BIOECONOMY AND INNOVATION
- Overview
- Assessment methods
- Learning objectives
- Contents
- Full programme
- Delivery method
- Teaching methods
- Contacts/Info
None
The exam will be held in the form of a written exam in class and will consist of 2 “exercises” (composed of a series of numerical and multiple-choice questions), and 2 “open questions” to be answered in 2 hours.
The aim of this written exam is to assess the knowledge acquired by the students concerning all the topics covered during the lectures. The answers to the questions and the exercises will be evaluated based on their completeness and correctness.
Students will also have the option to participate to a workshop (organized at the end of the course) in which they will present in groups their own “bio-based” business idea or a case study based on an existing business.
The aim of this workshop is to stimulate students to autonomously conceive, evaluate and present an innovative business idea by providing a descriptive analysis of its economic feasibility and sustainability, to develop and strengthen their skills in public oral presentations and to sharpen their skills in critical thinking and in team working.
In case of positive evaluation, students presenting in the workshop will have the option to answer only 2 (1 open question and 1 exercise) out of 4 questions/problems during the final written exam (in 1h). In this case, the written exam will contribute for ½ of the final mark of the module and the workshop presentations will contribute for the other ½ part.
The Bioeconomy, often referred to as ‘biobased economy’, encompasses the production and exploitation of biobased resources and their conversion into food, feed, bioenergy, and biobased materials. A biobased value chain includes the primary production of biobased resources, their conversion to higher-value goods via processing and commercialization on the market. This involves a variety of sectors and brings together different scientific disciplines and stakeholders. Thus, the field of the Bioeconomy is fertile ground for inter- and transdisciplinary research. The course is divided in two modules.
The first module aims to introduce students to different aspects of the Bioeconomy: its economic and technological determinants, the role of innovation and intellectual property for the growth of new bio-based industries, the sustainability paradigms, and the methodologies for the socio-economic and environmental impact assessment of the Bieconomy transition.
At the end of the module the students are expected to master the necessary tools and methods to autonomously understand and critically evaluate several topics related to the Bioeconomy and to develop and execute several tasks such as:
• evaluate the environmental and socio-economic impacts of bio-based products and processes.
• identify the key enabling technologies and market players
• evaluate patenting opportunities, licensing strategies and collaborations with potential partners.
• communicate the business potential to different stakeholders and investors.
Considering that the area of Bioeconomy and Biotechnology is overregulated through several legislative acts and legal compliance is a critical issue in developing related activities, representing a relevant professional skill, a dedicated second module of lectures will be devoted to Biotechnology Regulation and Compliance.
This module of lectures intends to introduce basic law concepts and legal acts understanding tools, then to explore more in deep specific regulations related to biotechnology issues, specifically genetic modified organisms, including patent protection, confined use, environmental release and
food and feed applications.
Moreover, the module intends to supply further notions relevant to safety, compliance and regulation of chemistry, medicine, biosafety and biodiversity, considering that they will be faced in the future professional activity of the students.
At the end of the course the students are expected to be able to understand the regulations and to apply them to their daily activities, granting a proper legal compliance, thus developing and protecting business in a safe and effective way.
Main Module: Economics, Management and Innovation
Principles of economics / Basic Microeconomics
• Production and consumption, supply and demand, market equilibrium.
• Elasticity of demand, market structures and market power.
• Market failures, externalities, and public goods.
Economic Tools for Bioeconomy
• Primary production, Biobased Resources and Value Chains
• Markets of Biobased Products
• Life Cycle and Sustainability Assessment
Bioeconomy and Innovation
• Knowledge, Innovation and Economic Growth
• Innovation, entrepreneurship and appropriability
• Patent data as indicators of innovation (workshop)
• The bioeconomy transition: market opportunities and case studies
Additional Module: Biotechnology Regulation and Compliance
Industrial Property Legislation
• General protection of Industrial Property and patentability
• Legal protection of biotechnology inventions
Biotechnology regulation specific legislation
• Confined use of genetically modified microorganisms.
• Environmental release of genetically modified organisms and related rules
• Genetically modified food & feed regulation.
Other relevant regulations for the biotechnology and bioeconomy sector
• Medicine, innovative therapy, rare diseases, and orphan drugs regulations
.
Frontal lectures, seminars, workshops and practical sessions.
Office hours for students: usually after the lectures.
For organisational reasons, students must always send an email in advance for scheduling a meeting with the instructor