Impact School

The seminar is divided into several phases. In the course of two preliminary sessions, the students gain basic knowledge about the focused technology and its opportunities and risks based on existing approaches in the field of climate protection, ecology or society. Ethical implications are also discussed at this point. Furthermore, they get to know the concept of impact as well as the first basics for creating an impact logic. With the help of self-learning materials, they deepen this knowledge until the beginning of the intensive phase. The core of the Impact School is the five-day intensive phase, during which students work in teams on challenges that are provided by cooperation partners. The challenges focus on social and/or ecological problems that are to be solved using technology-based approaches. During the week, the participants learn the practical application of innovation methods as well as the basic principles of business modelling and develop a simple prototype of their solution. They also receive input from experts in the field. Companies, public administration, non-governmental organizations, student organizations and other partner universities and organizations can be involved as cooperation partners. They also contribute by offering thematic inputs, excursions or similar. The participants form teams at the beginning of the intensive phase and each team is accompanied by a coach. The coaches support the application of the tools and methods learned and ensure a healthy feedback and discussion culture within the teams. The intensive phase ends with an event in which the teams present the solutions they have developed. There will be a follow-up session, which will introduce participants to the opportunities and resources for pursuing start-up projects within TUM. The first part is a short presentation followed by a Q&A session with start-up consultants. Furthermore, an exchange with a tech start-up that focuses on solving a social or ecological problem is planned.

The goal of the impact school is to enable students to develop practice-oriented solutions to reach the UN Sustainable Development Goals by using technologies of the future. The students will gain knowledge regarding these technologies from an interdisciplinary perspective. They will learn: - to assess the benefits and risks of technologies with regard to the generation of social and ecological impact - to understand and apply the concept of impact and its implications - to implement the entrepreneurial innovation process in interdisciplinary teams in order to generate concrete solutions. By developing solutions in teams, students improve soft skills such as creativity, perseverance and communication skills. In addition, they get to know the Munich ecosystem for impact/social entrepreneurship as well as TUM's resources and opportunities for implementing their own start-up projects.

The final examination of the project consists of two components. The first is the presentation prepared by the students at the end of the intensive phase. The second is a final report that must be submitted at the end of the semester. Both count for 50% of the grade. At the end of the intensive phase, the teams present the approaches that they developed for solving the challenges set beforehand. This includes the presentation of a simple prototype, for example a mock-up or a document. The presentation is approximately 10 minutes in length. The students thus show that they are able to translate the information they have received into developing independently a solution and to present it in an appropriate manner. During the intensive phase, they are accompanied and supported by their coaches and the accompanying instructors. The second part of the grade consists in the report to be submitted at the end of the semester. The report covers the preliminary sessions, the intensive phase as well as the follow-up session. It documents in a structured way how the information received was used to develop the solution. Furthermore, feedback received from the partner who provided the challenge should be considered and incorporated. The report ensures that instead of simply documenting their findings students structure and reflect on them. The final report should not exceed 27,000 characters and must be submitted by the end of the semester.

- Basic understanding of entrepreneurship and its principles, such as from attending an introductory lecture on the topic, founding experience, or closely following the media on the topic - Interest in the creation of societal and ecological impact by developing technology-based solutions

Lectures, discussions, development of challenge-based solutions, excursion, team coaching sessions, feedback discussions, presentations, Q&A session. The variety of methods ensures that the right method is chosen for each learning content to be taught. For example, new material is presented by experts in the field in keynote speeches and then discussed in large or small groups before it is incorporated into the development of solutions. Feedback discussions and team coaching sessions ensure that the tools and methods presented are correctly understood and applied. Furthermore, the teams are supported in working together in a respectful and effective manner and to develop an appreciative feedback culture. The final presentation at the closing event gives the participants the opportunity to practice their communication skills. Through the final report students consolidate the knowledge gained during the seminar and reflect on it. The exchange with start-up consultants and start-ups provides the participants with an impression of how social and ecological impact can be generated in practice through the implementation of their own start-up projects.