Exploring markets (Wissen für den Markt – WiMa)
The Exploring Markets project encourages researchers at the GEI to consider the knowledge and technology transfer possibilities of their projects, from the initial project idea to the final presentation of findings. The Exploring Markets team tests methods and tools for the successful transfer of knowledge and technology from humanities and cultural studies research.
The project
As a research institute that both conducts and enables educational media research, the GEI hopes to contribute to improvements in education in schools around the globe. It therefore provides transfer activities, based on critical research, for national and international education practitioners, educational media producers and policy makers. These activities predominantly encompass consultation, education and training, and the development of instructional materials. The Exploring Markets project is helping to refine the Institute’s knowledge and technology transfer activities by providing ways to support researchers in generating, implementing and evaluating transfer ideas and describing the impact of transfer activities.
As a result, a methodology toolbox has been created in order to...
... recognise external (and internal) requirements,
... discover and evaluate economic and transfer potential,
... understand market mechanisms,
... support the selection of appropriate economic and transfer routes,
... develop and evaluate innovative and user-friendly transferable products and ‘market’ them in the most favourable way.The Institute’s work
The Exploring Markets project team has so far been able to develop and test a series of methods related to different transfer steps. As all transfer activities are different, these must be individually examined and adapted. Below is an overview of the areas in which the Exploring Markets team has gained experience and in which it can offer its expertise to GEI staff in the form of consultation, workshops materials etc.:
- Identifying transfer potential
- Advice on development and transfer formats
- Target group identification and analysis
- Market analysis
- Evaluation of knowledge and technology transfer
- Project organisation and links with other GEI products
- Generation and evaluation of impact /impact potential
The project team is prepared to find appropriate methods for topics that may be missing from the above list, and for which support or advice is required, and to work collaboratively to test them.
In addition to project-specific support, the Exploring Markets team also accompanies projects teams and individuals through the entire transfer process: from the identification of actionable research findings to the evaluation of a product and its application.
