Innovation in Health Care: Strategy and Impact on the Nexus Education Research

Transition from a professionally oriented educational program of the master in product development to an academic context (the Bologna process) has induced the need to scientifically underpin the outcomes of design processes, as conducted in the educational program. Moreover, the master in product development has opted for science and technology as substantial drivers for value creation. To translate results of scientific research into new products that have value from an economic as well as user perspective, a research and educational line was organized covering topics on ‘innovation in health care’. Our partners in industry, intermediate organisations of both industry and caretakers, other research groups and our own students supported this new track. In this paper, we illustrate how diverse projects are initiated in master theses, organised around different partnerships, and describe the merits for the master in product development as well as other academic partners involved.