Teaching

We conduct research on the intersection between digital entrepeneurship, digital ecosystems, and organizing data and knowldedge. We will provide multiple courses that help to explain changes on firm- and ecosystem levels using multiple theories and methodologies. Our teaching is usually highly interactive and builds upon concepts of blended learning, oftentimes 'flipping the classroom'. It is important to us to not only reflect latest findings of information systems research with our students but also to work together on applying that knowledge. 

Our teaching extends to Bachelor, Master, PhD and Postdocs. Offers for PhD and PostDocs will be more clearly defined in the following months.

Winter 25/26

Student Project (Incubate x Futures)

Student Project (Incubate x Futures)

Lecturer:
  • M.Sc. Elias Jelinek
  • Prof. Dr. Hannes Rothe
Contact:
Term:
Winter Semester 2025/2026
Language:
German/English

Important Notes:

Contact us asap with your project ideas

Description:

This student project is open to students in the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics (core study program) and to students from other faculties via the E3 track. It is also open to master’s students in the Faculty of Computer Science (and E3). Teams of three to five students take first steps toward a digital venture addressing UN SDGs. You will frame a problem, research users and markets, design a business model (Teece, 2010), and build a digital MVP to validate core assumptions using lean experimentation (Blank, 2013). Mandatory participation in the Startup Olympics provides an intensive weekend with mentoring, workshops (business model & concept modelling, pitching, marketing), and structured feedback. Deliverables include an interim presentation, a functional MVP with documented iterations, a final presentation, and a written report. Successful teams can continue after the semester with Place Beyond Bytes (co-working, network, GPU/AI resources, workshops) to mature their venture. For more details, see the attached Incubate x Futures announcement.

Assessment: Startup Olympics participation + follow-up 5%, Mid-term evaluation 10%, Final presentation 35%, Written report (incl. MVP documentation) 50%.

Language: English (German helpful for the Startup Olympics).

Das Projekt steht Studierenden der Fakultät für Wirtschaftswissenschaften (Kernstudium) sowie anderen Fakultäten über E3 offen; ebenso Masterstudierenden der Fakultät für Informatik (und E3). Teams aus drei bis fünf Studierenden entwickeln eine digitale Venture-Idee zu UN-SDGs, erarbeiten ein Geschäftsmodell (Teece, 2010) und bauen ein digitales MVP, um Kernannahmen mittels Lean-Experimenten zu validieren (Blank, 2013). Die Teilnahme an den Startup Olympics ist verpflichtend und bietet ein intensives Wochenende mit Mentoring, Workshops (Businessplan & Konzeptmodellierung, Pitching, Marketing) und strukturiertem Feedback. Deliverables: Zwischenpräsentation, funktionsfähiges MVP mit dokumentierten Iterationen, Abschlusspräsentation und schriftlicher Bericht. Erfolgreiche Teams können anschließend mit Place Beyond Bytes (Co-Working, Netzwerk, GPU/AI-Ressourcen, Workshops) weiterarbeiten. Details siehe die Incubate-x-Futures-Ankündigung.

Bewertung: Startup-Olympics + Follow-up 5 %, Mid-Term 10 %, Abschlusspräsentation 35 %, Schriftlicher Bericht (inkl. MVP-Dokumentation) 50 %.

Sprache: Englisch (Deutsch für die Startup Olympics hilfreich).

Mandatory deliverables (minimum)

  • Problem dossier
  • Pitch deck (≤10–12 slides)
  • Digital MVP (web/mobile/app/API/automation/agent) + repo & README
  • Final business model report (incl. assumptions, experiments, metrics, ethics/data/privacy)

Participation & constraints

  • Startup Olympics mandatory (attendance required to pass).
  • MVP must be digital (no pure hardware-only projects).
  • Team size: 3–5 recommended.
  • Working language: English (Startup Olympics: German recommended).

Chronological schedule (Europe/Berlin)

  • Kickoff – Incubate X Futures: Mon, 20 Oct 2025, 15:00–17:00 (CEST, UTC+2)
  • BMC & Value Proposition: Mon, 27 Oct 2025, 15:00–17:00 (CET, UTC+1)
  • Startup Olympics (MANDATORY): Fri–Sun, 7–9 Nov 2025 (CET, UTC+1)
  • Business Plan: Mon, 17 Nov 2025, 15:00–17:00 (CET, UTC+1)
  • MVP Workshop: Mon, 24 Nov 2025, 15:00–17:00 (CET, UTC+1)
  • Midterm Presentation + MVP Status: Mon, 12 Jan 2026, 15:00–17:00 (CET, UTC+1)
  • Final Presentation + MVP Showcase: Mon, 26 Jan 2026, 15:00–17:00 (CET, UTC+1), Location: PBB

Material:

New Policy on LLMs and Transparency in Work Creation

We are implementing a new policy to ensure transparency and clarity in the creation of student works, especially those involving Large Language Models (LLMs) like GPT. This policy applies to all works, including seminar papers, thesis, and project reports, and is designed to foster academic integrity, rigor, and replicability in your research.

Key Changes:

  1. All works must present a clear and transparent account of the methods and tools used in their creation. This includes documenting any use of AI or LLMs in the process.
  2. When LLMs are used, students are required to submit the complete chat history. This includes both the prompts given to the LLM and its responses. Students should ensure that they use a single chat session, save it in its entirety, and send it separately along with their work. This will provide a comprehensive record of how the work was generated.
  3. In the methods chapter of your work, there must be a specific sub-chapter detailing the tools and methods used to support your writing and study. This is to ensure that all methods, including AI-based tools, are fully explained and their role in the creation process is clear.