Frequently Asked Questions

Admission requirements

You can find all of the requirements for applying to this programme on this page.

This MSc programme accepts students with varied backgrounds. Your undergraduate degree is just one of the criteria that is considered. It is not necessary to have an undergraduate degree from an engineering discipline for acceptance into the programme.

Individuals can apply if they are currently undergraduates. However, they must complete their undergraduate studies and produce a complete transcript by the time they are enrolled in the MSc programme. 

Submission of application

Starting from AY2024/2025, the MSc in Engineering Design & Innovation only admits students in the August semester instead of the January semester. 

Applicants are required to submit all documentation that is marked as “required” during the application process. You are also encouraged to submit any documentation that strongly supports your case for admission, even if such documents are not in the “required” list.

The application period varies slightly from year to year. For the August intake, it typically begins in October of the preceding calendar year and concludes by February of of the following year.

Yes, applicants can apply to as many MSc programmes as they wish but they have to pay a separate application fee for each programme. 

If applicants apply to more than one MSc programme, they will be asked to declare their order of preference. If a preference is not declared, then the Graduate Admissions System will default to the order in which the MSc programmes were applied to. This preference may be considered during the evaluation process.

English language proficiency for admission

Yes. All applicants whose first language is not English are required to demonstrate their English proficiency by means of either of the following tests:

  • Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) with minimum score of 85 (Internet-based)
  • International English Language Testing System (IELTS) with minimum Academic score of 6.0

Applicants may be waived from this requirement if they completed their degree programme taught entirely in English in one of the following countries: Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, United Kingdom, USA.

No, only results from the TOEFL or IELTS English proficiency exams are considered.

English proficiency results should be submitted at the time of application. If results are not available at the time of application, results can be submitted at a later time as long as it occurs prior to the end of the applicant evaluation period. 

Applicants should also note that the English proficiency results are valid for two years from the test date and should not have expired at point of application. Those who apply with expired scores will be rejected.

Yes, English proficiency results can be re-submitted up until the end of the applicant evaluation period.

Acceptance of offer of admission

Successful applicants will receive an offer letter via the email address provided in their application.

Conditional offers are considered on a case-by-case basis depending on the special circumstances of that specific case.

Yes, applicants can receive offers from more than one MSc programme at NUS.

Applicants are expected to accept the offer and pay the acceptance fee within the period (typically two weeks) stipulated in the offer letter.

Deferments are considered on a case-by-case basis and are evaluated based on the circumstances under which the request is made. 

Incoming students are expected to arrive at NUS in time for registration which occurs approximately two to three weeks before the start of semester. As the MSc in Engineering Design & Innovation programme currently only admits students in the January semester, incoming students are expected to arrive by mid-December. Late arrivals may be allowed on a case-to-case basis depending on the special circumstances of that specific case.

Fees and financial assistance

The fees for this programme are listed on this page.

The application fee is due when the application is submitted, while the acceptance fee is due by the acceptance deadline if your application is successful.

The net tuition fees (full tuition fee minus acceptance fee) are to be paid over two semesters. Each instalment is due at the beginning of each semester.

No, there are no additional tuition fees if you extend your candidature beyond one year. However, you will need to pay the Miscellaneous Student Fee for every semester in your candidature (unless you are on leave of absence). 

No, the application fee is non-refundable.

No, the acceptance fee is non-refundable.

Yes, the acceptance fee for the MSc in Engineering Design & Innovation is fully transferable to another MSc programme offered by the College of Design and Engineering. However, only 50% of the acceptance fee is transferable to another MSc programme in NUS if it is not offered by the College of Design and Engineering.

No, there are no government subsidies offered for the MSc in Engineering Design & Innovation.

Tuition fee rebates are offered to Singapore Citizens, Singapore Permanent Residents, and alumni of NUS. The rebate amount is intake-cohort based and the latest figures may be found on this webpage.

Singaporean students can use their Post-Secondary Education Account (PSEA) to pay for their tuition fees. The procedure may be found on this webpage. 

SkillsFuture Credit for Singaporeans may be utilised to offset the tuition fees for the MSc programme. The procedure may be found on this webpage under the section on “SkillsFuture Credit”. The key steps are as follows:

  • Download a copy of the Student Bill one week before the start of the next semester from the NUS Education Records System (EduRec).
  • Apply for the SkillsFuture Credit via the MySkillsFuture portal.
  • Pay the tuition fee minus the SkillsFuture Credit by the usual deadline (end of Week 3 if not using GIRO, end of Week 7 if using GIRO) to NUS.
  • Check Student Account in EduRec after 4 or 5 weeks from date of application to verify if the SkillsFuture Credit has been credited and that there are no outstanding fees.

Students who are sponsored by their employers must provide a letter of confirmation from their sponsor together with a proof of financial status.

Yes, students in this programme are provided a budget for consumables for the major design project course CDE5301. 

Nature of MSc programme

No, this MSc programme is currently offered as a full-time programme only.

This MSc programme does not require submission of a dissertation. However, students are expected to complete a major group project in the year-long design project course CDE5301. 

For the major design project course CDE5301, students work in multidisciplinary teams on a major design project based on self-proposed problem statements or those provided by industry partners. The project allows students to apply what they have learned to a major design project. This capstone-like course tops off the programme via a major design project to give students the opportunity to integrate and practise the knowledge and skills learnt through various courses in the programme. 

Classes and course registration

Core courses will be pre-allocated for all students based on the semester in which the courses are supposed to be read. Students do NOT need to enroll for the core courses on their own.

Students will need to enroll for elective courses on their own via the CourseReg system before the start of each semester.

 

Classes are offered on a fixed schedule and offered during day hours or evening hours depending on the course.

Classes are offered on a fixed schedule and generally no accommodation will be made for students who are working since the MSc in Engineering Design & Innovation is a full-time programme. Any accommodation will be up to the discretion of individual course lecturers.

The core courses are only offered once per year. As such, core courses would take precedent over elective courses if there is a schedule conflict. All efforts are made to minimise the number of schedule conflicts between core and elective courses but clashes may occasionally occur.

There are currently no core courses offered during the Special Term. Students are free to use the Special Term to work on their major design project (for EG5303), take up internships, or pursue personal interests. 

No core or elective courses are currently offered during the Special Term.

Internships and career support

International students who are on a Students' Pass are allowed to take up part-time work up to a limit of 16 hours per week during the regular semesters. During the Special Term, they are allowed to work on a full-time basis while remaining on the Students' Pass. 

There is no restriction on part-time or full-time work for local students. 

However, since this MSc programme is a full-time programme and classes for some courses may be held during the daytime, students cannot use work commitments as excuse for missing classes, assessments, and other activities that are relevant to the courses they are taking. Students are also expected to maintain a minimum workload of 18 units per semester.  

NUS offers multiple resources to graduating students to help them secure future opportunities. The Centre for Future-ready Graduates has multiple avenues of supporting graduating students to help them find employment opportunities and more.

Graduates from this MSc programme can embark on diverse careers that are related to product design and development, in particular organisations that focus on design and development of technology-based innovations. They may lead intrapreneurial activities within an organisation and/or be leading members of an entrepreneurial team. Examples of such organisations include start-up companies, innovation teams in multinational firms and government agencies, and venture builders.