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Frugal Innovation for Sustainable Global Development

Minor

Frugal Innovation for Sustainable Global Development, 2019-2020

Are you up for a multidisciplinary challenge? Do you want to combine theory and practice and do you like an adventure abroad? Are you interested in learning about a frontier innovation manifestation, and exploring how this this could contribute to sustainable global development? Would you like to apply your academic knowledge to practical case studies and real-life situations, including an eleven weeks field assignment abroad? If you are answering these questions affirmatively, you are the ideal candidate for this minor!

The Leiden-Delft-Erasmus (LDE) minor ‘Frugal Innovation for Sustainable Global Development’ (30 ECTS) offers in-depth insight into how and under which conditions frugal innovation can contribute to sustainable global development. Frugal innovation refers to the (re)design of products, services and systems to making them affordable for low-income people without compromising on utility and ease of use. It integrates social, entrepreneurial and technological skills. Frugal innovation is increasingly seen as a promising way to overcome constraints in, for example, (access to) health, energy and water for people who live and work in adverse or resource constrained environments, worldwide. It could possibly contribute to global societal challenges and themes, for example sustainability, reduction of poverty and inclusion.

In this minor you will learn how frugal innovation can be defined and analyzed; what frugal innovation implies for technology, entrepreneurship and development, and under which conditions it can contribute to the realization of sustainable global development. You will get the opportunity to bring the acquired knowledge into practice by working in a multidisciplinary team on a field assignment abroad in selected countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

The minor is organized by the LDE Center for Frugal Innovation in Africa (CFIA) and is open to all third-year bachelor students of Leiden University, Erasmus University Rotterdam and Delft University of Technology, regardless of study and disciplinary background.

Be aware: this is a selection minor for which you can only apply between 1 and 15 April 2019! Click the tab ‘registration and contact’ below for more information on how to apply and register.

Prospectus number: 5000MFRINN
Class number: 1060
Language: English

 

Courses

Vak EC Semester 1 Semester 2
Kick-off: ‘Introduction to the Minor Frugal Innovation for Sustainable Global Development’ 1
Frugal Innovation and Technology 3
Frugal Innovation and Entrepreneurship 3
Frugal Innovation for Development 3
Bootcamp 2
Field Assignment Preparation 3
Frugal Innovation in Practice 14
Field Assignment Evaluation & Reflection 1

Structure of the Minor

The minor consists of 30 ECTS. Block 1 of the minor consists of a kick-off, three thematic modules, and a bootcamp and field assignment preparation course which both will prepare students for their field assignment abroad. Each participating university is responsible for one thematic module. The introduction module, pressure cooker and field assignment preparation course will engage lecturers from the three universities. In terms of learning methods, lectures, readings, laboratory settings, and online-learning tools are used in combination with practical assignments.
The second block consists of a field assignment abroad in selected countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America for about 12 weeks. Field assignments are done in groups of three students. Upon return there will be a ‘come back week’ in which students present the results of their field assignment and reflect on their stay and work in the field.

First quarter

Kick-off // Leiden-Delft-Erasmus: Dr. A.H.M. Leliveld (coordination); Prof. dr. C.P. van Beers, Prof. dr. P. Knorringa, guest lecturers

Technology and Frugal Innovation // Delft: Prof. dr. C.P. van Beers (coordination), Dr.ir. L. Lindeboom, Dr. ir. J.C. Diehl, guest lecturers
Entrepreneurship and Innovation // Erasmus: Prof. dr. P. Knorringa (coordination), Dr. G. Gomes, Dr. G. Schouten, guest lecturers

Frugal Innovation for Development // Leiden-Erasmus: Dr. A.H.M. Leliveld (coordination), Dr. Saradindu Bhaduri, guest lecturers

Bootcamp // Leiden: Dr. S. Louwaars (coordination)

Field Assignment Preparation // Leiden: Dr. A.H.M. Leliveld (coordination), guest lecturers from the three universities

Second quarter

Frugal Innovation in Practice (field assignment abroad) // Leiden-Delft-Erasmus: Dr. A.H.M. Leliveld (coordination), supervisors from the three universities

Field Assignment Evaluation and Reflection // Leiden-Delft-Erasmus: Dr. A.H.M. Leliveld (coordination), Dr. S. Louwaars, supervisors field assignments

Target Group

The minor is open to all third-year bachelor students of Leiden University, Erasmus University Rotterdam and Delft University of Technology, regardless of study and disciplinary background. We think the minor is in particular attractive for students in anthropology, development sociology, area studies, international relations, economics, development studies, law, health, housing, water, business studies, industrial design, civil engineering, and technology and innovation (management) studies, and/or for students who want to link their study to or become engaged in tackling concrete societal challenges. We are looking for a high diversity of interests and backgrounds, in order to have strong cross-disciplinary teams in the field.

The minor is a 30 ECTS minor, and when registering for this minor students must be aware that they have to follow and complete the full 30 ECTS. Students from studies at Erasmus University Rotterdam who can only do a 15 ECTS minor but are interested to follow this minor are strongly advised to contact their studies coordinator to explore the possibilities to follow this 30 ECTS Minor. Our experience is that EUR students who did so could enrol and follow this 30 ECTS minor.

The minor is a selection minor. A maximum of 30 students (10 from each university) are allowed to enrol. See the tab ‘registration and contact details’ on how to apply and register for this minor.

Registration and contact

How to register for this minor?

This LDE minor is a selection minor. This means that you can only apply for this minor between 1 and 15 April 2019!

PLEASE READ THE INSTRUCTIONS BELOW CAREFULLY, ALSO THE SECTION ON THE MOTIVATION LETTER.

To apply for a LDE minor, you must be enrolled for a Bachelor’s programme at your home university. If you have been selected to enrol for the LDE Minor Frugal Innovation for Sustainable Global Development, beside an active enrolment at your home university you also need to register as a guest-student at the other participating LDE universities. Leiden University (LU), Delft University of Technology (TUD), and Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR), will exchange the necessary registration information (your name, address, contact details, etc.), but you also need to take action. Therefore, interested students must follow these guidelines:

  • Leiden University (LU) students:
  1. Register for the minor in uSis between 1 and 15 April 2019.
  2. Submit a letter of motivation (see below for further details) NOT LATER than Monday 15 April 2019 to minorfrugalinnovation@asc.leidenuniv.nl
  3. If accepted you will be notified by 26 April 2019 and thereafter you:

  • need to enrol as a minor-student at TUD through www.studielink.nl. Register yourself as a minor-student via studielink.nl. In Studielink, select the minor ‘Minor Technische Bestuurskunde’ (NL) or ‘Minor Systems Engineering, Policy Analysis and Management’ (EN). After the registration you will receive an email with your TU Delft student number and an email with your Net ID. You will need this in order to sign up for the minor of your choice.

  • will be registered as a guest student at Erasmus automatically. You will receive an email requesting you to upload a passport photo, without which you cannot be enrolled as a guest student at EUR.

  1. Make sure you have an active registration as a Bachelor student for 2019-2020 at LU before 1 September 2019!!
  • Delft University of Technology (TUD) students:
  1. Register your preference for this minor via Osiris between 1 and 15 April 2019.
  2. Submit a letter of motivation (see below for further details) NOT LATER than Monday 15 April 2019 to minorfrugalinnovation@asc.leidenuniv.nl
  3. If accepted you will be notified by 26 April 2019 and thereafter you will:

  • receive an email from LU regarding your registration as guest student with the request to activate your UCLN account. After activating this, you can access Blackboard Leiden that will function as the electronic learning environment.

  • will be registered as a guest student at Erasmus automatically. You will receive an email requesting you to upload a passport photo, without which you cannot be enrolled as a guest student at EUR.

  1. Make sure you have an active registration as a Bachelor student for 2019-2020 at TUD before 1 September 2019!!
  • Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) students:
  1. Register your preference for this minor via Osiris between 1 and 15 April 2019.
  2. Submit a letter of motivation (see below for further details) NOT LATER than Monday 15 April 2019 to minorfrugalinnovation@asc.leidenuniv.nl
  3. If accepted you will be notified by 26 April 2019 and thereafter you will:

  • receive an email from LU regarding your registration as guest student with the request to activate your UCLN account After activating this, you can access Blackboard Leiden that will function as the electronic learning environment.

  • need to enrol as a minor-student at TUD through www.studielink.nl. Register yourself as a minor-student via studielink.nl. In Studielink, select the minor ‘Minor Technische Bestuurskunde’ (NL) or ‘Minor Systems Engineering, Policy Analysis and Management’ (EN). After the registration you will receive an email with your TU Delft student number and an email with your Net ID. You will need this in order to sign up for the minor of your choice.

  1. Make sure you have an active registration as a Bachelor student for 2019-2020 at EUR before 1 September 2019!!

Motivation letter

If you are interested to follow this minor you also need to submit a letter of motivation (in English) of maximum 750 words along with your registration. This letter of motivation needs to be sent to the academic coordinator of the minor, Dr. André Leliveld, by using the following e-mail address: minorfrugalinnovation@asc.leidenuniv.nl

In this letter of motivation you indicate your current field of studies, motivate your choice for the minor and present your personal learning objectives. Please, also point out proven affinity you (may) have with (some of) the main topics addressed in the minor.

The maximum number of students that can enroll in this minor is 30. Besides the quality of the motivation letter, we aim to select an equal number of participants from the three participating universities. This will be 10 students from each university. If a lower number of students from one of the universities enrolls, vacant places will be allocated to students from the other two universities (equally spread).

Contact

For general questions regarding the Minor Frugal Innovation for Sustainable Global Development
Please, send your inquiries to: minorfrugalinnovation@asc.leidenuniv.nl
Attn. Dr. André Leliveld & Ms. Maaike Westra.