Programs

Master's in Impact Entrepreneurship & Innovation

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The Program

Master's in Impact Entrepreneurship & Innovation

The Nova SBE Master's in Impact Entrepreneurship & Innovation is a practical learning experience with the right balance between theory and practice.

We nurture your human and professional skills so you can embrace your inner potential and leave your mark in the world.

To support different interests and talents among our students, students will be given the chance to focus either on Entrepreneurship or Innovation.With the guidance from their professors, students focus on entrepreneurship or innovation during the second semester and with their work project in the third semester. Leveraging from two great partnerships at Nova SBE (the Haddad Entrepreneurship Institute and the Innovation Ecosystem), students will have the chance to make a positive impact, socially or environmentally.

To create a meaningful impact we need all talents and students from various disciplines:

From bachelor's programs in Science, Engineering or Computer Science, to Economics, Finance or Management.

From Social Sciences, Architecture, Design and Arts to Health and Social Work.

Candidates with experience (volunteering, social projects, work in not-for-profit or for-profit, etc.) are welcome.

It is a program for individuals who have an entrepreneurial or intrapreneurial mind; who want to create their own social venture or to join companies to push innovation for sustainability and impact from within.

If you like experimenting, want to change things in small and big ways, and love learning by doing and being involved in real-world projects, this Master’s is for you.

If you want to make significant difference in healthcare and well-being, bringing creativity, business thinking, and innovation to redesign medicine and promote Health, consider the Healthcare Innovation Specialization.

Program Overall Structure

Find out what this Master’s degree will offer you during the 3 semesters at Nova SBE! 

You will have to follow mandatory courses, but you will also choose from a wide range of electives, allowing you to tailor-make your curriculum according to your own goals. 

Everything together should give you the necessary ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) to graduate. 

Week 1 (@ Nova SBE)

  • Nova SBE Discovery Week

 

First Semester (32 ECTS)

  • Mandatory Courses
  • Elective
  • Skills Accelerator Modules
  • Seminars
  • Career Development Program – Mastering Your Career
  • Mentoring Program
  • Entrepreneurial Journey

 

Second Semester (28 ECTS)

  • Mandatory Courses
  • Electives
  • Seminars
  • Skills Accelerator Modules
  • Entrepreneurial Project (Entrepreneurship or Innovation focused)             

 

Third Semester (30 ECTS)

  • Work Project

 

*Please note that this information may be subject to changes in the 2023/2024 academic year.

1st semester:

  • Entrepreneurial Journey
  • Entrepreneurship with Impact
  • Opportunity Identification
  • New Venture Management
  • Innovation for Impact
  • Applied Research Method

 

2nd semester:

  • Entrepreneurial Project (Entrepreneurship focus / innovation focus)
  • Metrics that Matter
  • Data Science for Impact


*Please note that this information may be subject to changes in the 2023/2024 academic year.

  • Applied Business analytics
  • Applied Entrepreneurship
  • Brands and Marketing in Asia´s  Emerging Markets
  • Business Model Innovation
  • CIRCULAR ECONOMY:  Eliminate, Circulate and Regenerate
  • Corporate Strategy and Transformation
  • Design Thinking for Social Innovation
  • Digital Marketing
  • Diversity & Inclusion
  • Doing Business in Emerging Markets
  • Economics of Education
  • Economics of Health and Health Care
  • Economics of Health Systems
  • Energy and Climate Change
  • Entrepreneurial Finance & Venture Capital
  • Entrepreneurial Strategy
  • Environmental Policy
  • Fintech Ventures
  • Fundamentals on Environment and Sustainability
  • Global Energy Markets
  • Healthcare Innovation
  • Impact Investments
  • Innovation and Value Creation Wheel
  • Introduction to Machine Learning
  • Introduction to Programming
  • Labor Economics
  • Leadership and Change Management
  • Leading Social Enterprises with Impact in International Development
  • Mental Models for Strategy
  • Mergers, Acquisitions, Restructuring
  • Negotiation
  • Open Innovation
  • Organizing for Good in the digital age
  • Performance and Progress
  • Power and Social Change
  • Product Design and Development
  • Responsibility and Ethics of Business
  • Science-Based Entrepreneurship and Innovation
  • Social Marketing
  • Social Media Marketing
  • Strategy Implementation
  • Sustainability Evaluation of Policies, Plans and Projects
  • Sustainable Finance
  • Sustainable Operations
  • System Change
  • Team Dynamics in Organizations
  • Technology Strategy
  • The Business of Climate Action
  • Value-Based Health Care
  • Work & Family

The Skills Accelerator is composed by 4 areas and students must complete 1 module in each area, according to their Master’s program.

  • Digital
    Technology for business: concepts, tools and software.
  • Ethics
    The concept of ethics and its importance in life (personal and professional). Exposure to ethical challenges and practical discussions on how to address them.
  • Market Links
    Activities career and job market related. Organized by Careers office, student clubs, or faculty. Depending on the module selected, corporate partners and other companies are invited to participate. Competencies you might acquire and/or accelerate: self-awareness, collaboration, teamwork effectiveness, critical thinking and problem-solving, job market knowledge, Alumni networking.
  • Leadership
    Leadership concepts and tips: self-leadership and leading others.

 

* Please note that for the academic year of 2023/2024 this information may be subject to changes.

Students must complete a Master’s Work Project, which is equivalent to a Master's Thesis, supervised by a professor. This project will be based on the students’ ideas to tackle grand challenges, either it’s their own social venture or an innovative solution to implement within an existing organization.

Health Innovation Specialization

Among all the pressing issues our world is facing, health is a major and urgent one that our students can tackle thanks to our Healthcare Innovation Specialization, powered by HealthEConnect, a project funded by the European Commission and in collaboration with Nova Medical School, Copenhagen Business School, Patient Innovation, Startup Europe Regions Network, and the BioInnovation Institute in Denmark.

The specialization leverages on medical scientific knowledge (lectured at Nova Medical School), value-based healthcare, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

As a result of this diverse skill set, real-world perspective, and collaboration opportunities with the health industry of Lisbon and Copenhagen, students are equipped to become impactful entrepreneurs and innovators within the healthcare sector and well-being.

Health Innovation Specialization Mandatory Courses*:

  • Value-Based Healthcare
  • Medical Advances Specifics (Nova Medical School)


*Students who choose this specialization will have the abovementioned mandatory courses in the second semester.

Health Innovation Specialization Electives *

  • Aging (4 ECTS, lectured by Nova Medical School)
  • Life cycle Nutrition (4 ECTS, lectured by Nova Medical School)
  • Economics of Health and Health Care (3,5 ECTS, lectured by Nova SBE)
  • Economics of Health Systems (3,5 ECTS, lectured by Nova SBE)​


* Please note that for the Health Innovation Specialization, students have only one elective to choose, to be selected from this list.

Work Project in Health Innovation Specialization

Students must complete a Master’s Work Project in the field of healthcare and well-being (e.g. Mental Health, Nutrition, Geriatric, Medical, Nursing, Caregiving…) with opportunities in Lisbon or Copenhagen. Students will have the possibility to work with:

Grading is based upon the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS), a grading scale developed to better understand and compare the grades according to different national systems.

We did the math for you and the ECTS grading scale breaks down as follows:

40,5 ECTS
in Mandatory Courses including the Mastering Your Career Activities

17,5 ECTS
in Elective Courses (minimum)

2 ECTS
in Skills Accelerator

3,5 ECTS
in Entrepreneurial Journey Modules

30 ECTS
in the Work Project

90 ECTS (minimum) in total to graduate
You need a minimum of 90 ECTS to complete your Master’s, but if you need 120 ECTS to proceed with your studies, you can extend your Master’s by one semester with courses (22,5 ECTS).

Press play on your future.

Master’s Programs 2025/26 – Applications open soon!

Applications open on November 20 for:

• All Master’s Programs – Fall intake 2025*
• Master’s in Management – Spring intake 2025**

For more information, please contact us by emailing leadyourfuture@novasbe.pt or calling +351 213 801 699.

*Fall programs starting on September 2025
**Spring program starting on February 2025

Master’s Talks

Master’s Talks

Attend one of our many Master’s Talks and learn all about this program, its Academic Director, the teams that can help you on your journey to Nova SBE and clear any doubts you may have. 

Study Abroad

Complete your Master’s in Impact Entrepreneurship & Innovation with international experience. 

You can choose from an Exchange Program or a CEMS MIM. 

(This requires an additional semester)