Course content

IØ8908 - Introduction to Research Based Innovation is a course that aims to develop students’ understanding of research based innovation in the university context, to stimulate action-orientation around research and to give students the tools to work with research based innovations.

A PhD student is expected to expand the research frontier by developing new knowledge. In addition, it is increasingly important that the new knowledge developed is evaluated for the contribution it can make towards developing society for the better. One of the more effective means for this is through innovations, where this new knowledge is put into use.

This course aims to develop PhD students’ knowledge about research based innovation. In addition to the academic cornerstones of innovation, this includes developing an understanding about the PhD’s role as an innovator, and the entrepreneurial behaviour and skills needed to implement the innovation in the society.

This course is open to all PhD students at NTNU.

Learning outcome

One of the key goals of this course is to increase the understanding of innovation and entrepreneurship among doctoral students, and of their role as innovators in the context of knowledge transfer from universities.

By taking this course, PhD candidates will be able to evaluate research in terms of its potential useful applications, i.e. it’s innovation potential, the process involved in the realization of these applications, and their own role in this process.

The course introduces the concept of entrepreneurial behaviour in the context of research based innovation. Through the work in the course, the students will have the opportunity to observe, engage in, and reflect on entrepreneurial behaviour and its link to innovation. The course emphasizes the interpretation of entrepreneurial behaviour as being oriented towards seeking/creating opportunities and taking action: to handle risk and uncertainty and to acquire resources to facilitate the utilization of research irrespective of the context, be it academia, industry or through a start-up.

By taking this course, the participants will develop an action-orientation towards research, where the participants assess their own entrepreneurial behaviour and enhance their understanding of what it takes to commit oneself and take on a role as an innovator.

On completion of the module, candidates will possess the following:

Knowledge:

• Knowledge about entrepreneurial behaviour and its link to value creation.
• Understanding of the origin of innovations and understanding innovation from the value perspective.
• Understanding of innovation in the research context, including the role of universities in creating societal value
• Knowledge about identifying value in relation to user/ customer/societal needs.
• Knowledge about the concept of evaluation of the feasibility of an innovation.
• Knowledge about different innovation processes in the university context.
• Knowledge about possibilities and boundaries related to intellectual property (IP).
• In-depth understanding of the PhD students' role as an innovator.

Skills:

• Develop entrepreneurial mindset and skills.
• Ability to identify different applications of research results.
• Ability to evaluate research in the context of practical issues for users, customers and other practitioners.
• Ability to identify what role you as a PhD student can take/not take in an innovation process.
• Ability to effectively communicate the value of research to different audiences.

General Competence:

Ability to reflect on own role as a value creator and resource.

Learning methods and activities

The course will be offered in the spring semester. The course will consist of four days of lectures, interactive group work and student presentations. The four days are split into two sessions of three simultaneous class days, followed by a break of a few weeks, followed by a final class day. In addition, students are required to work on pre, interim and post course assignments. The course will use workshops, class discussions and presentations to give students insight into different aspects of the research based innovation journey. This will be complemented by self-study of recommended literature.

In this course, students will have the possibility to interact with and learn from PhD candidates from different disciplines and experts from Centre of Excellence in Entrepreneurship Education (SFU) Engage and NTNU's Innovation Ecosystem. It may also be possible to interact with invited guests from academia, industry and academic entrepreneurs.

The learning of the course will arise from students working with a concrete innovation idea, using concepts and tools provided in the course, as well as through reflection on the students’ work tasks related to generating and evaluating the innovation idea as part of the course. The students will be challenged to come up with an innovation idea within their own research or within the research of their fellow students. The students will work to evaluate the feasibility of the innovation idea, communicating their idea, getting feedback, and reflecting on this as a way of active learning from the course. The student is expected to take an active role in developing their own and others knowledge in the course.

The final delivery of the course will be a report on the feasibility of the innovation idea, and a reflection note.

Compulsory activities:

Owing to the pedagogy of the course, where a substantial part of the learning in the course arises from classroom interactions with the lecturers and fellow students, physical attendance is mandatory for this course.

Pre-work: Students will be asked to prepare a short presentation of their research based on a set of guidelines for Day 1 of the course.

Interim work: between Day 3 and Day 4 of the course, the students will be required to gather some information related to evaluation of their innovation idea they are working with.

On the final day of the course (Day 4), students will work on preparing and presenting a ‘pitch’ of their innovation idea to a panel.

Post-work: Students will prepare a report on the feasibility of their innovation idea and a reflection note which will be evaluated.

Specific conditions

Recommended previous knowledge

None

Required previous knowledge

Specific conditions

The course is open to all PhD candidates at NTNU. As such, admission to a doctoral program at NTNU is required.

Credit reductions