available on the programme’s web page when the application portal opens.

The entrance test will be assessed by a faculty panel, which will evaluate the candidates’ background and suitability for the programme. Approximately 100 candidates will be invited to an entrance interview. Approximately 35 of these candidates will be selected for the programme. The selection of candidates is based on the entrance test and entrance interview only.

The master programme aims for a diverse group of students with different educational backgrounds. In the case where several qualified applicants have similar educational backgrounds, applicants with different backgrounds may be chosen for admission over those with similar backgrounds.

Single subjects: Entrance test and interview does not apply for admission to single subjects only.

After completing the programme, the candidate should have the following overall learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge

The candidate has

• thorough knowledge of perspectives and theory related to entrepreneurship
• advanced knowledge about how to identify, analyse and develop value creation ideas and opportunities
• a high level of understanding about how to identify one’s own resources and the resources of others with an aim to inspire entrepreneurial activity
• in-depth knowledge of, and the ability to apply, social science research methodology in an entrepreneurial setting

Skills

The candidate has

• specialised knowledge of how to utilise different entrepreneurial tools to assess and analyse value creation activities
• specialised skills to develop a vision for a value creating activity
• advanced skills related to estimating the cost of turning an idea into a value-creating activity
• in-depth skills in identifying and assessing their individual strengths and weaknesses, particularly in the context of high-pressure teamwork
• broad skills in setting long-, medium- and short-term goals, defining priorities, planning and carrying out tasks, and adapting to unforeseen changes, both individually and as part of a team
• a broad understanding of how to manage ambiguity and uncertainty through value creation and process learning
• advanced skills in communicating and learning together with others, including peers, mentors and external stakeholders
• specialised skills in reflecting on and learning from success and failure

General competence

The candidate is

• capable of analysing ethical challenges related to entrepreneurship, market research and use of data
• able to gather, utilise and assess the relevance of academic and popular sources of information
• able to present results and findings from independent and group work, both orally and in writing
• able to communicate and discuss theoretical concepts and problem statements with experts within different academic and industry domains
• able to confidently challenge truths and norms, and continue to question how society is structured

Courses consist of lectures, seminars and practical work. In addition, workshops and discussion groups are offered to facilitate and stimulate learning. Written work requirements are intended to develop reflective, argumentative and critical responses to the curriculum and lectures, as well as to acquire writing skills at post-graduate level. Oral presentations and discussions develop discursive skills, whilst specialisation in an area of research promotes scholarly and independent learning. The students will also be required to attend several hackathons or similar seminars or events with external stakeholders.

The teaching method relies on practical training, since there is a consensus among several scholars within entrepreneurship that entrepreneurship education should be based on experiential learning. Moreover, experiential learning enables students to experience what it is like to be an entrepreneur prior to reflecting on theory offered through the foundational entrepreneurship courses in the programme.

Learning process

• Faculty have a close professional relationship with the students and take on a facilitating role.
• Students take action, experiment and iterate through and with real ventures/projects in the value creation process. This gives students a high degree of responsibility for the process of learning by doing.
• Students learn to act first, then reflect, react, readjust and then act again.

Incubation

All students are offered access to incubator programmes. An important function of incubator programmes is to provide a space where students can sit and work on their ventures or projects.

Incubator programme will be in contact with startups to enhance the learning community and to share resources and spaces, and the choice of incubator programmes is based on the students' needs and the nature of their ventures or projects.

Mentorship

Internal and external mentors contribute to the delivery of the programme and serve as support mechanisms for the students and for the programme.

Mentors contribute to the programme in a variety of ways. First, they serve as role models for the students while bringing in up-do-date and relevant experience and second they help develop students’ ventures by providing support, advice and access to networks and mentoring them on pressing issues. Teaching methods

The master’s programme in entrepreneurship at OsloMet combines student-centred and teacher-centred teaching and working methods. There is also an overlap between them, where student-centred methods are also teacher-led.

Teaching methods include:

• Lectures
• Workshops (both faculty and industry)
• Game-based learning
• Inquiry-based learning (where teachers are available for questions)
• Expeditionary learning (out of the building and explore)
• Flipped classroom
• Group/individual mentoring (linked to business)
• Coaching (personalised learning)
• Cases with teacher-led discussions
• Group work and collaboration between students
• Experiments, iterations, prototyping and hypothesis testing
• Participation in real-life seminars and events with external stakeholders, e.g. hackathons
• Guest speakers

OsloMet uses Canvas, a cloud-based learning platform that facilitates student-active forms of work and teaching and serves as the university's channel of communication with its students.

This master's degree programme gives students an understanding of global entrepreneurship and innovation-driven ecosystems and markets. The programme seeks an international orientation along several dimensions. The programme uses international lecturers and guest speakers, and all compulsory reading consist of international articles and books.

Students can choose to write their master´s thesis abroad in conjunction with one of the exchange programmes offered to all master students at OsloMet, or be connected to one of OsloMet’s partnering universities around the world.

Students can also join current ongoing research projects (for example within the European Project Semester (EPS) or other within internationally financed research projects or in collboration with Centre for Welfare and Labour Research).

Students can also apply to the Norwegian School of Entrepreneurship (Gründerskolen) summer school managed by the University of Oslo. Students can travel to Boston, Toronto or San Francisco.

Students are expected to attend and participate in classes and learning activities. Practical experience from compulsory learning activities and classroom discussions are important for student learning. Coursework requirements are compulsory. Assignments that are not handed in on time or that are found unsatisfactory will disqualify students from sitting the final examination. All specific coursework requirements are outlined in the course descriptions. The coursework requirements help support the learning outcomes by training students in performing the tasks and ensuring that students acquire skills and knowledge that are not tested during the exam itself.

The students' rights and obligations are set out in Regulations relating to studies and examinations at OsloMet. The regulations describe conditions for resitting/rescheduling exams, the right to appeal, and definitions of cheating in exams, etc. Students are responsible for registering for any resits or rescheduled exams. Students are responsible for familiarising themselves with these rules and regulations.

The forms of assessment vary and are outlined in the course descriptions. They apply to term papers, portfolios, process papers, essays and presentation. The master's thesis is an independent piece of work related to a topic of the student’s choice.

Exam papers are assessed by one internal and one external examiner. The master's thesis is assessed by one internal and one external examiner. The assessment is outlined in the respective course descriptions. A grading scale from A to F will normally be used in assessments. Pass grades range from A to E, while F is a fail. Students have the right to appeal against a grade, whereupon examinations are re-evaluated by two new examiners (one internal and one external). Students are advised that an appeal may result in a grade lower than the grade originally awarded.