“Deeptech Entrepreneurship” Curriculum

By project VIADUCT

Published on 23 July 2024

France

Alsace

About this good practice

Deeptechs provide direct or indirect answers to major challenges for the planet and represent a great opportunity for social progress. This category of disruptive technological innovation relies increasingly on spin-offs.
The Deeptech Entrepreneurship curriculum is aimed at future managers who wish to contribute to the development of a start-up, a spin-off or a Deeptech company: scientists, Deeptech project leaders, PhDs and engineers. Half of the beneficiaries are PhD candidates whose tech transfer projects won the Challenge ‘MatureYourPhD’.
The Deeptech Entrepreneurship training includes lessons on strategy, regulatory aspects, business models, intellectual property, financing and human resources. Various innovative methods are offered: Lectures, interactive workshops on participants' start-up creation projects, challenges such as hackathons, the Autumn School in Creativity Management (CreaSXB), individual work on projects and deliverables.
The objective is to stimulate the emergence of innovation projects in research laboratories, support the creation of Deeptech start-ups, strengthen the founding teams and accelerate access to the market.
It is offered as a Master 2 or a lifelong learning university certificate at the University of Strasbourg. It was designed by Pépite ETENA (the community for students-entrepreneurs in Alsace), the QuestForChange regional incubator, the TTO SATT Conectus Alsace and the Faculty of Economics and Management of the University of Strasbourg.

Resources needed

- Budget ~€12,000 a year.
- Major pedagogical engineering in the first year: 50% FTE for linking with external stakeholders to assess needs within the ecosystem and identify experts-lecturers.
- Then 25% FTE for recruitment and follow-up.

Evidence of success

Participants appreciate:
- A course designed to support and train Deeptech project creators and holders in the issues and techniques of entrepreneurship,
- Taught entirely in English,
- With a teaching team made up of researchers and Deeptech experts to develop project-oriented teaching methods.
The programme has trained 12 students over the last two years. All of them are still enriching research and valorisation in the regional ecosystem. 6 of them are leading the creation of 5 new spin-offs.

Potential for learning or transfer

Deeptech companies benefit from more direct and efficient access to technological resources, are by nature more agile, and are part of a societal movement that values entrepreneurship.
The programme can easily be replicated in any university, higher education institution or continuing education establishment, in the form of a master's degree, a university certificate or other course.
The DeepTech Entrepreneurship has been built as a bottom-up curriculum: the programme is based on needs identified by local stakeholders. It is co-constructed by the University, SATT Conectus and the incubator. The synergy is essential as the aim is not to create duplication or competition within the ecosystem, but to build a career path for young researchers and entrepreneurs.
Graduates are equipped to create spin-offs with a dual understanding of the requirements of research and business creation. It also opens up the possibility for doctoral students to switch to a career in the private sector.