Innovating for Impact Winter Term
The master seminar empowers students to explore topics around the multidimensional impacts of innovation using a rigorous & scientific approach.
- DE - Bitte beachten: Es gibt keine deutsche Kursseite, da der Kurs nur in Englisch angeboten wird.
- EN - Please note: This page has no German version because the course is only offered in English.
Quick Info: Master | Seminar | English | Winter Semester | 6 ECTS
Summary
- Course
- Master Seminar: "Innovating for Impact" Winter Term
- Chair
- Institute for Innovation Management
- Lecturer
- Prof. Dr. Jelena Spanjol
- Assistant
- Dr. Zhuoer Qiu
Fiona Witzigmann - Target Group
- M.Sc. BWL
- Examination
- Presentation (15 minutes per student) and seminar paper (22,200 signs per student). Each examination part accounts for 50% of the final seminar grade.
- Prerequisites
- Feeding and Managing the Innovation Pipeline (PStO2018),
New Products: From Ideas to Markets (PStO2015),
Value Portfolios and Temporality (PStO2024) (recommended)
If you are interested in pursuing a master thesis at the IIM, this seminar is one of the possible prerequisites. (Please also see the guidelines for Master Theses on the ISC website). - Course Material
- Kick-off slides and recommended readings
- Rotation
- Every winter term
- Language
- English
- ECTS
- 6
- Examination Guidelines / Attendance
- Per examination guidelines, your attendance at the kick-off session makes your participation in the seminar binding.
- Application / Participation
- BWL-students are welcome to apply by sending an email to Dr. Zhuoer Qiu with
- a brief letter of motivation (~half page),
- CV,
- current grade transcript (Notenspiegel)
by September 26, 2025 at the latest.
WOS-students are welcome to apply by sending an email to Dr. Zhuoer Qiu with
- a brief letter of motivation (~half page),
- CV,
- current grade transcript (Notenspiegel)
by September 26, 2025 at the latest.
Students are encouraged to apply at their earliest convenience.
The seminar selection will take place in two rounds. In the first round, acceptance or rejection notifications will be sent to you no later than September 12, 2025. If the maximum capability is not met, a second round will follow, with acceptance or rejection notifications being sent to you no later than October 3, 2025. - Course content
- Businesses are increasingly required to not only consider the economic or financial consequences of their practices but also how these affect the environment, other stakeholders, and society in general. The seminar provides students an opportunity to conduct a structured inquiry into a specific and relevant research question through a scientific research project. For the duration of the semester, student work in teams to produce an original academic research paper. The seminar topics focus on innovation-related questions.
- Course objective
- The seminar is dedicated to helping students develop their academic reading, writing, and research skills. Special attention will be paid to identifying theoretical and managerial contributions in the research paper and translating between managerial questions and scientific body of knowledge, writing a scientific paper, and presenting the findings. This seminar also serves as a preparation for students who are interested in writing a master thesis on topics related to innovation management.
- Course schedule
- The course schedule can be found in LSF.
Please notice that this chedule might be subject to change. - Exam registration
- TBA
- Cancellation of registration
- TBA
Please note that the schedule is preliminary and subject to change. Please check back often in LSF.
What is this course about?
Innovation is the hallmark of a firm that grows, prospers, and makes its mark on both the industry and the world. University spin-offs—companies established to commercialize knowledge, technologies, or other results from academic research—play a crucial role in transferring knowledge from academia to industry, driving innovation, and supporting economic growth. In this course, students will explore the key factors that influence their performance, including resources, institutional support, and strategy.
What will I gain from this course?
Students will deepen their academic writing skills: Understanding how to define research questions, perform comprehensive literature reviews, document methodological approaches, conduct data analyses, and write a research paper. In terms of method, students will learn to adopt an empirics-first approach to conduct research that is motivated by a real-world phenomenon, problem, or observation. Upon defining the research questions, students explore and analyze data collected from accessible archival sources, with the aim of adding new insights to the literature and offering actionable managerial implications.
How is the seminar conducted?
- You will work in teams.
- To most effectively provide guidance to students, the maximum number of participants is limited to 15.
- We are planning three mandatory and three voluntary meeting sessions for this seminar.
- Per examination guidelines, your attendance at the kick-off session makes your participation in the seminar binding.