Social Entrepreneurship

• The programme offers a substantial amount of elective courses. You can design your studies according to your personal interest and the profile of your project plan.
• All courses have a global or international approach so you can focus on a country or region you are most interested in when doing your assignments but also learn about other countries and regions.
• You will complete your studies with a master thesis.
• There is no upper limit to the number of courses you can take – you can study as much as you like.
• The programme is in cycle study form. Lectures and seminars take place during weekdays. On average, there are about 15 hours of virtual work per week, but there is also a substantial amount of independent work. 

Core course components

• Social Entrepreneurship, concept and practice 8 ECTS
• The concept of social capital and social impact 6 ECTS
• Civil Society and Social Innovations 6 ECTS
• Research methods and methodology for social entrepreneurship 6 ECTS
• Project management 6 ECTS
• Open Innovation Systems 6 ECTS
• Business development models 6 ECTS
• E-Governance for responsible Innovation 4 ECTS
• European Union and international project management 6 ECTS
• Master Thesis Seminar 6 ECTS
• Communication and PR 6 ECTS
• LIFE course 6 ECTS

Study programme

Zsolt Bugarszki, PhD (Hungary) is a lecturer of social policy at Tallinn University. His main interest is the situation of vulnerable people in the community and innovation of the service sector through ICT based technology. In addition, he works in several development programmes in different countries emphasising creative solutions in low- and middle-income countries.

Jaan Aps (Estonia) has been among the key persons developing the practices of impact management and social entrepreneurship in the Baltic Sea region since 2006. He leads a research and consultancy agency Stories For Impact. Jaan was a co-founder and chairman of the Estonian Social Enterprise Network (in 2012-2019). He is a popular public speaker and trainer in Estonia and internationally.

WWW: https://storiesforimpact.com/

Twitter: @stories4impact

Katri-Liis Lepik (Estonia) is an Associate Professor of public management at Tallinn University, Estonia. She is a management consultant and a social entrepreneur. Katri-Liis is a management professional with 20 years of experience in delivering international projects. She has experience from working for the private and NGO sectors, including 10 years in management of the Estonian-Finnish cross-border cooperation organisation. Her social enterprise Skill Mill deals with providing environmental maintenance services with ex-offenders and E-dible deals with awareness raising and trainings on reduction of food waste. Her company Brainport Living Lab provides consultancy in international projects and strategic management; her family company Reimann Retked engages in provision of educational and adventurous nature trips.

Marek is the Head of New Ventures at KPMG Baltics. He holds an MBA degree in Entrepreneurship and Technology Management and he is a lecturer of business model design at Tallinn University. Marek has worked with hundreds of early-stage startups and co-founded several startup ecosystem events and formats in Estonia (STARTER, Startup Speed Dating Night, Creative Hack). He was the Head of Startup Incubator at Tallinn Science Park Tehnopol and he founded an online news channel for ICT executives in Estonia (www.ituudised.ee) in cooperation with Bonnier Group (AS Äripäev). Marek specializes in strategic partnerships, marketing strategy and business model design. His research interests include behavioral economics, system entrepreneurship and open innovation.

Mari-Liis Jakobson (Estonia) is an Associate Professor of Political Sociology and researcher at the European Migration Network's Estonian national contact point. She is also an expert on civil society and active in academic research as well as in practice. She is a member of the board of the Network of Estonian Nongovernmental Organisations, in 2013-2017 also served on the board of the Estonian Cooperation Assembly. On the Social Entrepreneurship programme, she will be teaching Civil Society and Social Innovation.

Audrone Urmanaviciene (Lithuania) is a lecturer of social entrepreneurship at Tallinn University. She has PhD in Management Science. Audrone's research interests are a social enterprise, social impact and social impact assessment. She is a member of EMES - an international research network for social enterprises. She is also the Communication Manager in the COST network project "Multi-disciplinary innovation for social change". Audrone participates in COST network COST action "Empower-SE" 16206. 

General requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or the equivalent.
• Proof of English Proficiency
• Curriculum Vitae (CV)
• Please see the complete overview of admission and application requirements for Master's level applicants.

Entrance exams

• The entrance exam consists of a written assignment and an interview, both in English. The maximum number of points is 100 (50% written assignment, 50% interview).
• Applicants receiving at least 35 points for the written assignment are allowed to the interview.
• Minimum programme enrollment threshold: 70 points out of 100.
• Some prior familiarity with the field of Social Entrepreneurship is an advantage.

Written assignment

A project plan (850-1000 words): project idea of a social enterprise that will be developed within the framework of the Social Entrepreneurship programme's project-based learning method. The project plan should consist of:

• Introduction of a social enterprise idea that you may develop during the Social Entrepreneurship programme. It can be a working enterprise or a completely new idea.
• Clarification of the problem you want to address.
• The target group.
• The expected impact (impact refers to the effect your project/idea has on people, communities, or the environment)
• The plan for a revenue stream.
• Your motivation for the project.

NB! Plagiarised project plans, in any form, including the use of AI (ChatGPT or any other similar app), are not accepted and will receive 0 points.

The CV and and project plan should be two different documents.

NB!  Applicants applying for adjustments to be made during the admission exams due to his/her physical or psycho-social special need must submit a copy of medical proof of this special need to the Counsellor for Students with special needs - Kai Rannastu (kai.rannastu@tlu.ee).

Admission interview

The interview is conducted based on the candidate’s application and letter of motivation. There are no additional materials that need to be studied to prepare for the interview. The interview questions vary depending on the candidate and the interviewer. The purpose of the interview is to find out the candidate's motivation and willingness to study, knowledge of the chosen programme and the field of study. 
 

The interview timing can be changed by sending an  e-mail to vastuvott@tlu.ee 3 days prior to the interview.

Assessment of the candidates

In the project plan, the assessment entails:

• the demonstration and clarity of a real-life problem and a target group;
• the description of the expected impact on the society/environment;
• the candidate's ability to convincingly present that he/she can implement the project;
• in addition, the assessment considers language proficiency and writing skills.

At the interview, the assessment entails:

• the candidate`s interest in the programme and motivation to study in the field by applying common study methods in social sciences;
• capacity to contextualise previous work, study, and voluntary activity experience in the frames of the chosen programme;
• in addition, the assessment also considers the general background and field-related knowledge, language proficiency, and the ability to engage in analytical discussions.

EU/EEA applicants 

Application procedure for the citizens of the member countries of the European Union (EU) or European Economic Area (EEA) can be found here.

Non-EU/EEA applicants

Application procedure for the international applicants from Non-EU/EEA countries can be found here.

Estonian citizens and holders of a long-term residence permit

Application procedure for Estonian citizens or for holders of an Estonian long-term residence permit can be found in Estonian here and in English here.

Future jobs and employment opportunities

Social entrepreneurs are welcome both in public sector bringing sustainable solutions to social and health services and also in private sector helping businesses to have larger social impact:

• Social entrepreneur
• Non-profit manager
• CSR manager
• Project manager
• Analyst of social impact
• Business developer
• Community developer

The school of Governance, Law, and Society has a large international student body and a large number of international faculty members. The lecturers have international networks that make it possible to arrange exciting international events that students can participate in.

Extracurricular Activities

Hackathons, creative hubs, incubation, pre-incubation

We encourage our students to participate with their project ideas in hackathon events, idea fairs and programmes of different creative hubs. Tallinn University also organizes similar events promoting creative development and entrepreneurship among our students. Our LIFE courses are special opportunities to develop new ideas with participants from very different study fields.

Erasmus mobility

Students have a chance to apply for the Erasmus programme and receive the Erasmus scholarship. The Erasmus programme includes different mobility options in Europe as well as outside of Europe such as long-term and short-term exchange studies and traineeship. Our online students are welcome to apply for the Erasmus programme, however, they have to handle visa and residence permit matters themself. 

• Specific questions regarding the programme should be directed to the School of Governance, Law and Society: 

• For additional guidelines regarding the application procedure please contact the International Admission Office: