The Science of Smarter Decisions
Behavioural Insights (BI) uses principles from the Behavioural and Decision Sciences (including Psychology and Economics) to encourage decisions that promote heath, wellness, and happiness. By accounting for the ways that people make decisions and behave in the real world, BI improves programs, policies, and products in ways that encourage positive changes in consumers, citizens, and employees. BI knowledge and skills are increasingly in-demand in both the public and private sectors.
- Become a Behavioural Insights practitioner. The Advanced Professional Certificate in Behavioural Insights is a rigorous 9-month program that gives you the knowledge and skills to design and evaluate BI solutions in your workplace.
- Learn how Behavioural Insights creates positive behavioural change. The Fundamentals of Behavioural Insights is a 3-week introductory course that gives you the knowledge to add a BI lens to how you approach problems. The course can be taken as open enrolment or as a required prerequisite for the certificate program.
Who Should Attend?
This program appeals to a wide range of working professionals who want to create positive change for consumers, citizens, and/or employees. It is an ideal fit for those who develop or deliver programs, policies, or products in the public, private, or non-profit sectors.
Past students have represented local and provincial governments, Crown corporations, non-profit organizations, universities, and companies focused on marketing, market research, stakeholder engagement, and sustainability. Students may come from a wide range of fields including communications, healthcare, HR, insurance, management, marketing, psychology, research, social work, and sociology. The program is complementary to training in project management, change management, business analysis, innovation, lean, and agile.
The Advanced Professional Certificate in Behavioural Insights employs a formal, competitive admissions process designed to support a high-quality educational experience that meets the needs and expectations of students.
The program is strategically designed by a nationwide steering committee and delivered by leading BI experts to provide immediate professional impact. The program steering committee partners include:
"The program is fascinating and eye-opening. I like how practical it is, and I’m excited to apply this hands-on approach at work
Program Benefits
- Gain a greater understanding of the theory and practice of BI.
- Design and conduct exploratory research.
- Design BI solutions that shift behaviour to create positive change.
- Design and conduct a randomized controlled trial (RCT).
- Analyze and interpret data to evaluate the impact of BI solutions.
- Use ethical frameworks to evaluate BI projects.
- Apply project management, strategic thinking, and creative problem-solving skills to a real BI project.
- Gain a greater understanding of the theory and practice of BI.
- Design and conduct exploratory research.
- Design BI solutions that shift behaviour to create positive change.
- Design and conduct a randomized controlled trial (RCT).
- Analyze and interpret data to evaluate the impact of BI solutions.
- Use ethical frameworks to evaluate BI projects.
- Apply project management, strategic thinking, and creative problem-solving skills to a real BI project.
Curriculum
The UBC Sauder Advanced Professional Certificate in Behavioural Insights program is designed to advance your career. Through a combination of courses and a capstone project, you will learn to use the science of Behavioural Insights (BI) to create positive behaviour change with behaviourally-informed, evidence-based policies, products, and processes.
Program Prerequisite Course: “Fundamentals of Behavioural Insights” is a 3-week online course that introduces key concepts about Behavioural Insights, research design, and ethics. The course is a required prerequisite for the certificate program and can also be taken as a standalone course. If you’re interested in the certificate, we encourage you to register for the prerequisite course and apply for admission to the certificate at the same time.
Certificate Program: The program is delivered over 9 months between September and May.
- Coursework: Coursework – 8 courses, 3 weeks each, with approximately 12 hours per week of readings and course prep, live streamed seminars on weekday evenings, and assessments.
- Capstone project: Teams of 2-4 students complete a full Behavioural Insights project with a real client and the support of their faculty advisor. Students are encouraged to bring forward project ideas from their employer or affiliated organization.
Prerequisite Schedule
Blended
In-person with instructors and classmates combined with self-paced instruction
In-person with instructors and classmates combined with self-paced instruction
Live Online
Online classroom-style interaction in real time combined with self-paced instruction
Online classroom-style interaction in real time combined with self-paced instruction
Online
Self-paced learning with flexibility to collaborate
Self-paced learning with flexibility to collaborate
Certificate Program Schedule
Program Admissions
The Advanced Professional Certificate in Behavioural Insights employs a formal, competitive admissions process designed to support a high-quality educational experience that meets the needs and expectations of students. Admissions are based on academic qualifications, work experience, interest in the field, professionalism, and program fit.
Academic Achievement
Applicants are required to have a 4-year undergraduate degree or equivalent experience, and 11th-grade math skills.
Prior Behavioural Insights Experience
Applicants must successfully complete the prerequisite course, Fundamentals of Behavioural Insights, prior to beginning the program. Applications may be submitted prior to completing the course, provided the course will be completed prior to the application deadline on June 30.
Work Experience
Work experience is an asset, but not required.
English Language Proficiency
Strong written and spoken English skills are required. Applicants who completed an undergraduate degree in a language other than English may be required to submit official test results as follows:
- International English Language Testing System (IELTS) minimum overall band score of 6.5 with no individual score less than 6.0
- Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) overall score: 90 with a minimum score of 22 in reading and listening, 21 in writing and speaking
How to Apply
UBC Sauder Continuing Business Studies will be accepting applications for the Fall 2023 program until June 30, 2023. The program is capped at 30 students; to avoid disappointment, we encourage you to apply well in advance of the deadlines.
- Early Bird Deadline: May 31, 2023. (Apply early to win a free copy of a top introductory BI book! *)
- Final Deadline: June 30, 2023
You will be required to provide basic personal information, employment information (if applicable), and education background. You will also be required to provide the names and contact information of 3 professional or academic references from individuals in a supervisory capacity. Lastly, you will need to upload a Resume that highlights relevant experience and a Letter of Intent.
*Prizing is reserved for the first 30 accepted applicants who apply on or before the May 31, 2023 deadline.
Admission Decisions
Applications will be reviewed after each deadline in the order they are received. Upon acceptance, a $400 tuition deposit is required to reserve your seat. A wait list will be maintained until a few weeks prior to program start; if applicable, applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis over the summer to fill any remaining spots in the cohort.
This program is eligible for Financial Support, including the new BIG Difference BC scholarship for Behavioural Insights students.
Instructors
Kirstin Appelt
Kirstin Appelt is Research Director, UBC Decision Insights for Business & Society, and Academic Director of UBC's Advanced Professional Certificate in Behavioural Insights. Her research explores why people struggle with important decisions about the future and how to use choice architecture to help them make the best decisions for themselves and for society. Kirstin is also a behavioural science consultant for organizations including the BC Behavioural Insights Group (BC BIG), the California Health Benefit Exchange (Covered California), the Columbia University Center for Decision Sciences, Google, the Pacific Business Group on Health (PBGH), Temple University, and WorkSafeBC. She received her Ph.D. in Psychology from Columbia University and her B.A. magna cum laude in Economics from Dartmouth College.
Dale Griffin
Dale Griffin is a professor of Marketing and Behavioural Sciences and was the interim Academic Director of the Dhillon Centre for Business Ethics at UBC Sauder School of Business. He has taught at leading universities in Canada, Great Britain, and the United States, most recently at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. Professor Griffin teaches courses in Responsible Business, Marketing Research, and Strategic Decision Making at the undergraduate, MBA and PhD levels, and lectures on strategy and decision-making for executive audiences, and provides legal consulting on consumer behaviour and risk perception. He is the co-editor, along with Thomas Gilovich and Daniel Kahneman, of Heuristics and Biases: The Psychology of Intuitive Judgment. He received his PhD from Stanford University.
David Hardisty
David Hardisty is Associate Professor of Marketing & Behavioural Science at UBC Sauder School of Business. His research focuses on decisions about the future, including sustainability, financial planning, and impulsivity. He also studies attribute framing and social dilemmas. At UBC Sauder, he teaches Ethics & Sustainability and Consumer Behaviour. His ultimate goal is to develop tools to improve long-term decision making. He received his PhD in Psychology from Columbia University in 2011.
Jiaying Zhao
Jiaying Zhao is the Canada Research Chair in Behavioural Sustainability, and an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability at the University of British Columbia. Jiaying uses psychological principles to design behavioural solutions to address financial and environmental sustainability challenges. Specifically, she examines the cognitive consequences of poverty and designs interventions to alleviate the cognitive burdens in low-income individuals. In addition, she develops behavioural interventions to encourage recycling, composting, and biodiversity conservation. Jiaying has served as a research advisor and consultant for a number of organizations, including Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, Policy Horizons Canada, City of Vancouver, and the U.S. Social and Behavioral Sciences Team. She received her PhD in cognitive psychology from Princeton University in 2013.
Vince Hopkins
Vince Hopkins is Assistant Professor in the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Saskatchewan. Vince studies behavioural public policy—specifically, how we can help low-income and marginalized populations access public services. His research combines data science (e.g. field/survey experiments, web-scraping) and user experience design (e.g. interviews, journey maps).
Kate White
Kate White is currently Professor of Marketing and Behavioural Science at the UBC-Sauder School of Business. She holds a professorship in Consumer Insights, Prosocial Consumption, and Sustainability and is Academic Director of the Dhillon Centre for Business Ethics. Kate’s research focuses on how to encourage ethical, prosocial, and sustainable consumer behaviours. Kate has consulted on various behaviour-change projects with industry collaborators such as The City of Calgary, Health Canada, BC Women’s Hospital, My Sustainable Canada, BC Hydro, Big Rock Brewery, The United Way, and Celgene Health Care.
Testimonials
Carolyn Babakaiff
This program far exceeded my expectations, both from an individual learning perspective and course delivery perspective. The instructors went above and beyond to ensure it was engaging throughout with a wide variety of learning activities and practical applications of concepts. I have applied a BI lens to many of the programs and services I lead as a Strategic HR Manager in the short time since graduation and am excited for the possibilities for organizations.
Lindsay Bochon
The UBC Advanced Professional Certificate in Behavioural Insights provides a unique opportunity to develop a practical skillset for addressing real-world problems. Not only do you receive a firm grounding in theory, but you are supported in putting this theory into practice through an applied project. Working with supportive faculty and a project client, the program allowed me to add this applied experience to my existing academic background. I look forward to employing the skills that I learned as I transition out of academia and into a career in the behavioural sciences.
Kerri Buschel
The certificate demonstrates the value of education in applied behavioural science by pulling together expertise from multiple areas and focusing it with a behavioural insights lens. It democratizes that knowledge by allowing more people, especially in the public sector, but also across all types of organizations, to get a base understanding of the value and potential of BI and how to apply it. Having sponsored both students and capstone projects, there is tremendous value in increasing organizational capacity in the knowledge of the potential that BI offers.
Parinda Chagani
The tools and learnings from this program are practical and widely applicable. Although Behavioural Insights have successfully been used at the societal level to shape public policy, I have found them to be particularly helpful in the business and corporate environment, for achieving and effectively managing change in the workplace. The program had a good balance of theory combined with practical application that positioned me well to actually implement what I had learned.
Chris Darwent
I have thoroughly enjoyed being a capstone project client for the Advanced Professional Certificate in Behavioural Insights program. Parking systems are highly dependent upon the actions of individual users – being able to test and, most importantly, monitor BI solutions in the field has helped me make these systems better for all.
Richard Galazzo
The UBC Advanced Professional Certificate in Behavioural Insights program provided me with a practical toolkit to incorporate into my current field of work. From behavioural insights theory to statistical analysis and project management, this course taught me how to create, execute, analyze, and scale behavioural interventions accordingly. Whether in a traditional field like marketing or something more modernized such as user experience, this program applies to various work areas and levels of expertise.
Carl Jensen
I would recommend the UBC Advanced Professional Certificate in Behavioural Insights (BI) to anybody looking to advance their experience and education in BI. I chose this program as it is the only BI certificate being offered in Canada. The virtual nature of the certificate allowed me to continue working full time during the program. Since completing the certificate, I was given the opportunity to serve as the Lead of the BC Behavioural Insights Group for six months.
Lindsay Miles Pickup
The Advanced Professional Certificate in Behavioural Insights provides an opportunity to learn more about human behaviour from leading experts. The program provides an excellent opportunity to learn more about the theory behind behavioural insights in addition to providing the opportunity to develop practical skill sets to apply these theories to address real world challenges. Developing these skills not only supported my transition to a new career in the behavioural science field, but it also provided me with a new lens on human behaviour that I will be able to use throughout my career, no matter what field it is in.
Kelsie Wright
The Behavioural Insights program was great in furthering my skills to implement evidence-based Behavioural Insights practices into my work with the BC Government, where I completed an exciting capstone project applying BI to the Child Welfare field. It was refreshing to see the many ways Behavioural Insights can be applied and get to know people in the Behavioural Insights community directly. I was amazed by the caliber of my professors and classmates, who came from a variety of professions
Rachel Yang
The Advanced Professional Certificate in Behavioural Insights program teaches how to "nudge for good" in a very practical way. The hands-on learning and supportive faculty were greatly beneficial for my career aspirations, and I would recommend this program to anyone looking to venture into the fascinating world of behavioural insights.