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KAUST and Stanford launch interactive entrepreneurship course

Mar 04, 2020 Innovation

Students in the KAUST ‘Entrepreneurship for All’ course brainstorming ideas.

​KAUST students recently completed a new two-week, interactive course called "Entrepreneurship for All," that is designed to teach leadership, entrepreneurship, and innovation through design thinking. The course, developed by Stanford University faculty through the Stanford Center for Professional Development (SCPD), is the first of its kind to be offered in a Saudi Arabian higher education institution.

The course strengthens students' capacity to act on nascent ideas stemming from their course of study or research. They learn how to apply design thinking to generate prototypes, and eventually, market-ready products. Students are also taught negotiation skills and networking best practices to form the basis of strong business partnerships.

Throughout the course, KAUST students are inspired to approach all aspects of their life with an entrepreneurial mindset. With a focus on teamwork and leadership skills, they can emerge from the class with an understanding of the entrepreneurial process.

"I like to say that entrepreneurship is the new math," said KAUST President Tony Chan.

KAUST students and Stanford faculty celebrate completing the ‘Entrepreneurship for All’ course

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"The innovation skills learned through the practice of developing a startup and commercializing research stay with students throughout their careers. KAUST is collaborating with the Stanford Center for Professional Development to offer this course material to all KAUST students and, hopefully, to students throughout the Kingdom, in the future," he said.

KAUST is focused on strengthening the innovation ecosystems in the Kingdom through education, a transformational force that unleashes the potential of students by changing the way they see the world. The new interactive course is an important milestone in KAUST's contribution to the development of an innovation and knowledge-based economy in the Kingdom.

A core focus of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 objectives is to increase entrepreneurship activity and create new companies in high value-added sectors. KAUST has supported over 240 startups through its entrepreneurship programs and expects this program to help spur the next generation of cutting-edge and deep tech startups in the Kingdom.