Innovations and Knowledge Transfer 4030-IKTg
The course teaches students how to transform knowledge and innovative solutions into feasible, responsible, and fundable interventions in real-world social, technological, and environmental systems. The course is designed as a project-based studio in innovation and knowledge transfer for the MERGED programme. It combines academic frameworks with practical input from senior business and academic leaders, including experts in infrastructure, environmental technologies, digital transformation, sustainable business models and organisational implementation.
The course has three phases. Phase 1 - Seeing technology transfer: students learn to identify manifestations of technology transfer in physical, digital and phygital environments. Phase 2 - Understanding transfer mechanisms: students analyse stakeholders, users, IP, patents, business models, risks and implementation barriers. Phase 3 - Designing and defending an innovation proposal: students develop an innovation transfer project and an investment pitch competing with other projects for a single funding decision.
The course comprises 36 teaching hours in class and field study, plus 9 remote teaching hours. The remote component is divided into 6 teaching hours of online consultations and 3 teaching hours of asynchronous e-learning on the UW Kampus platform. Kampus is used for readings, case materials, preparatory tasks, decision-game instructions, discussion prompts, templates and submission of selected non-graded formative deliverables.
Indicative session schedule:
1. Introduction: what counts as innovation and knowledge transfer? 2. Technology transfer beyond startups: stakeholders, infrastructure and social licence to operate.
3. Users, accessibility and invisible needs: study visit to the Invisible Exhibition.
4. Sustainable business models and business model innovation in emerging-market contexts.
5. University technology transfer and patent decisions; business and academia collaboration.
6. Corporate innovation, data, AI and digital transformation as objects of knowledge transfer.
7. Complexity, risk and decision-making in technology implementation.
8. Financing, valuation and investment logic.
9. Oxford debates and investment readiness clinic.
10. Final exam: Investment Committee Simulation.
Course coordinators
Term 2025Z: | Term 2026Z: |
Type of course
Mode
Learning outcomes
Final grade: 100% Final Investment Committee Simulation. Students are assessed on the basis of their team’s final performance during the Investment Committee simulation, including the submitted investment proposal, pitch deck, oral presentation and answers to committee questions.
After completing the course, the student:
1. explains the difference between innovation, technology transfer, knowledge transfer, adoption and diffusion;
2. identifies manifestations of recent technology transfer in physical, digital and phygital environments;
3. maps stakeholders, users, beneficiaries, payers, operators, regulators and actors who may support or block a transfer process;
4. analyses patent, IP, freedom-to-operate and NDA-related decisions in university-business and innovation-transfer contexts;
5. designs a sustainable and transferable business model, including value mechanisms, affordability, access, impact and scalability assumptions;
6. assesses organisational, technological, regulatory, financial and implementation risks in innovation adoption;
7. prepares an investment memo, funding ask, implementation roadmap and pitch deck for an innovation transfer proposal;
8. presents, defends and critically evaluates innovation proposals in a simulated Investment Committee setting;
9. works effectively in interdisciplinary teams and communicates complex innovation-transfer decisions to expert and non-expert audiences.
Assessment criteria
Final grade: 100% Final Investment Committee Simulation. Students are assessed on the basis of their team’s final performance during the Investment Committee simulation, including the submitted investment proposal, pitch deck, oral presentation and answers to committee questions.
Assessment criteria include: problem definition, stakeholder analysis, transfer strategy, IP and patent logic, business or impact model, implementation feasibility, sustainability relevance, risk assessment, investment readiness and quality of communication. Intermediate deliverables developed during the course are formative and support preparation for the final proposal but are not graded separately.
Practical placement
Not applicable.