Innovation, Creativity and Leadership  MSc / MA / MInnov

Overview

The Masters in Innovation, Creativity and Leadership (the MICL) from City University London has been designed to give you the skills to turn ideas into action.

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Scholarship Competition coming soon. One fully funded place available for the winner.

Established in 2009, this new and dynamic course focuses on developing practical skills that will enable you to lead change in your organisation and deliver innovation. On the course you will:

  • Develop leadership skills so you can transform your organisation's ability to innovate
  • Learn how to tap into your company's existing creative resources
  • Acquire practical skills that you can use in your professional and personal life.

Come to our one-day conference on Innovation, Creativity and Leadership ICLCity 2012 11 June 2012, and learn more about our research and practice, and the MICL itself. Details can be found in the events link opposite. 

Delivering innovation

Have you ever wondered how some organisations manage to stay consistently ahead using innovation? What sets them apart? Could it work for you and your organisation?

Innovation is key to companies competing in today's economic climate - which is perhaps why 79% of UK managers see innovation as very important. Do you have the skills needed to lead innovation in your organisation?

The MICL is more than about learning how to be creative. The MICL provides you with:

  • Knowledge and skills so you can harness the creativity of your colleagues and stakeholders within and outside your organisation to deliver breakthrough solutions
  • Tools you need to successfully manage innovation projects and programmes  and to fast-track your own career
  • A wide range of creativity and innovation processes and techniques.

Centre for Creativity in Professional Practice

You'll be taught by leading researchers, academics and guest speakers drawn from five different schools:

  • Cass Business School
  • School of Arts
  • School of Informatics
  • City Law School
  • School of Social Sciences.

This interdisciplinary approach is unique to City University London and will equip you with the skills you need to manage innovation and change in your organisation.

Who is the MICL for?

The MICL has been designed for individuals who wish to develop the skills to turn ideas into action. Whether you work for a big company or for yourself, whether you're an engineer, artist, IT specialist or a designer, it really doesn't matter.

What matters is that you are interested in the possibilities that enabling a creative climate can create for you or your company and that you're interested in learning how to manage innovation.

Our current students come from a variety of backgrounds including IT, marketing, hotel management, the public sector and consultancy. Please note that you'll need at least three years' work experience before you can take our course.

Course Fees:

  • Part-time EU: £7,500 per year (2012/13 fees)
  • Part-time Non EU: £10,000 per year (2012/13 fees)

Start Date:

21 September 2012

How to Apply

Entry Requirements

Applicants should have a minimum of 3 years of work experience and a first or upper second class Honours degree (or equivalent non- UK qualification). Prospective students who do not have a degree may yet be eligible based on their work experience.

English Requirements

For those students whose first language is not English, one of the following qualifications is also required:

  •  IELTS: 7.0
  • TOEFL (internet based): 107

Visa Requirements

The way that you apply may vary depending on the length of your course at City, there are different rules for:

  • Students on courses of more than 6 months
  • Students on courses of less than 6 months
  • Students on a pre-sessional English Language course

For more information see our main Visa page.

Course Content

Leadership is crucial in promoting innovative working. Innovation leaders need to be flexible, knowledgeable and be able to inspire people to follow them into the unknown. In this course you will:

  • Explore innovation, creativity and leadership from five different disciplines and eight different viewpoints
  • Learn how to overcome barriers to innovation so you can deliver change
  • Gain practical skills to facilitate creativity
  • Learn when to use different innovation tools in which situations
  • Understand what elements foster a creative culture and what distinguishes creative organisations.

The Masters in Innovation, Creativity and Leadership offers a rare opportunity to study Innovation, Creativity and Leadership from a fully rounded, interdisciplinary perspective, learning from leaders in each of the disciplines.

The Masters consists of 8 core modules, each worth 15 credits, plus one dissertation project worth 60 credits.

Course Structure

8 core taught modules:

Delivering Innovation - Turning ideas into action

This module is delivered by the Cass Business School - among the top 1 per cent of business schools worldwide. You will:

  • Learn how innovation is transformed into valuable products and services in business
  • Discover how to deliver the results of creative work in business and professional processes
  • Explore case studies of commercial and public organisations to understand creative and innovative commercial practices
  • Look at how the cultural sector operates in a complex and rapidly changing environment and its relationship to the wider economy.

Creative Writing

This module is delivered by the Centre for Creative Writing, Translation and Publishing in the School of Arts. You will:

  • Learn how to develop and communicate ideas through writing
  • Discover how storytelling supports leadership
  • Develop your own writing skills through critiquing others' writing and responding to critiques of your own work
  • Learn how to use tools to develop a play or screenplay.

There will also be regular workshops with visiting writers.

The Psychology of Creativity and Innovation

This module is delivered by organisational psychologists at the School of Social Sciences. You will:

  • Explore ways to develop creative talent in individuals, teams and at an organisational level
  • Develop skills in building work environments that support innovation
  • Learn how creativity and innovation can drive economic performance, employee involvement and organisational change.

Leading Creative Design

This module is delivered by the Centre for Human Computer Interaction Design in the School of Informatics. You will:

  • Learn about innovation and design by studying the theories, models and practices from design science, product design, interaction design and software engineering
  • Apply creativity techniques such as challenging constraints
  • Run creativity workshops
  • Compare the outcomes from creativity techniques and workshops with outcomes from other design approaches such as user centred design.

Creative Problem Solving and Leadership

Delivered by the Cass Business School, you will:

  • Learn formal problem-solving processes
  • Cultivate intuitive decision-making and communications skills
  • Enhance your understanding of your own skills and the business and professional worlds
  • Gain experience of practical approaches to professional understanding, innovation and problem-solving.

Technologies for Creativity and Innovation

Delivered by the Centre for Human Computer Interaction Design, you will:

  • Explore technologies for creative and innovative processes
  • Learn how to use creativity problem-solving tools - many of which are internet-based
  • Gain practical experience with collaborative technologies for group problem-solving such as digital walls and interactive tabletops.

The Law, Creativity and Innovation

This module is delivered by the City Law School, one of London's major law schools. You will:

  • Gain a detailed understanding of all legal concerns around design and innovation
  • Learn to develop persuasive arguments to support a case
  • Learn about copyright, ownership, intellectual property, territorial agreements and contract law.

Creativity and the Creative Industries

Delivered by the School of Arts, you will:

  • Explore creativity and innovation in different performance arts including music, dance and acting
  • Compare creativity and innovation in performing arts with creativity and innovation in the other disciplines you have studied
  • Learn how to transfer different types of knowledge across disciplines to improve creativity and innovation.

Individual Project

The aim of the individual project is to apply the insights you've gained throughout the Masters programme to your working environment. You will deliver your final project as a dissertation.

Teaching and Assessment

Students who successfully complete eight taught modules and a final dissertation will be awarded either a Master of Science (MSc) degree, a Master of Arts (MA) degree or a Master of Innovation (MInnov) degree.

Students who successfully complete eight taught modules, but later decide not to submit a dissertation, will be awarded a Postgraduate Diploma (PG Dip). Please note that students can't currently apply to study for a PG Dip.
The course is available part time over two years (daytime study).

We expect to be able to offer a full-time version of the MICL from September 2012. Details will appear shortly. Students who apply for part-time study will be able transfer to full time if they wish.

Teaching

A range of interactive teaching methods will be used, including fieldwork to remote sites, extensive group work, workshops and explorations of new technologies.

Traditional lectures will be kept to a minimum. The focus will be on discussion groups and informal learning between students, drawing on your different experience and knowledge. You will also get the opportunity to attend regular seminars, workshop and demos centred around creativity and innovation, organised by the Centre for Creativity.

Assessment

Students will be assessed through individual and group coursework based on practice-based learning. There are no exams.

Each student will also be expected to deliver a final dissertation based on a personally-defined project.

Fees

  • Part-time EU: £7,500 per year (2012/13 fees)
  • Part-time Non EU: £10,000 per year (2012/13 fees)

The University has introduced an instalment payment scheme for taught postgraduate students so you can spread the cost of your course.

For students following the normal academic year, the annual fee can be paid in two equal instalments: the first on registering, eg in September, the second on 31 January.

You must pay the first instalment at or before registration, by cheque or credit/debit card.

You must also supply your bank details or credit card details for payment of your second instalment. This will be deducted automatically from your bank or credit card account on 31 January.

Funding

For up-to-date information about tuition fees, living costs and financial support, visit Undergraduate Fees and Finance or Postgraduate Fees and Finance.

For up-to-date information about financial support including career development loans, visit Postgraduate Fees and Finance. You can also get information about other sources of financial assistance from:

Bank loans

Your bank may offer you a loan. To get a loan, you may need to demonstrate that:

  • the course will improve your long-term career prospects
  • you can pay back the loan.

Career Prospects

The Masters in Creativity, Innovation and Leadership (MICL) has been designed to:

  • unlock career possibilities - and bring lifelong rewards through accelerated career progression
  • have immediate impact on students' capabilities and hone existing skills
  • help you build a diverse network of like-minded individuals - a rich source of ideas and mutual support.
As a new course, our first group of students will graduate this year.

Already they have used the skills they've developed to gain promotion in their current jobs and find new opportunities as a result of the course. Others have applied the skills they've learnt to change the way they work in their current jobs.

Whether you're full of ideas that never go anywhere or you struggle for inspiration, this course will teach you how to generate ideas, then take those ideas and deliver change.

Many companies  struggle to turn ideas into action - and ideas don't keep. You will learn what it takes to deliver innovation.

What our students are currently doing

Joan Munro, a current MICL student, is working with Professor Fiona Patterson and Dr Máire Kerrin (both MICL faculty) on a research project aimed at Accelerating Innovation in Local Government. Joan's collaboration with Fiona and Máire started during the first year of Joan's studies.

What our students say about the MICL

"The MICL has given me a new perspective on my work; confidence to try different things; and opened my mind to developing skills I never thought I could have."

Katherine William-Powlett, Consultant, National Council for Voluntary Organisations.

"For me, the MICL was an interesting, more creative alternative to a traditional MBA. But I did want a business degree and Cass Business School's involvement in the MICL structure was highly attractive. If Cass was willing to involve itself in a degree that included creative writing, I wasn't going to argue."

Joe Tarrant, Senior Information Officer at a law firm.

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Find out more about City University London

You can apply for the Masters in Innovation, Creativity and Leadership by:

References
  • You will need to submit two references with your application. It is best if these are submitted at the same time as your application - but they can be sent later separately.
  • Ideally one reference should be academic, but both can be professional if it is many years since you did your first degree.

Programmes Office contact details

Please send your completed paper application form and supporting documents to:

Course Officer - Masters in Innovation, Creativity and Leadership
SOI Programmes Office
City University London
Northampton Square
London EC1V 0HB

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7040 8400
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7040 0233
Email: creativitymasters@soi.city.ac.uk

Help with your application

If you have any questions about the application process or the course, contact the Programmes Office.