Design Entrepreneurship students learn how to develop and innovate products and services within an intercultural and interdisciplinary context, how to prototype, prepare and implement these into production, and how to generate informed business strategies to bring these goods to the international marketplace. They undertake project-based collaborative work, develop real design projects which have the potential to be transferred into a business and they have the option to study abroad in the design departments of international universities.

Design Entrepreneurship is a three-semester program totaling 90 ECTS. All courses are taught in English and all student work can be carried out in English.

Im Masterstudiengang Design Entrepreneurship erlernen Sie neben massiver Vertiefung methodischer und konzeptioneller Systementwicklung auch essentielle professionelle Kompetenzen zum Aufbau eines Business oder Etablierung einer Entwicklungsabtielung Design in Institutionen, Firmen oder Konzernen.

Design Entrepreneurship graduates are qualified to start a design business and undertake activities with global partners in the international marketplace or take on leading design positions in existing business organizations.

At Osnabrück, project-based learning is seen as an essential aspect of design education. Design Entrepreneurship students will work on the development and implementation a main design project throughout their studies (in addition to recuring collaborative project work), which should be fully developed, ready for production and connected to a marketing and business strategy by the end of their studies. In addition, the program treats “design” as an integral, but not sole, part of systems and product development. An important emphasizes of the program, therefore, is the interdisciplinary aspect of the modern design process and teaching is done collaboratively by professors from design, engineering, informatics and business.

Among the central skills required of future designers is the ability for intercultural communication and cooperation at the international level as well as the ability to respect and deal with diverse cultural traditions. For design education, this means training students in intercultural and communicative competencies within an international oriented and networked program. The Design Entrepreneurship program is structured to give students the ability to undertake real project work within intercultural and interdisciplinary teams as well as the possibility to experience different cultures first-hand by studying abroad.

Accordingly, the second semester of the program is designed as a mobility window to promote international exchanges of outgoing Design Entrepreneurship students seeking the experience of a semester abroad at a partner university and incoming design students from the master design programs of partner universities. Outgoing students can choose from among a diverse network of partners, each which provides students with a different design methodological focus, geographic and cultural environment.

Design Entrepreneurship study abroad options

Incoming exchange students can develop their skills in interdisciplinary and intercultural project-work within a program totaling 30 ECTS. Design project courses focus on the development of products, systems or services and their implementation in production (15 ECTS) and, a course in business administration gives students the basic knowledge to run their own business (5 ECTS), and an area of electives gives students the opportunity to expand their individual knowledge and skills profiles.

Design Entrepreneurship Exchange

The Master's program is geared towards international students with a first degree in a design discipline (e.g., industrial design, interaction design, product design, etc.) or a neighboring discipline which includes a design methodology such as information technology, computer science or mechanical engineering. Applicants must demonstrate proof of English language compency at a minimum level of B2 according to the Commen European Framework of Reference for Languages.

Please also take note of the university's general admission requirements.