Unit for Bioentrepreneurship – Hanna Jansson's group

Unit for Bioentrepreneurship

Since 2005, KI has had a unit for bioentrepreneurship, with the aim of researching, inspiring, educating and creating networks for students, researchers and clinicians in the field of innovation and entrepreneurship. Concretely, this is done through credit courses and programs, change projects and scientific studies. The vision is that science-based knowledge will be more widely utilized through a more professional interaction between academic research and education and industrial entrepreneurship.

The education at UBE aims at different target groups, from undergraduate students to PhD candidates, researchers, clinicians and teachers. On this page, you will find links to our different courses, information about our pedagogical approach and the link Stockholm School of Entrepreneurship.

Master's Programme in Bioentrepreneurship

The Master's Programme in Bioentrepreneurship (MBE) is a 120 higher education credits programme that provides the foundation needed for future leaders in industry, investment companies or other organisations in the biomedical field. In the rapidly developing life science industry, there isan urgent need for people who combine business knowledge with an understanding of science and technology. Focusing on real-life issues, cases, and internships gives you experience and networks that will enhance your future career. As a bioentrepreneur, you will help bridge the gap between research and the public and private sectors.

• Programme presentation and application
• Information about project placements for students
• From a student perspective - Studying and living in Sweden

Freestanding and programme elective courses 

Undergraduate students

• Digital Health from an Entrepreneurship Perspective

Doctoral students

• School of Health Innovation 
• Assessing the Value of Medical Innovation, 3 credits
• Research for Societal Impact, 1.5 credits
• An introduction to intellectual property rights in an academic context, 1 credits
• Mastering science communication and public engagement; from Research to Resonance, 3 credits

Courses we provide for other departments at KI (not open for registration)

• Life Science Industry, Bachelor's programme in Biomedicin
• BioEntrepreneurship, Master’s programme in Biomedicine
• Professional Development and Ethics (in collaboration with other research groups at LIME), Master’s programme in Translational Physiology and Pharmacology
   

Stockholm School of Entrepreneurship

UBE is the KI competence centre within the Stockholm School of Entrepreneurship (SSES), a collaborative effort between KI (medicine), KTH(technology), Stockholm School of Economics, University of Arts Crafts andDesign and the Royal College of Music and Stockholm University (multi-faculty). Through this collaboration, we are very happy to provide studentsat KI interdisciplinary education at, and with students from, the different SSES member schools. This education comes in three forms: workshops, boot camps, and, most importantly, credit-giving courses. Courses are splitinto three different categories: core, context, and skills. Please have a look at the SSES website to learn more!

At KI, all SSES courses are recognized as "Programme electives", meaning that you apply through your study programme as an undergraduate student. If you are a PhD student and would like to participate in courses, please contact Liisa Olsson at liisa.olsson@ki.se.

Pedagogical approach

Our pedagogical approach is based on student-centred entrepreneurial learning to create conditions for creativity, reflection and initiative in teaching. Entrepreneurial learning can be described as a process where students identify opportunities and use them to transform ideas into goal-oriented activities. Skills that strengthen the ability to meet challenges and create innovation are trained. Most learning activities are designed to activate the students, and the teacher acts more as a guide than a traditional lecturer.

Our courses follow a learning cycle inspired by Kolb's experiential learning theory.

• Theory: The core of the course typically contains interactive lectures, seminars, and discussions about the subject's theories and scientific research basis.
• Inspiration: Invited experts share their professional experience of a given topic, e.g., growing a company, working with regulations, or marketing a product. These lecturers act as a source of inspiration for the students, an opportunity to reflect, and a first step towards applying knowledge.
• Practical work: The students apply the theory, most commonly through projects or in case seminars.

Various research projects have been conducted at UBE over the years, all in one way or another, aiming to understand the bioentrepreneurial process, its role in innovation and its importance for implementing and creating societal impact.

As a research subject, bioentrepreneurship is still developing, and the researchers at UBE have their degrees from medical or economic faculties. Most researchers have their main occupation in teaching, but research is also conducted with a network of affiliated researchers. A total of four doctoral students have defended their theses at UBE. Below, you will find links to ongoing research projects, information on some previous projects and a list of publications.

Education focused projects
There are multiple research questions relating to bioentrepreneurship, a subject on the border between science and business integrating knowledge from various disciplines, that can be explored from an education perspective to strengthen its conceptualisation and emergence.

Innovation focused projects

• Patienten i förarsätet! (a partnership programme at MMC)
• CLEOS

Dissertations

2020 External collaborations in multinational pharmaceutical companies - Francesca Bignami

2017 Exploring connectivity : invention, innovation and knowledge transfer in the university-industry interface - Charlotta Dahlborg

2017 Beyond bean counting : using patent information to investigate inventive productivity in academia - Danielle Lewensohn

2011 European knowledge transfer reflected by research collaboration and patent citations indicators - Pauline Mattsson