Course syllabus adopted 2026-02-17 by Head of Programme (or corresponding).
Overview
- Swedish nameForskning, innovation och entreprenörskap
- CodeTIF181
- Credits7.5 Credits
- OwnerMPPHS
- Education cycleSecond-cycle
- Main field of studyEngineering Physics
- DepartmentPHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY
- GradingTH - Pass with distinction (5), Pass with credit (4), Pass (3), Fail
Course round 1
- Teaching language English
- Application code 85155
- Maximum participants40
- Open for exchange studentsNo
Credit distribution
Module | Sp1 | Sp2 | Sp3 | Sp4 | Summer | Not Sp | Examination dates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0118 Project 7.5 c Grading: TH | 7.5 c |
In programmes
- MPCAS - Complex Adaptive Systems, Year 1 (compulsory elective)
- MPCAS - Complex Adaptive Systems, Year 2 (elective)
- MPMED - Biomedical Engineering, MSc Progr, Year 1 (compulsory elective)
- MPMED - Biomedical Engineering, MSc Progr, Year 2 (elective)
- MPNAT - Nanotechnology, Year 1 (compulsory elective)
- MPNAT - Nanotechnology, Year 2 (elective)
- MPPHS - Physics, Year 1 (compulsory elective)
- MPPHS - Physics, Year 2 (elective)
- MPSYS - Systems, Control and Mechatronics, Year 2 (elective)
Examiner
- Christoph Langhammer
- Full Professor, Chemical Physics, Physics
Eligibility
General entry requirements for Master's level (second cycle)Applicants enrolled in a programme at Chalmers where the course is included in the study programme are exempted from fulfilling the requirements
Specific entry requirements
English 6 (or by other approved means with the equivalent proficiency level)Applicants enrolled in a programme at Chalmers where the course is included in the study programme are exempted from fulfilling the requirements
Course specific prerequisites
Fulfilled the first three years of education at chalmers or equivalent education.Aim
The aim of the course is to present the entrepreneurship and project management as the knowledge of relevance in the development of commercial products and services. As a student, you will increase their understanding of the innovation transfer, in particular the patenting process, your ability to find information in patent databases and get knowledge about how patents are written and evaluated. As a student, you will be trained in the art of transferring the potential value and impact of the innovation to the working business or how to present innovations for the society. As a student, you will also get familiarized with the concepts of project management in order to understand how professional project managers work. The course also aims to help students to understand the prevailing challenges of project management, and to deal with them, by means of the theories of organizational learning.Learning outcomes (after completion of the course the student should be able to)
- Find information in both patent and literature databases.
- Analyze the content of patents and compare it with the content of related scientific articles, and vice versa, identify how inventions presented in scientific articles are translated into patents.
- Understand and apply the basics in patent writing and the requirement for getting a patent accepted.
- Understand the basics of project management and its challenges, as well as get some hands-on experience with applying elements of project management in your own project group work.
- Communicate an invention to different stakeholders in society and write a popular science text.
- Understand the interplay and connected challenges between invention and entrepreneurship, that is, how to transform an invention into a useful product for society.
Content
The course is divided into three parts, each comprising lectures on topics relevant for the respective partFöreläs, and a project group work that builds on the skills conveyed during the lectures. Part 1 is focused on the invention and innovation process as such, addressing questions like "what is an invention" and the interplay between research and entrepreneurship when creating an innovation that might have impact on society. Specifically, it will give hands-on experience with patent and literature databases, knowledge regarding how an invention is defined and with how patents are written and composed and how an innovation can be communicated effectively to stakeholders. In this part of the course you will work on a project in groups (project "Invention Identification") with the main aim to identify an invention in a very recent high-profile scientific publication and to communicate this invention to the class in "pitch" format. You will also hand in two written reports: Report R1 "Research Article Selection, and Report R2 "Project Invention Identification".
Course part 2 is focused on generating your own inventions based on the first project work, and on project management when planning an innovation process both in theory and practice. It is centered on a second project ("Innovation Generation and Entrepreneurship") to be carried out in "supergroups" created by merging several teams from the first project. The result of the project is to be presented by the whole group to all students of the course. You will also hand in two written reports: Report R3 "Short Action Plan", and Report R4 "Innovation Generation and Entrepreneurship". The general setup of the project work aims at giving you hands-on experience with mastering project management.
Bonus part 3 is giving you the opportunity to improve your grade to 4 or 5. To do that you are expected to write a popular science text of about 500 words, in which you communicate the outcome of one of the projects to a specific target group of your own choice, such as for example business angles, investors, the general public or school children.
Support by teachers: To support you during your project works, for each project your group must book 1-2 appointments with one of the examiners to discuss the task as such, as well as the content of the scientific articles (project 1) and of your invention and business idea (project 2). More information and time slots for consultancy will be given at course start and posted on the course web-page.
Organisation
The course id based on ca. two lectures per week and two group projects. The main deliverable of the first project work (hand-in) is a written report and a short pitch, and the main deliverable of the second one is a written report and an oral group presentation.Literature
Lecture notes distributed by each lecturerExamination including compulsory elements
Written reports and oral presentations based on project work in groups.The course examiner may assess individual students in other ways than what is stated above if there are special reasons for doing so, for example if a student has a decision from Chalmers about disability study support.