Entrepreneurship and Innovation Option for Graduate Students
Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Together with the Faculty of Graduate Studies, we offer the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Option to equip graduate students with the fundamental skills of entrepreneurial thinking that will allow them to become successful, real world innovators. The Entrepreneurship and Innovation Option features two courses that provide graduate students from all faculties with hands-on experience to discover business opportunities, determine their feasibility, and build strong business models to transform their ideas into fully developed ventures. ENTI 625 can also be completed independently without taking ENTI 627.
Courses
Please note: due to the experiential and team-based nature of the courses, audits are not permitted.
ENTI 625 - Introduction to Entrepreneurship
Open to non-Haskayne graduate students only
Registration is now open for ENTI 625.
ENTI 625 is an experience-based course covering the early start-up stage of business development. The course is hands on through group projects, case studies and experiential learning deliverables designed to provide experience-based skill development in creativity, idea generation, and feasibility analysis. This course also covers practical considerations like how to incorporate a business and the legal issues to consider when starting a new venture or commercializing your research. This section of ENTI 625 has been designed specifically for students with no formal training in business. This course is pass/fail.
Offered: Fall 2025 Block Week, August 25–29, 2025
Eligibility: Masters and PhD students in any discipline (except the MBA program) who are in good standing at the University of Calgary and have support from their supervisor.
Credit: 3 credits
An information session will be offered on Thursday, May 15 from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.
ENTI 627- Venture Development
Open to MBA students and graduate students from other faculties
ENTI 627 is a newly redesigned course that engages teams in the development of a new venture (startup). As part of the application process, students are asked to identify a compelling idea, opportunity or problem that they would like to develop in this course (which may or may not be related to work completed in ENTI 625). This course is open to students in the MBA Program and other graduate programs (Masters and PhD) at the University of Calgary after completing ENTI 625.
Offered: Winter 2026 (pending approval)
Eligibility: Masters and PhD students in any discipline (including the MBA program) who are in good standing at the University of Calgary and have support from their supervisor.
Prerequisite: ENTI 625 or ENTI 601
Credit: 3 credits
What's in it for you?
- A focused academic program that will provide you with entrepreneurial competencies and a clear direction for developing your ideas
- Collaboration opportunities with innovative students from across campus
- The experience of working with an interdisciplinary team and harnessing different skill sets towards a common goal
- Connections to learning and growth opportunities provided by the Hunter Hub and Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
- A process to create a startup with support of experienced mentors from Calgary's entrepreneurship community
- The opportunity to invent your future career
Program Timeline
- Watch the recording of the information session (will be available here) if you missed the live online event.
- Complete the online course registration (register for ENTI 625 here) by July 1, 2025
- Complete a Change of Course form (available here) to indicate how this course fits into your program of studies and that your supervisor approves your taking this course.
- Return the completed Change of Course form (Sample Completed Form Available Here) to the ENTI Option Academic Coordinator at wsaunder@ucalgary.ca
- Applications are processed and all students will be registered officially in the course by July 15, 2025
- Attend the ENTI 625 Fall 2025 blockweek in Scurfield Hall room SH-117 from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. on August 25–29, 2025.
- For those students wishing to complete ENTI 627, a similar process to the above would be completed for the Winter 2026 semester offering of ENTI 627 during the regular term.
Course fees for ENTI 625 and ENTI 627 are based upon the fees charged for graduate courses offered by the Haskayne School of Business. Differential fees might apply. In certain circumstances, tuition support is available through a special grant for students taking ENTI 625 only to offset some of the differential fees. More details to follow.
If you have any questions, please email the ENTI Option Academic Coordinator, Dr Chad Saunders at wsaunder@ucalgary.ca or phone 403-220-6075.