The Higher Education Review

The School of Business Studies and Humanities (BuSH) of the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST) in Arusha, Tanzania, started as a Department of BuSH in 2011 and became a fullfledged school from 2013. BuSH school is structured to support the NM-AIST vision of training and development of the next generation of African scientists and engineers with a view to profoundly impact the continent's development through the application of science, engineering, technology, and innovation (SETI). Uniquely, BuSH is a platform where SETI meets Business and Humanities with the aim of solving societal and industrial challenges through responsive applied research and resources management.

Specifically, BuSH is the engine for supporting the incorporation of appreciable doses of relevant business studies and humanities ingredients within SETI. BuSH ensures that the training curricular at NM-AIST incorporates strong innovation and entrepreneurship features to accommodate, enable, stimulate and catalyze the innovation and entrepreneurship qualities for the sustainable development.

Offering MSc & PhD in Innovation & Entrepreneurship Management (IEM) & a Range of Common Core Courses

From year 2022, the School of BuSH started offering unique MSc and PhD degrees in IEM. Additionally, the school of BuSH offers common core courses to all students at NM-AIST pursuing various science-related degrees. Thus, by just being the students of NM-AIST you will get the advantages of studying the following mandatory courses: BuSH 6007: Foundations of Law, Philosophy, and Ethics; and BuSH 6008: Technological Innovation and Entrepreneurship Management BuSH 6009: Organization Development and Leadership; and BuSH 6010: The Economics of Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Moreover, those students pursuing an MSc or PhD in IEM get to learn deeply and acquire knowledge and skills in the following areas: describing and analyzing the law emphasizing on Intellectual Property; management of technological innovations; applying social entrepreneurship and strategic imperatives for innovation and development; examining national innovation

systems and governance; evaluating global sustainable entrepreneurship marketing; applying marketing information systems; knowledge creation, development, and management; quality and operation management.

Besides, the school of BuSH orients students towards bridging the gap between research and industrial development through a strong link with industry for technology transfer, as well as supporting the innovation centers and spin-offs of competitive technological firms in line with the institutional motto of ‘Academia for Society and Industry’.

The Plus-Points
There are a number of benefits for students under the MSc and PhD programs in IEM offered by the school of BuSH. For instance, the courses will prepare students for successful careers practicing innovation-related roles; impart students with knowledge, skills, and competence for supporting the development of products and services and creating new ventures; impart students with knowledge, skills, and competence through developing a high level of resilience in managing ventures; inculcate research skills for technology-based innovation and social engagement; and enable students to commercialize innovative ideas.

Furthermore, to promote practical business skills development there is an annual Business Plan Competition (BPC) and an African Grand Challenge (AGC), which compel students to come up with innovative business ideas from their SETI researches. The winners of such competitions stand a chance to win learning trips to first-world countries (such as the US) as well as an opportunity to have their business ideas incubated within NM-AIST’s Innovation-based Incubation Center for potential commercialization of the developed intellectual property.

Teaching Facilities
Teaching facilities at NM-AIST include lecture rooms, video conference facilities, conference hall, accommodation facilities, discipline-specific science laboratories, computer laboratories, library, Centre for Cyber Security and High Performance Computing (CHPC), green houses, medicinal plants garden and tissue culture laboratory, among others.Facilitators from the school of BuSH develop and use different sets of procedures in order to help all students learn. Structurewise, MSc IEM and PhD are offered either through coursework and dissertation or research and thesis in two specialties, namely:

innovation management and entrepreneurship management.

"The Faculty At Bush As Well As The Rest Of The NM-AIST Staff Are Highly Updated & Connected To Ensure That Current Information That Guides The Education Sector In Tanzania And Globally Reaches Them Timely"

Students are required to cover 190 and 540 credits for MSc and PhD respectively via lectures, practical training, seminars and tutorials, assignments, independent studies, graduate seminars, and dissertations spread over four and six semesters for MSc and PhD respectively. The faculty at BuSH as well as the rest of the NM-AIST staff are highly updated and connected to ensure that current information that guides the education sector in Tanzania and globally reaches them timely. Among the various tools and means used are email circulation, activeness in social media groups made for educators, attending conferences whenever possible,and having access to both physical and online libraries and repository systems as well as published books and journals and given opportunities for further studies in both short and long programs locally and internationally.

Future Opportunities
In line with SDG 9: Industry Innovation and Infrastructure, BuSH’s MSc and PhD programs have a four-week industrial placement aiming to improve the application of SETI industries and the commercialization of innovation in the country and in East Africa. In this part, a student is supposed to find ways on how to commercialize the produced innovations at NM-AIST and application of the solutions for industrialization. Furthermore, the NM-AIST has a long-term plan to develop a technology park as well as an eco park within its premises through public-private partnerships. By doing so, BuSH will establish and maintain strong national, regional, and global linkages. "I am welcoming you all to our School of BuSH to join forces and work together tomake the world a better place through academics and research", shares Dr. Liliane Pasape, Dean.

Dr. Liliane Pasape, Dean
Dr. Liliane Pasape is currently serving as Dean at the School of BuSH of the NM-AIST. She obtained a Bachelor of Science in Animal Science from the Sokoine University of Agriculture (2004), a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) in International Business from the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (2006), and a PhD in Business Administration specializing in Marketing and Business Strategies from the University of Dar es Salaam (2013).