Startup! (10cr)

Evaluation scale

H-5

Content scheduling

Spring 2026, 6 joint course meetings

Objective

Student understands the importance of entrepreneurship and gets to test own business ideas in practice. The aim of the course is to provide students with practical experience of entrepreneurship in multidisciplinary teams with students from different universities. After completing the course, students will be equipped to develop, evaluate and exploit new business opportunities. In addition, the course will help students to develop their teamwork, project management and communication skills.
www.nystartup.fi

Content

Start-up activities, Mentoring, Business plan, Management report, Lean Canvas, Pitching, Visibility in Social Media, Press release, Regional fairs, National fairs (NY Startup finals), Annual company report and personal learning diary

Materials

Materials to be distributed or announced during the course (e.g., 2-3 scientific articles).

Teaching methods

Students will participate in common course meetings and in the activities of their course team, as well as work independently. The course does not include lectures or exams. Successful completion of the course requires active team effort, which is supported by course meetings including exercises, group discussions and team sparring. During the course, each team will organise an event or campaign to test the solution idea they have developed. Students will also study selected entrepreneurship topics through scientific articles. Course performance will be assessed through self- and peer-assessment and written individual and team reports. The reports review the course activities and learning and reflect on the course experiences in the light of the theoretical literature on entrepreneurship.
Competences that can developed through the course follow the development of an entrepreneurial project:
1. Personal and Interpersonal Competences: Self-awareness and resilience: Ability to handle uncertainty, stress, and setbacks. Leadership and motivation: Inspiring and guiding a team toward a shared vision. Communication skills: Clear and persuasive communication with stakeholders, customers, and team members. Networking: Building and maintaining relationships that can support the venture.

2. Business and Strategic Competences: Opportunity recognition: Identifying viable business ideas and market gaps. Strategic thinking: Setting long-term goals and aligning resources effectively. Business planning: Developing a coherent business model, financial plan, and operational strategy. Market analysis: Understanding customer needs, competition, and industry trends.
3. Financial and Operational Competences: Financial literacy: Budgeting, forecasting. Resource management: Efficient use of time, money, and human capital. Sales and marketing: Creating value propositions and reaching target audiences. Legal and regulatory understanding: intellectual property considerations, and compliance.
4. Innovation and Problem-Solving Competences: Creativity: Generating novel ideas and solutions; Critical thinking: Evaluating options and making informed decisions; Adaptability: Responding to changes; n the market or business environment; Technology literacy: Leveraging digital tools and platforms to enhance operations.

Pedagogic approaches and sustainable development

Students will recognise entrepreneurship as a wider phenomenon than starting a business. The course will develop students' capacity to create activities that contribute to the well-being of individuals, communities and the planet. By the end of the course, students will have first-hand experience of understanding economic, social and ecological challenges and of developing and testing new solutions that enhance well-being.

Completion alternatives

The course will develop students' skills in designing different ways of implementing solutions. The course will also develop students' teamwork, project management, communication and networking skills. The skills acquired during the course can be used in a variety of ways in working life, for example as a manager in a future-oriented company, as a business owner, or as an expert in a non-profit organisation.

Students will learn about the needs and context of their chosen target groups in multidisciplinary teams and identify problems, gaps and challenges on topics of interest to them. The teams will outline alternative futures, and ideate and develop well-being-enhancing solutions through concrete experiments. In addition, the students will design different implementation models for solutions to create value and well-being in economically, socially and ecologically sustainable ways.

Student workload

Joint course meetings (6 x 3h), independent work by teams (100h) and individual work (38h), for 6 ECTS worth workload.

In order to reach 10 ECTS (+4 ECTS from basic implementation), each individual students has to:
- Find a local SME in the Region of South-west Finland
- Develop a sustainability strategy for this SME, in line with ESRS new regulation

Evaluation methods and criteria

Self-assessment (20%), peer assessment (20%), team report (30%), individual report (30%)

Failed (0)

Students fails to fulfill requirements as set in the Learning methods.

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1-2)

Students fulfills partly the requirements as set in the Learning methods.

Assessment criteria, good (3-4)

Students demonstrate capability in using and developing his/her skills while fully fulfilling the requirements as set in the Learning methods.

Assessment criteria, excellent (5)

Students has a high innovation capability and demonstrate outstanding skills in fulfilling and exceeding the requirements as set in the Learning methods.