Information about Master Theses at the Master Programme
Management of Innovation and Product Development
The Master Programme Management of Innovation
and Product Development
The Master programme Management of Innovation
and Product Development aims to prepare engineers
for future key positions in product development
activities, such as project/line manager in an
established firm or project/business manager in a
start-up firm building on a new product idea.
Important domains of study are central activities and
processes in innovation, such as technology
management,
product
development,
project
management and entrepreneurship.
After graduating, students should be able to
independently and critically understand, analyze and
apply theories, tools and techniques based on science
and best practice as well as to propose interventions
in innovation and product development processes in
real-life industrial companies based on an in-depth
understanding of such processes.
The programme consists of two years of studies for
a Master of Science degree, corresponding to 120
ECTS credits/”högskolepoäng” (hp):
» Compulsory courses: 54 ECTS credits
» Facultative courses: 36 ECTS credits
» Master thesis: 30 ECTS credits (approx. 20
weeks)
The compulsory courses are outlined in the
illustration below. The students can choose among a
number of facultative courses, for example courses in
quality management, operations management and
environmental management.
Division of Project, Innovation and Entrepreneurship
The master programme is co-ordinated by the division of
Project, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (PIE) at the
Department of Management and Engineering (IEI). Web
page: http://www.iei.liu.se/pie/
The Master thesis
The purpose of the master thesis is to demonstrate the
student’s ability to
» use acquired knowledge and with a scientific
approach solve a problem related to their
educational profile;
» communicate orally and in writing;
» assimilate relevant specialist literature in the field
and relate their work to that literature;
» critically assess and discuss a master thesis presented
orally and in writing; and
» use knowledge and abilities acquired in studies on
the advanced level.
The master thesis should include high-quality scientific
research within a specific and programme-relevant
research area. The field of Management of innovation
and product development is rather broad, and many
different thesis topics may be relevant.
Examples of previous master theses supervised by PIE
staff include:
» “Increasing efficiency through project portfolio
management”
» “To measure efficiency in product development”
» “The impact of cultural differences in the
integration process following a merger”
The thesis can be connected to a company or to a
research project at the university. The thesis examiner has
to be consulted before determining the final topic of the
thesis, in order to ensure that the thesis task meets
Linköping University requirements in terms of scope and
scientific level. In addition to the academic supervisor
appointed by PIE, the company/research project should
appoint an internal supervisor.
The final report falls under the principle of public
access to official documents (“offentlighetsprincipen”).
In exceptional cases, the focal company may request that
the report should be treated as confidential. Only written
requests addressed to the head of the Department of
Management and Engineering are considered.
Contact information
If you have any questions, please contact the programme
co-ordinator and director of studies, Nicolette Lakemond
» E-mail address: [email protected]
» Telephone: 013-28 25 25