The UCL MBA has entered a new phase of development under the leadership of Professor Harveen Chugh, marking a significant evolution in the programme’s vision, structure, and global outlook. Appointed Programme Director in 2024, Professor Chugh brings extensive experience leading globally ranked MBA programmes, alongside a deep background in entrepreneurship, consulting, and innovation-led education. Her approach blends strategic leadership with agile, data-driven design to ensure the MBA remains relevant to today’s complex and fast-moving business environment.
Under her leadership, the programme has been relaunched as the UCL Flex MBA, reflecting a renewed focus on flexibility, global engagement, and future-facing learning. Recent developments include the programme’s first-ever international immersion to Beijing, expanded careers and coaching provision, and the optional delivery of core teaching from UCL School of Management’s Level 50 home at One Canada Square.
We spoke with Professor Chugh about her journey to Programme Director, the evolution of the UCL MBA, and how the programme is being shaped to support working professionals in becoming confident, globally minded leaders across industries.
Can you tell us about your journey to programme director of the ucl mba
There have been some key career moments in the last few years that have led me here. The UCL MBA Programme Director role is about both leadership and entrepreneurship because the programme is still quite young.
My main leadership experience came from leading Warwick Business School’s Global Online MBA (London) programme, which was also ranked no. 1 in the FT at the time, so it was an honour to lead such a high-profile programme. I also lead a coaching network, have led client projects as a consultant, and many taught modules over the years, so I’ve been developing my leadership skills in different contexts for quite some time.
The entrepreneurship experience has been a huge part of my career through teaching, research, working with entrepreneurs to support their ventures and also founding my own start-up. I like to generate new ideas and see them come to life, as well as think strategically.
Leading the UCL MBA as Programme Director brings the two skillsets of leadership and entrepreneurship together in the perfect way for me and were why I was asked to take on the role. I’ve been looking at the future direction of the programme as well as finding ways to do so with agility, creativity and innovation. I particularly enjoy building on lean startup concepts of build-measure-learn and using a data-driven approach.
how has the programme evolved under your leadership?
Some of the changes that you can already see under my leadership are that we have just relaunched our MBA as the Flex MBA, which is very exciting. The full programme title is MBA Strategic Management and Leadership, which reflects the direction our students want to shape their careers in to become future leaders.
We are launching a new elective module in 26/27 called Accelerating Digital and AI Transformation. We have expanded our careers and coaching provision by almost 4x and have exciting developments in the pipeline for this space. Instead of 2 London Immersions (MBA in-person meetups), we are now doing one London immersion and one global immersion each year to an international location.
All of this is carefully thought through and planned for with our students in mind, and the role the MBA can play in advancing the careers of busy working professionals beyond the classroom.
the programme recently hosted its first-ever global immersion - how was this experience?
To quote some of the things the students said, the UCL MBA’s first global immersion was ‘powerful’ and ‘revolutionary.’ We connected with our partners at Peking University in Beijing to meet up for the first time with UCL PKU MBA students and alumni. This in itself was so meaningful because they were so welcoming to us and delighted to meet the UCL MBA students and alumni. I’m really excited for the potential collaborations that may come from this.
The immersion had an academic programme consisting of a lecture, panel discussion and company visits to explore how China is adapting and planning for the end of globalisation. Despite changes in the political climate and perceptions, we learned that there is very much a willingness to make connections and explore new business opportunities.
Exposure to global markets is especially important for our UCL MBA students to build networks, help understand how economic, political and cultural factors shape business, how to work with multicultural teams and prepare for working in multinational corporations. We have a great relationship with Peking University and our Global Engagement Team, so we’ll continue to find ways of providing this exposure.
Read more about the UCL MBA’s first global immersion
can you tell us about the new flex mba?
Sure, I’d love to! As you may have guessed, it’s called the UCL Flex MBA because flexibility is at the heart of the design for working professionals with busy lives. You don’t have to quit your job to study our MBA full-time, or pay a huge fee upfront. Our MBA offers flexibility to make your life easier while you work and study part-time.
First, flexibility in how you learn. From September 2026, you would be able to choose whether to study the core business modules in-person, online, or as a combination of the two.*
Second, flexibility in where you study from. The core business modules will be delivered both online, and as 4-day blocks (Thursdays-Sundays) in-person from our Canary Wharf campus in London. So, if you would like to study the core modules remotely, you would have this flexibility. Or if you would like to study the core foundational modules in London, you would have this option too. You can also pivot between the two.*
Third, flexibility in your pace of study. We have created a more defined 2-year journey, for MBA students that would like to complete in 2 years. For those that may need or prefer to study over a longer period, you will have the flexibility to complete in 3, 4, or 5 years.
Last but not least, flexibility in how you pay tuition fees. We offer the flexibility to pay tuition fees per module taken, rather than all upfront, which helps while you have other living costs.
These flexible elements work really well together to make life easier for working professionals as they earn their MBA at UCL. We’re excited to introduce this new format and can’t wait to welcome our first UCL Flex MBA class in September 2026.
*The elective modules and capstone project would always be online.
Find out more about the UCL Flex MBA - the next deadline for applications is 23 February 2026.