Design and Innovation

With an MSc degree in Design and Innovation, you will be equipped to participate in and head innovation and development activities in industry, services, and public-sector organizations.

The ability to generate innovation plays an increasing role in addressing many global issues in a way that also ensures the survival of the welfare society. Design engineers gain knowledge and competencies enabling them to contribute to innovation activities and the development of products and systems in which the environment and social issues are taken into consideration. 

The study programme provides you with the proper tools and methods for meeting the challenge of combining multiple technical disciplines with knowledge of user needs and creating innovative products, services, and systems.

Study programme focus

Design and Innovation focuses on equipping the students with the competencies required for carrying out engineering tasks with emphasis on design. Therefore, the MSc programme comprises both technical-scientific and social science disciplines and is characterised by an academic competency that combines:

• A socio-technical understanding of products and systems in their social and technical context
• A creative synthesis competence relating to social, technical, and aesthetic aspects
• A reflective technical-scientific competence, qualifying the MSc student to participate in the technical development

The study programme aims to develop your creative skills and abilities to analyse the interaction between the user, technology, and company. You will gain knowledge of one or more technical domains and learn to develop concepts and implement innovation processes that are more far-reaching than product and system development. 

One of the most distinguishing features of the Design and Innovation programme is the long-standing tradition of project work and using different teaching methods. The programme is taught by lecturers from both DTU Management Engineering and DTU Mechanical Engineering. By drawing on expertise from both departments, all core areas of the study programme—design methods, system and product design, material technology, innovation management, and sustainability—are covered.

Focus areas

The study programme contains no study lines, but you can specialize in one of the four recommended focus areas:

• Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship
• Product Design 
• Sustainability and Eco-design
• User Experience and Systems Design

Furthermore, you have every opportunity to design your own study programme and career by choosing from the wide range of elective courses offered at DTU. 

To obtain the MSc degree in Design & Innovation, the student must fulfil the following requirements:

• Have passed General Competence Courses adding up to at least 30 ECTS points
• Have passed Technological Specialization Courses adding up to at least 30 ECTS points
• Have performed a Master Thesis of at least 30 ECTS points within the field of the general program
• Have passed a sufficient number of Elective Courses to bring the total number of ECTS points of the entire study up to 120 

Only applicants holding either a Bachelor of Science in Engineering, a Bachelor in Engineering or a Bachelor of Natural Science degree can be admitted to a Master of Science in Engineering programme. From September 2017 the bachelor degree must be less than 10 years old.

The individual MSc Eng programme states in detail which bachelor programmes qualify and whether applicants have to complete supplementary educational activities.

Requirements for supplementary educational activities can equate to up to 30 ECTS credits and are specified in the form of a list of courses under the individual MSc Eng programmes.

The specific requirements must be met before graduating from the bachelor programme or in connection with conditional admission to a particular MSc Eng programme. The courses must be passed prior to the commencement of studies within one year from the conditional admission.

Supplementary educational activities in connection with conditional admission to an MSc Eng programme do not form part of the MSc Eng programme, and partial tuition fees are charged. If the supplementary courses have not been passed within the deadlines specified, the conditional admission to the programme is withdrawn.

The Master of Science in Engineering programmes are offered in English. Therefore applicants must demonstrate proficiency in English (B-level, IELTS, TOEFL- or Pearson test).

Academic requirements for this programme

The following BSc Eng. programme from DTU entitle students to admission to the MSc Eng. programme in Desing and Innovation: 

• Design and Innovation

Other BSc Engs from DTU must have knowledge of design theories and methods in the forms of

• systematic design methods (e.g 41612 Product Design and Documentation or similar)
• industrial design (e.g 41031 Industrial Design 1 or similar)
• accomplishment of a design or product devleopment project  (e.g. 41020 Product Analysis and Redesign, 42042 Participatory Systems Design or similar).

It is recommended to have knowledge of 

• socio-technical analysis and design (e.g.42640 Sociotechnical Design).

Bachelors relevant engineering education from other universities than DTU have access to admission based on an individual evaluation. The academic requirements are one or two projects and some courses that provide the applicant with the knowledge and skills that are achieved during the completion of a BSc Eng. in Design & Innovation. The courses should amount to a minimum of  15 ECTS point within:

• design activities using design methods,
• concept development,
• industrial design,
• socio-technical analysis and design demonstrating interaction with users
• mechanics or materials (a minimum of 5 ECTS)