E-campus

A master's degree in creating sustainable futures through design thinking

Design thinking provides a means to search for opportunities and create improvements toward sustainable futures. The interdisciplinary master’s degree programme in Design for the Planet is based on the principles of ​meaningful, sufficiency, and place-based design. It emphasizes creative design thinking processes with human empathy for each other around real-world problems.

The degree programme is conducted online and as a part-time learning opportunity. Applicants are required to have at least two years of full-time work experience in a related field and an appropriate bachelor’s degree.

What do the studies include?

The studies include teacher-led online sessions, project-based online work in student teams, and independent student work. Virtual sessions are conducted approximately every two weeks during the autumn and spring semesters for the compulsory core and central complementary studies. The programme applies the flipped-classroom approach, where prework is required before online meetings and used for discussion and tasks.

The basis for development is understanding the main challenges of the state of the planet and how to follow the evolving sustainability rules, regulations, and reporting requirements. Design thinking includes systems understanding and evidence-based, human-driven information acquisition for holistic understanding and multidisciplinary development. Visual information forms an integrated part of the communication and development tools and result-building. 

The development context is studied both at the strategic level and with concern about the place-based, concrete situation. The strategic approach is not left at the abstract level, but concrete activities are sought as results, often through the means of co-design.

The thesis work includes presentations in the online thesis seminars and joint online meetings. Individual, online mentoring from the teaching staff is available as an integral part of the thesis project.

For designers, technology engineers, and graduates of business or hospitality – study circular economy solutions interdisciplinary

The multidisciplinary online master's degree programme in Circular Economy Solutions prepares students from design, business, hospitality, and technology to address global challenges related to sustainable development and to promote societal change. Graduates will master circular economy strategies and business models.

Applicants are required to possess at least two years of prior work experience in a related field (working full-time) and a desire to develop their professional skills in circular economy-related areas. The Circular Economy Solutions master's degree studies offer an excellent opportunity for networking and sharing expertise with your fellow students. 

Both Finnish and international students are strongly encouraged to apply. Also, applicants currently in a stage of career transition can avail of this opportunity to invest in their future skillset to help them re-enter the employment sector.

Duration and the scope of studies vary

Engineering and design students will complete a total of 60 ECTS credits of master’s-level studies in the degree programme, and MBA students a total of 90 ECTS.

As well as the core competence courses students will plan a personalised learning path through complementary competence studies (15 ECTS) for the engineering and design students and (30 ECTS) for the MBA students, in order to shape and customise their learning to better fit with the set learning objectives.

 In complementary studies, you can focus, for example, on 

• new technologies
• bio-based materials and solutions,
• the business potential of the circular economy.

The degree programme is conducted online and as a part-time learning opportunity. The courses are mainly executed by the LAB University of Applied Sciences' fields in Technology, Business and the Institute of Design and Fine Arts, in collaboration with the schools of LUT University.

The education is carried out under the guidance of experts from technology, design and business fields, and the studies include interdisciplinary teamwork. The students themselves represent diverse areas of expertise.

Study online master's degree in Business Innovation Culture and Creativity

The online master's degree programme in Business Innovation Culture and Creativity is intended for students who wish to develop their professional capabilities, leadership skills, strategic management, innovation and process management competences to enhance the competitive advantages and resilience of their organization.

Applicants are required to have at least two years of full-time work experience in a related field and an appropriate bachelor’s degree. Both Finnish and international students are strongly encouraged to apply. Also, applicants who are currently in a stage of career transition can invest in their future skillset to re-enter the employment sector.

What do the studies include?

Through the core competence courses offered in the programme (30 ECTS) the student is able to analyze opportunities to creatively develop innovative international business solutions.

In addition to the core courses, the students will plan a personalized learning path through complementary competence studies (30 ECTS) in order to shape and customize their learning to better fit with the set learning objectives. At the beginning of the studies a personalized learning plan, consisting of 60 ECTS of master’s level studies and 30 ECTS of final thesis work, will be completed.

The duration of the programme is 2,5 years. Teaching days for core studies are usually limited to 2 to 4 online days per month. The study days for complementary competence studies depend on the courses you choose to study. Students can also choose elective master’s level courses from other universities.

The studies contain challenging independent work, online group work and online studies in order to accommodate students’ professional and personal lives. The studies are rigorously intensive, but managable.

Master's studies for engineering and social and health care professionals

The interdisciplinary degree programme in Technological Transformation Leadership aims to develop strategic leaders capable of integrating technology with business processes and with organisational processes in social and health care.

The programme emphasises ethical leadership and the societal impacts of technology, including considerations specific to IoT and AI, such as data privacy, security, and ethical AI deployment for engineering students, and data privacy, security, and ethical AI deployment in social and health care for social and health care students.

These studies also provide an excellent opportunity to improve spoken and written English skills and network with students from across different business sectors and nationalities.

Work experience requirements

Applicants must, in addition to the required educational background, have gained at least two years (24 months) of subsequent work experience in a relevant field after the completion of the bachelor's degree, in order to meet the eligibility criteria.

Leading roles in technology and social and health care

Upon completion, graduates will be able to lead technology initiatives, execute strategic plans, manage projects and innovations, and address ethical considerations in technology transformation, including those related to AI, and, in addition, for engineering graduates, IoT as well.

Gaining skills and capabilities for developing a technological transformation leadership approach to the working environment helps our graduates expand their professional opportunities and bridge gained knowledge and know-how with the future operational environment. 

Students in the programme can immediately apply their attained skills and know-how in their workplace. Many of the graduates capitalise on new opportunities either within their current organisation or in new professional careers.

What do the studies include?

The studies contain challenging independent work, online group work, and online studies to accommodate students’ professional and personal lives. The studies are rigorously intensive but manageable.

Teaching days for core studies are usually limited to 2 to 4 online days per month. The study days for complementary competence studies depend on the courses you choose to study. Students can also choose elective master’s level courses from other universities.

For engineering students, the scope of the studies is 60 ECTS credits, and the duration of the programme is 1 year. For social and health care students, the scope of the studies is 90 ECTS credits, and the duration of the programme is 2 years. 

For engineering students:

• core competence 15 ECTS
• complementary competence 15 ECTS
• master's thesis 30 ECTS

Engineering students can construct their degrees focusing either on technological transformation leadership or IoT through AI. Topics covered can include, for example, leadership and change management, technology strategy, and data-driven decision making. Additionally, the programme addresses emerging issues in the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), preparing students to navigate and leverage these technologies effectively.

For social and health care students:

• core competence 35 ECTS
• complementary competence 25 ECTS
• master's thesis 30 ECTS

Topics covered in the studies can include, for example, leadership and change management, health and wellbeing technologies, and knowledge management.

Studies for redesigning emergency care

Health care crises have made it clear that our emergency care systems and acute care pathways are experiencing a fundamental change in perspective. The need for major systemic change is evident, for both better person-centred care and the well-being of our health care professionals.

To ensure evidence-based, goal-directed development and meaningful change in emergency care systems, our objective is to educate future experts, leaders, and researchers with advanced competencies, diverse perspectives, and understanding of systems integrations, safety science, staff well-being, and person-centred emergency care systems at both practical and systems levels.

Work experience requirements

All applicants must, in addition to the required educational background, have at least two years (24 months) of relevant work experience gained after the completion of the bachelor's degree in order to meet the eligibility criteria. 

Work at the forefront of redesigning emergency care systems

We need to redesign emergency care as a system. It is necessary to integrate care pathways and existing services, develop new clinical advancements, reshape professional roles, and break old systemic and work cultural barriers within emergency care, such as roles between prehospital acute care, out-of-hospital community paramedicine, and emergency departments. 

The treatment of acute and critical patients is often volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environments must be safe, person-centred, and of the highest quality in the future while also addressing the increasing complexity of subacute patient profiles. Therefore, its continuous development requires long-term goals and rigorous processes to succeed and be effective.

We further need to make emergency care work manageable. By breaking silos and disciplinary boundaries and going beyond the scopes of familiar practices, we are sharing new knowledge and further understanding of the complexity, variety, and diversity of work in emergency care systems. 

We will explore how human-environment work can be further developed to be more sustainable and safer, utilizing, among others, translational simulations and design for psychologically safe work cultures. The goal is to make emergency care systems manageable and sustainable for all health care professionals.

What do the studies include?

The degree comprises 90 ECTS credits. The studies are taught entirely in English and are completed entirely online. The coursework includes assignments and lectures (online). Participation in online lectures is not mandatory but recommended. The degree contains the following three main modules:

• core competences (30 ECTS credits)
• elective complementary studies* (15 ECTS credits)
• research methods and master's thesis (15+30 ECTS credits).

*Elective complementary studies can be chosen from available master’s courses at LAB University of Applied Sciences or Arcada University of Applied Sciences, or from courses available at other institutions providing master’s level courses.

Learning outcomes

As a student in this programme, you will learn:

1. to analyse and evaluate the effectiveness and quality of emergency care interventions and systems and to develop systems thinking and person centredness in emergency care settings;
2. to support, develop, and enable sustainable human work in emergency care environments by evaluating the opportunities and challenges of future digital solutions for emergency care systems;
3. to evaluate and develop safety science-based interventions in emergency care to ensure high patient and occupational safety in a complex environment by evaluating opportunities and challenges in different emergency care systems.