Research Based Business
To enroll in the RBB Differentiation Programme please fill in the application form.
Overview
The courses on Research Based Business arm students and (future) researchers with the basic knowledge of how to spot, assess and exploit an entrepreneurial, research-based business opportunity.
The courses have been designed to lower the hurdles for students and researchers for getting involved in the process of starting high-tech ventures.This knowledge will be valuable for those who aspire to one day start their own company or who want to become involved in the process of company creation and development as tech transfer managers, business developers, business advisors, investment managers or serial entrepreneurs.
Are you curious about student experiences with the RBB courses? Read the testimonials of Oleg Guziy (PhD student from TU Delft) and Wouter Bruins (Master student Biology).
- The Four Courses on Research Based Business (RBB)
1) RBB-Opportunities (5ECTS) focuses on understanding how to recognize and frame entrepreneurial business opportunities for research- and technology-based business.
2) RBB-Planning (5ECTS) follows an experiential, inside-out approach, focusing on business planning as a basis for starting a new, science-based company.
3) RBB-Ventures (5ECTS) follows a more conceptual, outside-in approach, exploring entrepreneurship and the process of new venture creation by studying a number of cases illustrating the entrepreneurial process form various angles.
4) Principles of RBB (15ECTS) provides an integrated programme of the three RBB courses mentioned above, in which students learn to master knowledge and skills relating to the commercialisation of know-how and inventions generated through research.
- Why Opt for Research Based Business
Turning research into business is an important challenge in high-tech science-driven sectors such as the Life Sciences. One way of achieving this is setting up a research-based start-up company. Since the 1980s, world-wide more than 10,000 university spin-off companies have been founded with a big economic impact creating over half a million of new jobs and numerous innovative products which have significantly improved human well-being. Most famous examples are highly successful US-companies like Genentech and Google. Closer by, on the Leiden BioScience park, there are publicly traded companies like Pharming and Crucell which started as university spin-offs, next to numerous other companies that have been created in the last two decades.
However, creating a successful research-based company is easier said than done. It needs ground-breaking research, solid patent protection, years of development, special business models, loads of money, and a great variety of management skills. Moreover, most high tech start-ups will also need the involvement and commitment of the scientists who’s research created the opportunity in the first place. Not understanding these and other issues involved can be a major hurdle for anyone who is or wants to be in high tech entrepreneurial business.
The course aims to lower the hurdles for students and researchers for getting involved in the process of starting high-tech ventures. The intention is to arm students and (future) researchers with the basic knowledge of how to spot, assess and exploit an entrepreneurial, research-based business opportunity. This knowledge will be valuable for people with a science background who aspire to one day start their own company or who want to become involved in the process of company creation and development as tech transfer managers, business developers, business advisers, investment managers or surrogate entrepreneurs.
