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Frugal Innovation for Sustainable Global Development

Minor

N.B. (1) Corona provisio (please read this carefully):
The Minor Frugal Innovation for Sustainable Global Developments includes a three months field assignment abroad in selected countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Coming academic year these field assignments will take place from 6 November 2020 until 25 January 2021. Given the current Corona pandemic we have to make a reservation on whether these field assignments can take place. Currently, travel restrictions, quarantines and lock-downs are increasingly issued and imposed across the globe. Also the LDE universities currently forbid students and staff to travel abroad. We cannot predict what the (global) situation regarding Corona will be when the Minor starts in September. With this provision we inform you that the programme of this minor, in particular the field assignment abroad, may be subject to change.

LDE Minor Frugal Innovation for Sustainable Global Development, 2020-2021

The minor Frugal Innovation for Sustainable Global Development (FI4SGD) (30 EC) provides for a multidisciplinary learning environment on frugal innovation, bringing together students from Leiden University, Delft University of Technology and Erasmus University Rotterdam. 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. The Minor is organized by the LDE Centre for Frugal Innovation in Africa. The (academic) coordination of this minor is with the African Studies Centre Leiden, Leiden University. Students follow courses at the three universities.

Frugal innovation is about innovation processes that take account of and aim to overcome resource constraints in communities and societies. Think of societies or communities where poverty prevails and/or settings of overexploitation of (natural) resources, which lead to environmental degradation and climate change. Frugal innovations aim to combine less use of (scarce) resources while maintaining and/or improving affordability, basic functionalities and an optimized performance. Both academics and policy makers increasingly see frugal innovation as a promising way to overcome constraints in, for example, (access to) health, energy water, and food, by and for people worldwide. It could possibly contribute to global societal challenges and themes, for example sustainability, reduction of poverty and inclusion.

In the minor you will critically explore the widely acclaimed potential of frugal innovation to contribute to processes of (local and global) sustainable transformation that could benefit people and planet. You will study frugal innovation through various lenses (development, technology and entrepreneurship), which will make you familiar with the current academic and policy debates on frugal innovation. These lenses will be explored in various courses, which combine literature study with class tutorials and discussions, guest lectures by practitioners, laboratory work, and excursions.

You will not only discover the theory of frugal innovation, you will also apply your knowledge in practice during a 12 weeks field assignment that will be offered by the minor. During this field assignment you will be engaged in real life research on and/or design and development of a frugal innovation. The field assignment allows you to combine your own BSc study background with the knowledge and skills you acquired during the first part of the minor.

Be aware: this is a selection minor for which you can only apply between 1 and 15 April 2020! Click the tab ‘registration and contact’ below for more information on how to apply and register.

Prospectus number: 5000MFRINN
Class number: 1026
Language: English

Courses

Vak EC Semester 1 Semester 2
Kick-off: ‘Introduction to the Minor Frugal Innovation for Sustainable Global Development’ 1
Frugal Innovation for Development 3
Frugal Innovation and Technology 3
Frugal Innovation and Entrepreneurship 3
Field Assignment Preparation 3
Bootcamp 2
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 an evaluate 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

All third year Bachelor's students at Leiden University, TU Delft and Erasmus University Rotterdam who are interested to become engaged in a new and emerging field of studies, and are up for an multidisciplinary challenge and an field assignment abroad. This minor is especially targeted to those who see the mutual benefit of integrating social, entrepreneurial and technological knowledge and skills, and are eager to apply their academic knowledge to practical work and a field assignment abroad.

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 studies, economics, development studies, law, health, housing, water, business studies, industrial design, civil engineering, life science and technology, 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.

This minor is a full-time, 30 EC minor, which runs from September 2020 until the last week of January in 2021. Please, take into account that it is not possible to combine participation in this minor with other studies or retake exams. The minor forms a continuous program with its own exam rhythm and subsequent field assignment, which you cannot break into.

Students must be aware that they have to follow and complete the full 30 ECTS when they register for this minor. 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 make arrangements to enrol and follow this 30 ECTS minor, including the field assignment abroad.

The minor is a selection minor. A maximum of 33 students (ideally 11 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 2020!

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

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 2020.
  2. Submit a letter of motivation (see below for further details) and Curriculum Vitae (CV) NOT LATER than Wednesday 15 April 2020.
  3. If accepted you will be notified by 24 April 2020 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 2020-2021 at LU before 1 September 2020!!

Delft University of Technology (TUD) students:

  1. Register your preference for this minor via Osiris between 1 and 15 April 2020.
  2. Submit a letter of motivation (see below for further details) and Curriculum Vitae (CV) NOT LATER than Wednesday 15 April 2020.
  3. If accepted you will be notified by 24 April 2020 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 Brightspace 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 2020-2021 at TUD before 1 September 2020!!

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) students:

  1. Register your preference for this minor via Osiris between 1 and 15 April 2020.
  2. Submit a letter of motivation (see below for further details) and a Curriculum Vitae (CV) NOT LATER than Wednesday 15 April 2020.
  3. If accepted you will be notified by 24 April 2020 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 2020-2021 at EUR before 1 September 2020!!

Motivation letter and CV

If you are interested to follow this minor you also need to fill a form which serves as a letter of motivation (in English) and upload your CV along with your registration. Please follow this link to fill the form and upload your CV:

FORM

Make sure you submit before Wednesday 15 April, 24.00 hrs. Submissions after 15 April will not be taken into consideration. If you have questions or have difficulties with the link or the form please contact the minor coordination team: minorfrugalinnovation@asc.leidenuniv.nl

The maximum number of students that can enroll in this minor is 33. Besides the quality of the motivation letter and CV, we aim to select an equal number of participants from the three participating universities, ideally 11 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 Minor coordination: minorfrugalinnovation@asc.leidenuniv.nl , Attn. Dr. André Leliveld & Ms. Maaike Westra.