Master of Science in Sustainable Development

The master’s program in Sustainable Development, with concentrations in green technologies, entrepreneurship, sustainable cities, and sustainable communities, 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.

The M.Sc. in Sustainable Development has recently been ranked by Eduniversal as the top master’s program in Africa with a focus on sustainability and green technologies. The program has been defined following the European Quality Framework (EQF) and according to the Accreditation requirements for the Egyptian Education System.

SSDV programs have followed the process for obtaining recognition, whose main purpose is to ensure that it fulfills a standard of quality that fits into the Egyptian context.

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

Bachelor’s degree from accredited university, acceptable GPA, English proficiency test (TOEFL/IELTS), two recommendation letters, personal statement

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 .

GREN 502/5202 – Engineering for a Sustainable Environment (3 cr.)
GREN 503/5203 – Core Concepts & Applications for Social & Environmental Policy (3 cr.)
GREN 504/5204 – Entrepreneurship and Innovation (3 cr.)
GREN 505/5205 – Environment and Society (3 cr.)
PSYC 000/5000 – Research Methods and Inferential Statistics for Psychology (3 cr.)
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):
GREN 513/5213 – Solid and Hazardous Wastes Engineering (3 cr.)
GREN 514/5214 – Green Buildings (3 cr.)
GREN 000/5215 – Sustainability of Thermal Systems (3 cr.)
GREN 000/5216 – Water-Energy-Food Nexus (3 cr.)
GREN 000/5217 – Renewable Energy Systems (3 cr.)
GREN 000/5218 – Sustainable Agriculture (3 cr.)
GREN 000/5219 – Selected Topics in Green Technologies (3 cr.)
GREN 000/5220 – Integrated Water Resources Management (3 cr.)
Entrepreneurship Concentration Module (M3-B):
GREN 521/5221 – Marketing Management (3 cr.)
GREN 522/5222 – Strategic Management of Innovation (3 cr.)
GREN 523/5223 – Managing in a Dynamic Environment (3 cr.)
GREN 524/5224 – Financial Management (3 cr.)
Sustainable Cities Concentration Module (M3-C):
GREN 531/5231 – Policy for Sustainable Cities (3 cr.)
GREN 532/5232 – Greening the Built Environment (3 cr.)
GREN 533/5233 – Urban Infrastructure Development for Sustainability (3 cr.)
GREN 000/5235 – Corporate Social Responsibility and NGO Partnerships (3 cr.)
GREN 000/5236 – International Migration and Development (3 cr.)
Sustainable Communities Concentration Module (M3-D):
GREN 544/5244 – Cities: Structure and Dynamics (3 cr.)
GREN 000/5245 – Community Assessment and Program Evaluation (3 cr.)
GREN 000/5246 – Community Psychology and Systems Theory (3 cr.)
GREN 000/5247 – Prevention and Intervention in Communities (3 cr.)
GREN 000/5248 – Consultation to Non-Profit Organizations (3 cr.)
PSYC 570/5256 – Special Topics in Psychology (3 cr.)
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.

SCI 5940 SCI 000/5940 – Graduate Thesis Seminar (3 cr.)
GREN 573/5253 – Research Guidance Thesis (3 cr. + 3 cr.)
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.