Sustainable Development (M.Sc.) with concentrations in Green Technologies, Entrepreneurship, Sustainable Cities and Sustainable Communities

Master of Science in Sustainable Development

The MSc program in Sustainable Development is designed to take advantage of sustainable development as an economic growth opportunity. This MSc program aims to create a whole new generation of business and social entrepreneurs with the skills will allow them to start up green businesses, launch innovative ventures and products, and put in place public policy and social entrepreneurship innovations that, together, address society’s environmental and natural resource challenges. The program aims to provide students with a sound theoretical and practical understanding of innovation and entrepreneurship in all three sectors-private, governmental and non-profit- in preparation for careers as entrepreneurs and “intrapreneurs” in a range of organizations.

Through this program, students will learn how to identify, assess and shape environmental ideas into real business opportunities and how to support such ventures through entrepreneurial private, government and civil society initiatives. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, the course work combines a conceptual review of the relationships among business, industry, environment, policy and society, with a much more applied examination of the wide range of initiatives that relate to environmental management and sustainable economic development.

The MSc is facilitated by the available state-of-the-art equipment and facilities available at the SSE, BUS and GAPP.

A minimum of 33 credit hours is required for the MSc. The degree to be awarded is an “AUC MSc in Sustainable Development.”

Objectives

The graduates of the MSc in Sustainable Development will

Have the multi-disciplinary knowledge of green innovation and the key aspects and dimensions of sustainable development.
Foster a strong culture of green entrepreneurship and business in Egypt and the region
Engage in advanced green industry careers
Excel in an interdisciplinary environment both as individuals and within a team
Seize and develop commercial opportunities in the fast advancing green technologies field locally and globally.

Admissions

A candidate for the program must have a bachelor’s degree in Engineering, policy, business or social background. Admission is also subject to the general university requirements for graduate study, including English language proficiency. A minimum GPA of 3.0 out of 4.0 is required for full admission into the program. Students who have some deficiency in their undergraduate training but are well-qualified in other aspects maybe admitted provisionally. The program director and track coordinators may prescribe a program of non-credit work to make up for the deficiency.

Courses (24 credit hours)

The program of study is planned with the program director, and should include a minimum of 9 credit hours of core courses and a minimum of 15 credit hours of electives from three of the four sustainable development sub-modules. A maximum of 3 credits hours may be taken as independent study ( GREN 000/5910 - Independent Study in Sustainable Development (3 cr.) ) with prior approval of the program director. Students might be asked to take additional non-credit courses from the balance module to qualify them for this program.

I. Core Module- M1 (9 Credit Hours)

All students must take GREN 5201Global Changes and Sustainable Development
and select two more courses out of GREN 5202 , GREN 5203 ,GREN 5204 and GREN 5205 .

II. Balance Module- M2 (0 Credit Hours)

Students might be asked to take one or more courses from a list of courses approved by the GREN advisory committee and selected with their advisor to upgrade their knowledge and qualify them for this program.

III. Sustainable Development Concentration Module M3- Electives (15 Credit Hours)

Students should take five courses (15 cr.) in the Sustainable Development Concentration Module to cover three of the four sub-modules. These courses are to include three courses (9 cr.) from the sub-module the student wants to concentrate in. All students must take at least one course (3 cr.) out of these five courses from the Green Technologies sub-module M3-A. A maximum of 3 credit hours can be taken as an independent study course or as a 4000-level course of a topic of relevance with prior approval of the program director.

Green Technologies Concentration Module (M3-A):

Entrepreneurship Concentration Module (M3-B):

Sustainable Cities Concentration Module (M3-C):

Sustainable Communities Concentration Module (M3-D):

Thesis (9 Credit Hours)

Each student must submit a thesis topic that has been approved by a faculty supervisor by the end of the first academic year. Various research topics are discussed in Graduate Thesis Seminar (SCI 5940 ). Students must complete SCI 5940 before registering for thesis credits. To ensure adequate faculty consultation on the thesis, the student must register for the Research Thesis Guidance Course (GREN 5253 ) by the completion of 18 credit hours. The GREN 5253 course must be registered over two consecutive semesters after which the course may be registered for one credit hour each semester until completion of the program requirements.

Students are encouraged to “twin” in the thesis work. At least two students can agree on submitting a topic for a “twinning thesis” that has to be approved by their faculty supervisors from at least two different schools by the end of the first academic year. The twinning thesis does not mean reducing the workload, since each student should complete minimum 33 credits to be awarded a twinning MSc degree. Students work on one topic from different perspectives and submit two theses.

AUC New Cairo Campus

AUC Tahrir Square Campus

New York