The Entrepreneurship and Innovation specialization is designed to equip participants with both fundamental as well as practical skills for starting a venture, either within an organization or from scratch. In an intense and dynamic process, teams come together to create high-quality venture. The venture moves forward from inception to business plan completion through hands-on exercises and challenges integrated in course work as well as through tasks and deliverables scheduled outside of regular courses. They meet experienced entrepreneurs weekly for mentoring sessions. Collaborating with external parties such as inventors and business accelerators, further nurtures participants’ entrepreneurial skills.

The program is targeted at participants interested in starting their own business, taking over existing businesses, or aiming to work in entrepreneurial units of larger corporations. The specialization is spread over eight months and provides an intensive course load of specialization-specific and specialization-relevant courses. Students work in a small group on a high-opportunity business idea that has the potential to turn into a real venture.

Structure

The entrepreneurship and Innovation specialization combines a strong theoretical understanding with valuable hands-on experience.

First, the program offers a coherent set of courses around entrepreneurship and innovation. The Fall semester has seven required specialization-related courses while the Winter and Spring semesters contain several specialization-related electives. Students may also decide to take electives from other specializations during the Winter and Spring semesters. The backbone course counts for 6 credits (36 hours) while all other specialization courses comply with the 3 credits (18 hours) format.

Second, the program provides useful practical experience via business projects. Participants are encouraged to build connections with public research institutions, inventors, entrepreneurs and companies during the program in order to create and execute on business development. The Fall term culminates in a business plan competition. The winning team is given a cash prize of €2,000. The Winter term allows students to work in teams to further execute on the Business Plan.