QUT Business School has signed a landmark agreement with the elite MIT Sloan School of Management that will allow up to 60 QUT MBA and EMBA students to take part in an innovative immersion program at MIT’s Boston campus at Massachusetts in the United States.
The five-year agreement announced today includes a broad strategic collaboration with a focus on academic exchange, the immersion program, and and enhancement of QUT’s entrepreneurship program with access to MIT’s global entrepreneurial networks.
Starting next year, QUT MBA and EMBA students will have the option to take part in an innovative two-week program as part of their studies.
Immersing themselves in MIT’s entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystems, participants will engage with world leading faculty focusing on issues dealing with the leadership of innovation and digital transformation in complex global contexts.
The new partnership is a significant new addition to QUT Business School’s MBA offering which includes the third-ranked (AFR Boss 2019) MBA and second-ranked (AFR BOSS 2019) EMBA programs and a new Digital MBA.
MIT Sloan Dean David Schmittlein said the partnership was MIT Sloan’s first collaboration with a university in Australia, reflecting the increasing importance of the Pacific Rim to the global economy.
“MIT’s motto is ‘Mens et Manus’—‘mind and hand’—while QUT identifies itself as a university for the real world, which speaks to an alignment of our values and mission statements. We share a commitment to exceptional research and developing principled, innovative leaders who improve the world,” he said.
Executive Dean of QUT Business School Robina Xavier said the collaboration would enable QUT to pursue areas of mutual interest and benefit.
“QUT looks forward to bringing MIT Sloan to Australia to help foster leadership in the local innovation ecosystem, engaging our faculty and energising our students for impact in our communities nationally and internationally,” Dr Xavier said.
QUT Business School students who, upon completion of MIT Sloans curriculum requirements and QUT Business School’s graduation requirements, will be included in and have access to the MIT Sloan Affiliate Network.
QUT Business School faculty will visit MIT Sloan, with two per year spending a semester on the Cambridge, Massachusetts campus as International Faculty Fellows (IFFs). They will work closely with MIT Sloan faculty on teaching, curriculum development, and research.
This collaboration builds on established connections made with the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship over the past three years when QUT Business School hosted the internationally recognised MIT Innovation and Entrepreneurship Bootcamp.
The Trust Center and QUT Entrepreneurship will build on these existing bonds with a focus on accelerating the leading entrepreneurship program design at QUT.
This will be accomplished through staff and student visits to share best practices and co-create content with the goal of developing programs utilising a disciplined entrepreneurship framework to address entrepreneurial challenges in Queensland and Australia.
