60119 Science Business Models and Intellectual Property
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Credit points: 4 cp
Result type: Grade and marks
There are course requisites for this subject. See access conditions.
Description
The world of business might seem miles apart from the world of science but in many scientific roles understanding of business principles and how to apply them to scientific problems are important professional skills. Creating a business model is essentially a way of breaking down your idea, project, or situation and thinking about the best way forward to maximise output.
This subject covers the basics of business principles and science business models as well as covering in detail the nine concepts of a business model, grounded in a scientific context with the use of case studies and real-life examples. As part of these concepts, students are introduced to intellectual property in the scientific research landscape. Students learn the first principles of identifying, protecting, and commercialising intellectual property, and to differentiate between different types of intellectual property including patents, trademarks, and licencing. Here students explore the processes and steps taken to commercialise research findings and apply this knowledge to protect, manage and capitalise on the intellectual property identified in case studies and examples. As part of this subject students create a business model for a chosen project/idea. The subject then concludes with an understanding of the importance of clear and concise communication of the business model to target audiences, in this case some potential investors.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
Upon successful completion of this subject students should be able to:
| 1. | Apply different types of IP, patents and trademarks to commercialise research findings (intellectual property) from case studies |
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| 2. | Create a business model for a scientific project/idea |
| 3. | Summarise and communicate your business model to an appropriate audience, in this case a potential investor |
Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)
This subject also contributes specifically to the development of following course intended learning outcomes:
- Critically appraise and apply advanced knowledge and technical skills to discipline specific projects to inform professional practice in science and medical biotechnology. (1.1)
- Assess, argue for, and conduct independent research and solving complex problems by applying a research methodology to address a research need in a relevant professional context. (2.1)
- Develop, prepare, and engage, at times collaboratively, in safe, ethical, organised and transparent work practices that mitigate risk and contribute to solving global health problems in the context of science and medical biotechnology. (3.1)
- Reflectively discover, create, and evaluate processes used to determine the value, integrity, and relevance of multiple sources of information to derive innovative solutions to complex science and medical biotechnology problems. (4.1)
- Present and communicate complex ideas and justifications using appropriate communication approaches from a variety of methods (oral, written, visual) to communicate with discipline experts, scientists, industry, and the general public. (5.1)
Contribution to the development of graduate attributes
This subject is intended to assess the following graduate attributes:
Graduate Attribute 1 - Disciplinary Knowledge.
Through this subject, you will gain foundational knowledge about business model concepts and intellectual property, in the context of scientific research. You will engage with a range of materials that will help broaden your knowledge of intellectual property and its most common types (patents, trademarks, copyright, licencing), and protection, management (for example, rights to intellectual property as a student, academic staff, external collaborator, and industry partner) and commercialisation. Nine key concepts that are commonly assessed, researched and applied to construct business models are also learnt in this subject. This knowledge will be assessed in three main assessments tasks, as well as via online participation through discussion boards and voluntary mini-quizzes. These learned skills will be applicable in a range of professional contexts both inside science and in a broader academic environment.
Graduate Attribute 2 - Research, inquiry and critical thinking
This subject will give you ample opportunity to conduct research on several aspects of your chosen project/idea, which informs all three of your assessment tasks. Part of this research will include learning how to search patent databases and conducting patent and product searches to identify ‘gaps’ for new commercialisation opportunities. Further research will include discussing the types of businesses or industries (for example, pharmaceutical, biotech, agricultural, food, cosmetics) that would be interested in commercialising the intellectual property identified, and the optimal business size to partner with to ensure your business model will succeed. You will also apply your scientific knowledge and research skills to demonstrate what further work is required, legally or conceptually, for your project/idea to be developed commercially (e.g. experimental work, clinical trial, prototype development for a product).
Critical thinking will be employed through the process of applying the nine business model concepts to your chosen project/idea. There will likely be several business models you could propose for any one given idea, but critical appraisal of each concept in isolation and then how all nine would work as a whole business model will help prioritise the outputs to be chosen.
Graduate Attribute 3 - Professional, Ethical and Social responsibility
This subject will cover in detail the aspects of intellectual property retaining to science. You will be asked as part of assessment task 1 to evaluate the intellectual property for your project/idea and to come up with solutions for how to advance the intellectual property or create new intellectual property for your idea/project if patents already exist.
Graduate Attribute 4 - Reflection, Innovation, Creativity
Reflection is built into each assessment task whereby you will reflect on peer and assessor feedback to improve your work before building on it for future assessments. Innovation and creativity are also inherent to this course as business models are ‘living-documents’ that change depending on who the creator is, changes in situation, and for any given project/idea. Business pitches, although built using guiding principles, are also as unique as the creator and use creativity and innovation to make an impact. You will illustrate your creativity and innovation in Assessment Tasks 2 and 3 by creating a business model and business pitch for a project/idea you have been researching and building upon in the previous assessment task.
Graduate attribute 5 – Communication
The principles of effective communication, including storytelling and structure, knowing your audience, effective use of visuals, and using engaging content, will be explained and demonstrated in Module 4 through a range of different media and tailored towards helping to develop a business pitch. You will then be given the opportunity to apply these principles through a business pitch assessment in which you will create a slide deck and oral presentation that explains your business model to an appropriate audience (a potential investor).
Teaching and learning strategies
This subject will be delivered entirely online through the learning platform CANVAS. You will work through content areas or ‘modules’ that are designed to build your knowledge in the foundational aspects of Business Models, Business Pitches and Intellectual Property.
In this course you will explore the basic concepts of Science business and intellectual property through a range of materials in different formats, including case studies. All materials are designed to provide you with an active learning experience and you will be expected to think critically about the information you receive. For example, comment sections, questions and/or discussion boards will be utilised to engage with content, such as videos or case studies. The comment sections/question responses/discussion boards will be viewable to everyone and will allow you to engage with your cohort by viewing their input and/or responding to it. You will apply the concepts learnt in this subject to research a project/idea with potential new intellectual property that can be commercialised, and build upon this project/idea to develop a business model pitch over three formal assessment tasks. The project/idea can be either one that is selected from a list supplied, or one that you have a personal interest in or familiarity with.
In assessment 1 you will:
Prepare a short written report covering three areas below (300 word limit for each):
- Search for and summarise existing products and patents that relate to the research project/idea. This is aimed to show novelty in the intellectual property relating to your project/idea.
- Propose steps that will help to develop the research finding from project/idea to product. This should address the key question of what needs to be done for the research findings and intellectual property to be commercialised. For example, is the project at a concept stage where more experimental work needs to be done? Is it developed to the stage where prototype building of a product is needed? Is the experimental work laboratory based, and clinical trials are needed to prove efficacy?
- Research industries and identify businesses or companies who could act as industry partners to commercialise your intellectual property, and justify why these partners would be most appropriate. This will involve researching the industry/company strategies, costing your project to ensure that it is within the budget scale of your identified industry partner, and discussing how intellectual property will be managed amongst the various parties involved in the commercialisation process.
Module 2 will assist you in completing this assessment task as it covers the first principles of identifying, protecting, and commercialising intellectual property, differentiating between different types of intellectual property, the processes and steps needed to commercialise research findings and applying this knowledge to protect, manage and capitalise on intellectual property. Examples and case studies will guide you in how to research, generate and consolidate this information.
In assessment 2 you will:
- Identify, for each of the nine business model concepts, inputs that best define your project/idea.
- Apply your research from assessment task 1 to your business model.
- Collate all of this information to construct a business model canvas for your chosen research project/idea with an attached appendix (500 words maximum) describing your reasoning behind your choices.
Module 1 will assist you in completing this assessment task as it covers the concept of turning an idea/project into a business using real life examples. Module 3 covers the basics of business and examples of science business models. It also covers in-depth the key concepts of the business model canvas (on which you will create your business model) and how to populate the business model canvas. Case studies will be used to apply these key concepts to a range of projects/ideas giving you a working knowledge of what is expected for your assessment.
In assessment 3 you will:
- Evaluate the information created in assessment tasks 1 & 2:
- select information for inclusion/exclusion in the business pitch
- prioritise the order of included information for a clear narrative
- Design your business pitch materials and use these to communicate your business model to an appropriate audience (a potential investor).
Module 4 will assist you in completing this assessment task as it covers the principles of effective communication strategies. It covers the topics of content selection, storytelling/narrative, aesthetics, the value of feedback (you can request optional feedback from your peers using discussion boards prior to submitting your pitch, see below) and presenting.
As part of assessment 3 you will peer review another student's assessment task using the assessment criteria/rubric against which your own work will be graded. The completion of your peer review will account for part of your assessment 3 grade.
After you have submitted your final assessment task, you will receive individualised feedback via the submission system in Canvas. This will allow you to see how well you performed on a particular criterion and therefore how well you have developed a certain Graduate Attribute. This feedback also will help you understand how to improve in the future.
Content (topics)
The topics covered in this subject are:
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Introduction to applying business principles to scientific contexts (Module 1)
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Intellectual Property (Module 2)
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Business models and the nine concepts for making a business model canvas (Module 3)
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Effective strategies for clear and concise communication & how to pitch your business model (Module 4)
Assessment
Assessment task 1: Intellectual Property Research Report
| Intent: | The following graduate attributes are assessed in this task: 1 - Disciplinary Knowledge. 2 - Research, inquiry and critical thinking. 3 - Professional, ethical and social responsibility. 5 – Communication |
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| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses subject learning objective(s): 1 This assessment task contributes to the development of course intended learning outcome(s): 1.1, 2.1, 3.1 and 5.1 |
| Type: | Report |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 30% |
| Criteria: | In this task, you will be assessed on your ability to:
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Assessment task 2: Constructing a Business Model
| Intent: | The following graduate attributes are assessed in this task: 1 - Disciplinary Knowledge. |
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| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses subject learning objective(s): 2 This assessment task contributes to the development of course intended learning outcome(s): 1.1, 2.1 and 4.1 |
| Type: | Project |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 30% |
| Criteria: | You will be assessed on:
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Assessment task 3: Pitching your business model
| Intent: | The following graduate attributes are assessed in this task: 1 - Disciplinary Knowledge. 4 - Reflection, Innovation, Creativity. 5 – Communication. |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses subject learning objective(s): 3 This assessment task contributes to the development of course intended learning outcome(s): 1.1, 4.1 and 5.1 |
| Type: | Presentation |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 40% |
| Criteria: | You will be assessed on:
|