230600 VU Green Innovation Lab (2026S)
Continuous assessment of course work
Labels
A preselection of candidates is made based on the applications sent to the form embedded here: https://ilabs.univie.ac.at/green-ilab/ A minimum number of 5 students per university will be admitted.Registration is open till Wed 25.02.2026 09:00
Deregistration possible until We 11.03.2026 23:59
Deregistration possible until We 11.03.2026 23:59
Registration/Deregistration
Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).
- Registration is open from Fr 20.02.2026 09:00 to Fr 27.02.2026 13:00
- Deregistration possible until We 11.03.2026 23:59
Details
max. 25 participants
Language: English
Lecturers
Classes
We kick off the programme on 11 March, where you will choose the innovation you will work on during the green innovation lab. From there, we’ll meet once a week, on Wednesdays, for hands-on sessions. In the end, you will pitch at our Demo Day on 12 June, connecting with our community of founders, experts, and supporters.
Below, the schedule for each class.Wed, 11.03.2026 09:00-17:00 Uhr
Wed, 18.03.2026 09:00-13:00 Uhr
Wed, 25.03.2026 09:00-13:00 Uhr
Wed, 08.04.2026 09:00-13:00 Uhr
Wed, 15.04.2026 09:00-13:00 Uhr
Wed, 22.04.2026 09:00-13:00 Uhr
Wed, 29.04.2026 09:00-13:00 Uhr
Wed, 06.05.2026 09:00-17:00 Uhr
Wed, 13.05.2026 09:00-13:00 Uhr
Wed, 20.05.2026 09:00-13:00 Uhr
Wed, 27.05.2026 09:00-13:00 Uhr
Wed, 03.06.2026 09:00-13:00 Uhr
Wed, 10.06.2026 09:00-13:00 Uhr
Fri, 12.06.2026 16:30-21:30 Uhr
Each lecture will take place in a different lecture room of one of the organising institutions. For the exact location of the lectures, please refer to this page: https://vvz.wu.ac.at/cgi-bin/vvz.pl?C=L;I=4343;LV=1;S=26S;LANG=DE
Information
Aims, contents and method of the course
Assessment and permitted materials
This course is designed as an immersive, practice-oriented learning experience rather than a purely academic exercise. Participants work on real-life projects with genuine commercialization potential and take on roles similar to those in early-stage deep-tech ventures. As a result, the workload is somewhat higher than in many other university courses and benefits most from active engagement, initiative, and collaboration within the team.Students who are primarily looking for a low-effort course may find this format less suitable. For those who are motivated to learn by doing, eager to work closely with researchers, and willing to go the extra mile to gain first-hand experience in building a deep-tech venture, the course offers a particularly rewarding and valuable experience.This course includes continuous assessment based on:
- attendance and active engagement in workshops and teamwork
- project deliverables at various stages, including research, prototyping strategies, and peer feedback
- final presentation at the demo day
- attendance and active engagement in workshops and teamwork
- project deliverables at various stages, including research, prototyping strategies, and peer feedback
- final presentation at the demo day
Minimum requirements and assessment criteria
Successful registration and admission to this course in u:space is granted only to those students who have been selected through the application process before 9 February at this page: https://ilabs.univie.ac.at/green-ilab/In order to successfully pass this course:
1- your absence is limited to 20% of our appointments -- if you are unable to attend a unit, please be sure to inform the course instructor and the colleagues of your innovation team in good time before the respective unit.
2- full-time presence at the kick-off day(s) and the final demo day is obligatory!
3- you actively participate in the innovation project in the innovation team you have chosen for the chosen innovation topic.The final grade of the course will depend on:
- Pitch Deck (30%)
- Documentation (30%)
- Demo Day Pitch (15%)
- Executive Summary (5%)
- Participation in class (20%)
In order to pass the class, all of these performance indicators have to be positive!The following grading scale applies:
- Excellent (1): 87.5% - 100.0%
- Good (2): 75.0% - < 87.5%
- Satisfactory (3): 62.5% - < 75.0%
- Sufficient (4): 50.0% - < 62.5%
- Fail (5): < 50.0%
1- your absence is limited to 20% of our appointments -- if you are unable to attend a unit, please be sure to inform the course instructor and the colleagues of your innovation team in good time before the respective unit.
2- full-time presence at the kick-off day(s) and the final demo day is obligatory!
3- you actively participate in the innovation project in the innovation team you have chosen for the chosen innovation topic.The final grade of the course will depend on:
- Pitch Deck (30%)
- Documentation (30%)
- Demo Day Pitch (15%)
- Executive Summary (5%)
- Participation in class (20%)
In order to pass the class, all of these performance indicators have to be positive!The following grading scale applies:
- Excellent (1): 87.5% - 100.0%
- Good (2): 75.0% - < 87.5%
- Satisfactory (3): 62.5% - < 75.0%
- Sufficient (4): 50.0% - < 62.5%
- Fail (5): < 50.0%
Examination topics
See details in the sections above
Reading list
Blank, S. (2013). Why the Lean Start-up Changes Everything. Harvard Business Review Link: https://hbr.org/2013/05/why-the-lean-start-up-changes-everythingBland, D. J. and Osterwalder, A. (2019). Testing Business Ideas. Link: https://www.strategyzer.com/library/testing-business-ideas-bookSoltoff, Aulet, Hynes, O'Sullivan, and Wayman (2025). Disciplined Entrepreneurship for Climate and Energy Ventures: 24 Steps to Build Solutions for People and the PlanetChen, J., A. Brem, and P.K. Wong (Eds.) (2019). The Routledge Companion to innovation management. Oxon, New York: Routledge.Dodgson, M. and D. Gann (2010). Innovation. A very short introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Association in the course directory
Last modified: Fr 27.02.2026 15:07
- understand the principles of innovation and its connection to entrepreneurship
- collaborate effectively in interdisciplinary teams
- be able to move from idea to prototype and learn from iterative feedback
- understand the basics of market needs and how to engage with stakeholders to turn early insights into next stepsTransforming cutting-edge climate and sustainability research and technology into real-world impact is both, one of the central opportunities but also one of the biggest challenges of our time. The green innovation lab is a unique inter-university initiative that brings together the University of Vienna, WU Vienna, AIT, BOKU, the University of Applied Arts, and ISTA to accelerate the commercialization of sustainability-oriented deep-tech innovations.COURSE CONCEPT
In this course, you will learn about theoretical foundations in the fields of innovation, green entrepreneurship, business models/modeling, legal & ethical issues, as well as advanced topics in green technology. In addition, you will learn about approaches to innovation, knowledge creation, and user-centered design.Students work in small, interdisciplinary teams and are matched with leading scientists who have developed new or significantly improved technologies and are exploring pathways toward commercialization and making real-life impact. Each team acts as an entrepreneurial venture team, systematically assessing the market potential of the assigned technology and developing a robust commercialization concept.The course is built around several coaching sessions and workshops, which are structured to be interactive and combine several teaching methods, eg. teamwork, open discussions, individual team coaching, and coaching by external mentors. During the kick-off session, the basic principles of entrepreneurship, business model design, opportunity recognition and tools to be employed during the semester will be presented and discussed. The students will be supported in the further development of their ideas by lecturers and external mentors. Regular presentations of results are scheduled. The results of the start-up planning process will be summarized in a pitch book.LEARNING APPROACH AND CONTENT
The course follows a strongly practice-oriented, hands-on approach. Participants receive training and coaching in key entrepreneurial domains, including:
- Application and customer discovery
- Customer validation and problem–solution fit
- Market and competitor analysis
- Business model design
- Go-to-market strategy development
- Financial planning
- Professional pitching
In parallel, teams work on early communication prototypes and concept demonstrations to clearly articulate the value proposition of the technology.DEMO DAY AND ECOSYSTEM EXPOSURE
At the end of the semester, student teams present their projects at a Demo Day to representatives from Austria’s innovation ecosystem.OBJECTIVES
The course pursues three central objectives:
1- Building interdisciplinary venture teams with the potential for long-term collaboration
2- Supporting scientists in identifying and evaluating market opportunities, enabling well-founded “go / no-go” commercialization decisions
3- Developing a professional business proposal (pitch deck) that can serve as a foundation for grant applications, investor discussions, or spin-off formation.