Talented Master Computer Science students help you with starting up a new software innovation project.
The student team will investigate the software idea (e.g. users, functionalities, etc.), do market research, and create a clear value proposition including a pricing model. The resulting Product Proposition will offer insight in the following product management topics:
Product vision: Direction for the future of the product.
Product definition
Intended use and users
Functional scope
Quality scope
Product (Market) Positioning: Based on the Lean Business Model Canvas
Business view: Business objective(s) and Business case for the full product life cycle.
Please note: The students will not build the actual software as part of this course. Instead, they will extensively investigate what the product proposition can be, which a Product Manager or Product Owner can approach the market with to further validate the idea.
✅ Key features of the challenge
Students per team: 4-5 students
Course: Software Development and Product Management
Programme: Master Computer Science
No. of hours spent per team: 200 hours
Duration: September 4 – December 11
Deliverables: Software Product proposition
Company time investment: Your time involvement is 10-16 hours in total (e.g. weekly (short) meetings, interviews, final presentation, etc.)
Matching fee: €850,- (ex tax, charged by Master Challenge (NOT the university))
📑 Challenge Examples
Any new software innovation project can be suitable. For some examples, see:
A recommender system for a webshop
Software to make one or more business processes more efficient
Data Leakage Detection Software
A tool to better communicate and interact with employees
Patient tracking software
Ticket booking and reservation software
Please note that the students will not build the actual software as part of this course. Instead, they will extensively investigate what the product proposition can be with which a Product Manager or Product Owner can approach the market.
🏢 Requirement for participating companies
Any companies/organizations from any industry can apply
Especially suitable for early stage startups or entrepreneurs with a (validated) business idea but no (finished) product yet.
Available for (bi)weekly update sessions with the team
💰 Costs
Master Challenge charges a matching fee of €850,- (ex tax) per team. This is to be able to further operate and close the gap between education and practice.
❗️You will only be charged when matched to a team.
📨 How to apply
You can submit the challenge directly through the website. Provide a title that summarises the challenge. Subsequently, briefly elaborate on your challenge. See link for a template you could use: https://link.masterchallenge.me/challenge-template or use the challenge generator: https://masterchallenge.me/challenge-generator
🗓 Planning
July 17: Deadline for submitting your challenge
August 22 (or sooner): Receiving message if your challenge is approved by the Course Coordinator
September 5-9: Matching phase
September 5: Student teams rank the challenges
September 9: Challenge owners rank the student teams
September 10: Matches are communicated
September 11-17: Kick-off meeting with your team
December 8-11: Handover and final presentation to project sponsor.
Questions? Want to discuss your challenge before submitting one? Feel free to schedule a call 👉 here.
We're happy to have you on board 👋
Make sure to completely finish your registration (by September 5). Incomplete profiles will not be taken into account.
This will happen next 👇
We will use your input to form well-balanced teams on September 5.
Once you are assigned to a team, get together (offline or online) with your team asap, to discuss which challenges you want to work on and why, and submit this selection. Deadline is September 5.
Subsequently, the participating organizations will rank the teams that want to work on their challenge on September 9.
Finally, our platform will generate and share the team-challenge matches on September 10.
Once you're matched to a challenge, schedule a kick-off meeting with the company representative on September 11-17. (☝️Use this template)
Good luck!