Innovation and the Commercialisation of Research

The unit examines the  applied aspects of the commercialisation of ideas derived from academic research. The unit will review the process of knowledge transfer from the perspective of the innovation process; through to its commercialisation.@The unit is project-based and students will be able to develop ideas based on their own area of doctoral research. Students will evaluate first-hand the impact of their work and develop a commercial business case based on the idea.

The unit aims to:

- Provide students with the ability to transfer knowledge from the research phase to the market

- Develop knowledge and skills in the field of commercialisation, innovation and entrepreneurship

- Enrich career prospects in both academia and industry.

More specifically, the objectives of this unit are to provide the knowledge and skills necessary to:

- Develop business skills and processes required by industry at both the corporate and SME Level

- Evaluate potential opportunities for the commercialisation of ideas

- Evaluate markets and develop commercial strategies for their exploitation

- Develop a robust commercial business case proposal based upon an aspect of doctoral research.

Knowledge and understanding

A1. Identify what makes a viable commercial research opportunity/idea

A2. Recognise market opportunities and barriers for new product/service development

A3. Identify the role of Intellectual Property (IP) in the commercialisation process

Intellectual skills

B1. Evaluate the main channels and stages for the commercialisation of research

B2. Review the relationship between innovation and entrepreneurship

B3.Critically evaluate the role business strategy and its models play in the commercialisation process

Practical skills

C1. Develop a business idea

C2. Access and mine secondary market research databases

C3. Research intellectual property rights through the access of specific databases

C4. Develop a robust commercial business model

Transferable skills and personal qualities

D1. Research, analyse, evaluate and utilise information from a range of reliable sources

D2. Communicate in an effective manner

D3. Develop commercial awareness

Under the guidance of the unit leaders, students will be expected to attend the taught sessions (lectures and tutorials) and develop a proposal for the commercial application of an aspect of their doctoral research area; supported by the tutorial sessions. The support of their doctoral research supervisor will also be important as students begin to explore the commercial opportunities that their research opens up. Students will be expected to work outside of the timetabled lecture slots.

Specific topics covered include:

• Opportunity recognition

• Entrepreneurial commercialisation of knowledge

• External environment and market drivers

• Patents and IP

• Process/impact of commercialisation of research

Lectures – there will be  a series of lectures and guest presentations with case studies and in-class activities for students to work on both individually and in small groups.

Tutorials – there will be a series of group and individual tutorials to support the identification of the commercial opportunity. The presentations/lectures will be supported by the learning platform  to include lecture notes and slides, case studies, videos andresource web links 

Formative assessment:

Commercial opportunity proposal

Summative assessment:

Presentation 50%

Individual business proposal canvas 50%

• Attending lectures, joining discussions about case studies and doing short work tasks set within the lecture session.

• Your lecturer will reply to brief individual questions at the end of each lecture session.

• Your lecturer will provide brief replies to  e-mails.

• Your lecturer may feedback messages to the whole class if the point that you have raised could be of benefit to the whole class.

Main Texts:

Byers, Dorf & Nelson, Technology Ventures: From Idea to Enterprise, McGraw Hill, 2019

Evers, Cunningham, Hoholm, Technology Entrepreneurship, Palgrave Macmillan, 2014 Tidd & Bessant, Innovation and Entrepreneurship John Wiley , 2015 

Bell, McNamara, High-tech ventures: The guide for entrepreneurial success. Perseus Publishing 1991

Jones, Macpherson, Jayawarna, Resourcing the start-up business: Creating dynamic entrepreneurial learning capabilities. Taylor & Francis 2022

Further Reading:

Osterwalder, A. et al, Business Model Generation, Wiley, 2010

Nesheim, High tech start up, revised and updated: The complete handbook for creating successful new high tech companies. Simon and Schuster 2000

Oakey, High-technology entrepreneurship. Routledge 2012

Runge, Technology Entrepreneurship: A Treatise on Entrepreneurs and Entrepreneurship for and in Technology Ventures. Vol 2 (Vol. 2). KIT Scientific Publishing 2014

For patents: UKIPO, The Patent Guide - A handbook for analysing and interpreting patent data, Second Edition 2015

For finance: Financing the Deep Tech Revolution: How investors assess risks in Key Enabling Technologies (KETs) 2018

https://www.eib.org/attachments/pj/study_on_financing_the_deep_tech_revolution_en.pdf

Students will be encouraged and expected to use on-line resources, the library facilities (general and business sections) as well as identifying and utilising primary sources