Project Ondernemerschap na/v Afstudeerwerk

The specific content of the Project Entrepreneurship Thesis Related is to be defined together with the student and his/her supervisors in advance off the thesis period.

However, a few guidelines for the structure of the work to be undertaken are:

1. The thesis theme should be directly related to the subject of the student's Master Thesis. The relevance of the Project Entrepreneurship Thesis Related to the main Master Thesis should be clear;

2. The Project Entrepreneurship Thesis Related is a separate report that reflects a) the commercial and/or societal value of the technology, product or service which is subject of study in the master thesis, and b) a thorough investigation of the business model and organization by which the technology, product or service is brought to the market. The main goal is to articulate the identification and appropriation of the commercial and societal value of the research topic central to the master thesis project. This report can address several issues. Some examples:

• An exploration of the business opportunities of a technology or product/ service innovation and the possible partners that need to be included to bring it to commercial exploitation;

• An exploration of the possible market applications and product/service forms of a technology including a business model analyses of how to exploit it;

• An exploration of introduction strategies for a new high-tech product and the role of various business partners and stakeholders in the business model;

• A business model specification for a new high-tech product;

• A business plan for a new high-tech product;

• An investigation of the funding opportunities for the business model to improve and develop the technology further;

3. The project should state clearly whether it focusses on 'Starting your own Company' or 'new entrepreneurial venture projects within established organisations';

4. The subject of the Project Entrepreneurship Thesis Related should include a reflection on the ambition of the student related to entrepreneurship;

5. In the case of a focus on 'Starting your own Company', thesis themes should be directly linked to the context of starting a new company. Ideally, the student should place himself as the entrepreneur willing to establish a start-up with the technology at hand either right after graduation or later;

6. In the case of a focus on 'new entrepreneurial venture projects within established organisations, the thesis should be directly linked to the context of an existing company. Ideally, the entrepreneurship thesis should be performed within the company;

7. Before commencing the Project Entrepreneurship Thesis Related project, students need to prepare a research proposal, including the activities and planning of work to be developed for the phases of literature review, field research, analysis and reporting. This plan should be reviewed by the Entrepreneurship supervisor. Students will be assessed on basis of this planning and its execution. A template for this plan is available from the DCE supervisors.

The assessment is composed of four main elements:

1. Planning and execution of the thesis; including the necessary phases for literature review, field research, analysis and reporting. The timing for the delivery of the plan should be agreed upon with the supervisor for the Entrepreneurship Annotation Final Thesis, who will also evaluate it. The evaluation follows the following: (i) quality of the work plan (ii) ability to live up to the work plan and (iii) ability to be autonomous and having own initiative. The student should prove what he has learned about his own insights into what his motivations, ambitions and objectives with respect to entrepreneurship are.

2. Research quality of the Entrepreneurship Thesis Related; this is provided by a report and evaluated by the dedicated supervisor on the Project Entrepreneurship Thesis Related. The evaluation should follow these criteria: (i) ambition level, (ii) structure and boundaries, (iii) academic level with respect to the entrepreneurship skills taught at Delft University of Technology, (iv) originality, (v) usability, (vi) relevance and (vii) reflection on the product. Additional criteria, include: (i) the line of argument, (ii) use of English and (iii) design of the report. Criteria can vary by faculty and master program.

3. Personal reflection; the student will be judged on his ability to understand the practical business aspects of bringing a technology to the market, and to analyze real-life business problems in the field of entrepreneurship and innovation.

4 Elevator pitch and/or PowerPoint presentation given by the student at the end of the final thesis, evaluated by the supervisor. The evaluation should follow these criteria: (i) performance, (ii) ability to clearly answer to questions and (iii) usage of English language.