University IP-policies and entrepreneurial success

Bachelor Thesis, Master Thesis or Project Study

📌 Key facts

• Mission: Explore how IP-rights of universities influence the success of startups. How do universities handle technology transfer, when it comes to IP of founders (students, doctoral candidates, professors, administrative staff)? • When: Start anytime. Applications are open! • How to apply: Send us an e-mail (at the end of this page) with your CV and a grade report and a tentative research idea (research question, data, and methods, possible outcomes with a tentative outline all in word as *.docx)

Contents

• 💡 Background
• 🦾Who We Are
• 🎯 Goals
• 🧠 Topics of Interest
• 🎓 Profile
• 📚 Further Reading
• 📄 Requirements to any Work
• 📬 How to Apply

💡 Background

What do Instagram, Snapchat and Google have in common? -They were all founded by Stanford graduates. Consequently, a question arises: What sets universities like Stanford apart from others, why are they producing so many unicorns? This question should be dealt with in your thesis, in detail you should determine how IP-rights of universities are connected with the success of startups.

🦾Who We Are

The Chair for Strategy and Organization is focused on research with impact. This means we do not want to repeat old ideas and base our research solely on the research people did 10 years ago. Instead, we currently research topics that will shape the future. Topics such as Agile Organizations and Digital Disruption, Blockchain Technology, Creativity and Innovation, Digital Transformation and Business Model Innovation, Diversity, Education: Education Technology and Performance Management, HRTech, Leadership, and Teams. We are always early in noticing trends, technologies, strategies, and organizations that shape the future, which has its ups and downs.

🎯 Goals

• Research the IP-conditions of various universities
• Determine international systems how universities handle technology transfer
• You might develop and evaluate new IP strucures
• Visualize your results

🧠 Topics of Interest

• Interest in the incentives of ownership structures
• Entrepreneurship in general
• Organization of academic institutions
• Looking at the big picture

🎓 Profile

• Reliable and self-driven
• Enthusiasm for entrepreneurship / academic frameworks for entrepreneurs / venture capital
• Ability to do sophisticated internet, desk research, and connect with practitioners
• Passion to learn more about the future and do research with impact

📚 Further Reading

Patents a hindrance to getting ideas to market?

Imagine a contact lens that monitors a diabetic's glucose levels through a person's tears. Though not on the market yet, it is the patented wearable technology designed by Waterloo, Ont.-based Medella Health.

www.theglobeandmail.com

Intellectual property | Research

University of Waterloo has long been known for researchers who are entrepreneurial thinkers and industry partners. At the core of entrepreneurship is Intellectual Property (IP) Rights Policy #73, also called "creator-owned," which grants ownership to the inventor.

uwaterloo.ca

Canada needs a national overhaul of university IP policies | University Affairs

We advocate for a harmonized intellectual property policy based on the creator-owned model. In today's global knowledge economy, Canada needs to foster policies that encourage ambitious science research and the commercial translation of resulting inventions into innovation. The recently completed review of Canada's science funding framework, commissioned by federal Minister of Science Kirsty Duncan, can be considered a wake-up call.

www.universityaffairs.ca

How and Why Startups Must Protect Their Intellectual Property at All Costs

Stay informed and join our daily newsletter now! 4 min read Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Intellectual property (IP) is a term used to describe the creations of the intellect.

www.entrepreneur.com

About IP

Identifying and creating IP and bringing research results to the next stage of development have become institutional objectives in many universities and PRIs. In this context, an institutional IP policy is a prerequisite for successful collaboration between academia and commercialization partners.

www.wipo.int

9 Incredibly Successful Startups That Were Born At Stanford

Thanks in part to its proximity to nearly every major tech company you could think of, Stanford University has become a sort of incubator for Silicon Valley itself. Instagram cofounders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger met through the Stanford alumni network.

www.businessinsider.com

📄 Requirements to any Work

We do not want your research to gather dust in some corner of bookshelf but make it accessible to the world. Thus, we warmly encourage you to create some or all of the following:

• Infograph - visually represent some of your work (find examples here)
• Slide Deck - summarize your research and possibly present it
• Extract most important sequences from podcasts, videos, and other media
• 3-4 Tweets about the most important findings and summarizing the topic
• optional: Medium Article - let people outside the university know about your research and start your personal brand

📬 How to Apply

If you are interested, please contact Prof. Dr. Isabell Welpe (e-mail below) by submitting your CV and grade report. Please also briefly outline your tentative research idea (research question, data and methods, possible outcomes with a tentative outline all in word as *.docx)

We're greatly looking forward to hearing more about you!

👉 welpe@tum.de