Partner research centers
The Center for Digital Technology and Management (CDTM) is a joint institution of TUM and the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU). Founded in 1998 and as a member of the Elite Network Bavaria, CDTM is a center for interdisciplinary teaching, research, and entrepreneurship with around 75 active students and more than 600 alumni. Each semester, 25 highly qualified and ambitious students from various backgrounds are selected to attend the add-on study program “Technology Management”. CDTM is run by a management team consisting of ten doctoral candidates and is supported by 14 professors of LMU and TUM.
An important node in Munich's startup network
Over the last years, CDTM has developed into an important center for innovation and entrepreneurship in Munich. Around a quar-ter of all former CDTM students eventually found their own company in the field of digital technology. Examples of high-growth ventures include the fashion startup Stylight or the sensor specialist KONUX. CDTM startups continue to proof their success on an international level, for instance with the indoor mapping expert NavVis winning the “FOCUS Innovation of the Year Award” at DLD 2016 or the 200 Million US-$ exit of payment specialist Pay.On in 2015. Due to its expertise in entrepreneurship education, CDTM has taken an active role in the task force for the Zentrum Digitalisierung Bayern (Z.DB) that strives to foster digitization and entrepreneurship in Bavaria. Finally, events like the CDTM Inspire&Dine speaker series that attract over 1000 participants each semester play an increasingly important role in connecting Munich’s startup scene.
Research at the intersection of digital technology and entrepreneurship
The strong focus on interdisciplinary projects and collaboration at CDTM stipulates a multifaceted research agenda that can be exemplified by three research projects in 2015: First, CDTM and the chair for strategy and organization of CDTM board member Isabell M. Welpe received a “Best Empirical Paper” award at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting for their research on how to attract job seekers for startup jobs. Second, research on renewable energy technologies and environmental policy has become a core research topic. In 2015, a review on drivers, barriers, and opportunities of business models for renewable energies by two doctoral candidates from CDTM as well as board members Prof. Picot (LMU) and Prof. Welpe has been accepted for pu-blication by the international peer-reviewed Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. Finally, CDTM published an interdisciplinary study on the future of 3D printing. The study was conducted for the German Commission of Experts for Research and Innovation as part of the Commission’s annual report that was handed over to Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Merging innovative teaching methods with applied research
CDTM strives to combine its research with innovative teaching approaches to create mutual benefits for both students and re-searchers. In August 2015, CDTM hosted a course in the field of Human-Drone-Interaction to analyze the experienced interaction with autonomous systems. Within one week, students from various backgrounds learned basic concepts of computer vision and object recognition to develop four drone prototypes with varying levels of flight autonomy. The applicability of these prototypes have been analyzed in a competition and serve as a basis for a joint research project of two doctoral candidates at CDTM. In 2016, CDTM will strive to strengthen its role as an interdisciplinary research institution by taking an active role in the recently founded knowledge and innovation community “EIT Health”.
Involved academic departments
The Munich Intellectual Property Law Center (MIPLC), a nexus for education and research in the field of intellectual property, was founded jointly by TUM and TUM School of Management, the University of Augsburg and the Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property and the George Washington University Law School (Washington D.C., USA). In order to provide the urgently needed next generation of experts in this field with the necessary training, MIPLC offers an internationally-oriented, two-semester, fee-paying Master‘s program in Intellectual Property and competition law.
The Research Institute for Corporate Management, Logistics and Production in Munich was founded by Univ.-Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. mult. Horst Wildemann and investigates issues at the interface between management and technology. Research areas range from production and manufacturing management, logistics and supply chain management to innovation management, cost engineering and strategic management. Recent research addresses emerging topics such as corporate purpose, data science and resilience management.
For more than 30 years, the research institute has organized the Münchner Management Kolloquium (MMK), Germany’s largest management conference which brings together people from business, academia, and politics to discuss the most pressing issues of our time.
The Research Institute is always looking for motivated undergraduate and postgraduate students to support and lead research projects and to conduct studies for bachelor’s, master's and doctoral theses.
Research
Through a variety of projects, most of which are government-funded, the Research Institute explores new solutions in areas such as data and business analytics, complexity management and innovation management.
Together with other renowned German universities such as the RWTH Aachen, the University of Potsdam or the Technical University of Hamburg, the Research Institute investigates current issues and develops research areas.
Teaching
The Research Institute participates in teaching at the TUM with practice-oriented courses. In the lecture series (Advanced) Topics in Finance and Accounting, executives from leading companies share their best practices and management methods with students.
The advanced seminar Data Analytics in Applications enables students to solve real world business problems using data analytics and machine learning methods.
Knowledge transfer
A key component of the Research Institute's activities is the transfer of knowledge into practice. This is done by involving companies, especially SMEs, in research projects and by validating theoretical studies in an industrial environment.
Discussions with experts on research issues and their practical implications are part of the research projects from the very beginning.