Admission requirements - Master Sustainable Business and Innovation

Interested in the master's programme Sustainable Business and Innovation? Find out whether your knowledge and skills match the entry level of the programme.

This page describes the knowledge and skills required for admission to the Sustainable Business and Innovation programme specifically. For the additional general admission requirements of Wageningen University & Research, application deadlines and the application procedure, visit How to apply for a master's programme?

Are you interested in the programme, but not sure whether your background matches the stated requirements? Feel free to contact us.

Admission requirements

Required knowledge and skills

Purpose and reason for the admission requirements

The criterion used for admission is

a WUR BSc degree in Management and Consumer Studies, or equivalent.

The norm for this equivalence is

≥30 ECTS in at least one of the following disciplines:

  • Business studies (organisational behaviour)
  • Business economics (accounting, financial management)
  • Decision theory (logistics)
  • Information technology

Of these 30 ECTS, ≥15 ECTS should be covered by either of the following two topics:

  • Management studies (innovation management, strategic management, industrial organisation)
  • Marketing

Additionally, the candidate should have covered:

  • ≥10 ECTS in research methodology including statistics

Not all topics mentioned need to be mastered at the same level; they will be weighed by the Admission Board per individual application.

Method of assessment whether this norm is met

  • Transcript of records displaying the content of previous course subjects and project work;
  • Curriculum vitae displaying relevant work, internship and/or project experience on an academic level in a relevant field if applicable.

Scores attributed by the Admission Board

Admitted / not admitted / admitted under condition obtaining the BSc or MSc degree / not admitted with offer of pre-master

Compensation of knowledge gaps

The Admission Board may allow and/or suggest compensation of knowledge gaps by:

  • a GPA≥7.0* for the previous education for small discrepancies as new knowledge is sufficiently easily acquired;
  • a GPA≥7.0* and an individual pre-master's programme for larger discrepancies that can be compensated in ≤30 ECTS and one year of study.

*Check the general admission page for the International credentials evaluation guide for international equivalencies to a Dutch GPA>7.0. This guide includes compensating factors for a slightly lower GPA the Admission Board may include in their judgement.

Contact us through the contact button above to discuss the possibilities of a pre-master or how to mitigate knowledge gaps if you are still in the process of obtaining your degree.

Find out more about pre-master's programmes.

Additional context for admission

Study programmes with knowledge gaps

University of Applied Sciences (NL: hbo) students often are required to follow additional courses in a pre-master or as a minor during the previous study programme to cover the required previous knowledge. This usually consists of courses on: quantitative research methodology and statistics, and/or courses on management and marketing.

Please note this is a two year programme, but registered with DUO as a one year programme. This may affect the duration of your DUO student loan and/or travel product. For more information, see Extra Studiefinanciering WU and DUO.