Course Catalogue

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This introduction to entrepreneurship provides a on-line enabled curriculum for students to explore entrepreneurship and innovation as a subject of study and as a practice. The course relies on multiple teaching methods including short lecture video presentations, interviews with individuals with a variety of venture experiences, and other audio-visual content and reading materials. As an on-line course, there are no physical lectures, while students will be engaged in a face-to-face group project with a component of making a creative presentation. This course teaches some of the generic and transferable skills required to become an entrepreneur and.raises the student's awareness of the legal, business, managerial, creative, analytical and interpersonal skills relevant to setting up and running a new venture. More broadly, the course encourages students to be an innovative thinker in a variety of organisational contexts. The primary focus is on the development of an opportunity evaluation for a venture exploiting a novel idea and/or technology both for commercial and social purposes.

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PHYS5044 Fundamentals of Sensing

Individual short written assignments 20%

Group project 50% - combined group project (40%) and group video presentation (10%)

Individual final essay 30%

Edinburgh University does not provide resit examinations for MSc students. In cases where an assessment is affect by reasons of good cause a revised mark, based on other completed assessments, may be substituted.

Entrepreneurship has become one of the most powerful and influential forces of change in the world. Technological innovation driven by scientific research has led to radical social and economic changes. Companies like Apple, Facebook, Genentech, and Cisco, all derive their success in part due to the innovative application of novel technology. However, advanced technology alone is not sufficient to guarantee either user adoption or commercial success. Many ideas and technologies are abandoned or ignored despite presenting apparently significant advantages over incumbent systems. This course introduces students to the theory and practice of entrepreneurship. It focuses specifically on how and why some innovations are successfully commercialised, with particular emphasis on the role of the innovator-entrepreneur, with specific reference to science-driven innovation, which may be relevant to your programmes of study. Student Learning Experience:

This course utilises multiple learning modes, including: independent reading, primary research, video-lectures, group discussion, case studies, and exposure to practice. Students who participate in and engage with every mode of study are most likely to gain the most learning from the course. Preparation for the group project is essential, as students are expected to be active participants in their own and others learning experience.

Syllabus: 1. Entrepreneurial motivation, 2. Entrepreneurial characteristics, 3. Contexts of entrepreneurial activity including social entrepreneurship, 4. Opportunity discovery, 5. Opportunity evaluation, 6. Acquiring resources, 7. Business models, 8. Entrepreneurial growth and strategies, 9. Entrepreneurial leadership, identities, 10. Exits and outcomes

By the end of this course students will be able to:

1. Recognise and critically assess an opportunity in a market (and/or social) space relevant to their programme of study

2. Critically analyse and consider different business situations where innovative and entrepreneurial opportunities are present or possible

3. Research a business start-up opportunity and marketplace to evaluate the attractiveness and/or feasibility of an opportunity

4. Communicate and demonstrate interpersonal skills

5. Understand and apply the course concepts in the contexts of innovation, and venture creation and development

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.