Projects

Bioscience Enterprise Thesis Topics

During the final six months of their qualification the MBioEnt student’s undertake a full-time internship with a bioscience company or organisation. During this time they work on a specific project that is of significance and value to the host company. The project also forms the basis of the research for the students’ Masters theses.

Please note - the topics below are intended to illustrate the diversity of topics that have been studied. The list also illustrates the breadth of bioscience addressed – from drug development to clean tech to medical technologies to agbio and functional foods. It is by no means the total list, nor is it meant to in any way define or limit the range of topics that would be suitable. Please use them as examples and inspiration!

2007 Thesis topics

  • Commercializing Medical Devices in China: An Investigation of the Current Regulatory Environment
  • The Impact of the New Zealand Venture Investment Fund (NZVIF) Investment Programmes on the New Zealand Biotechnology Industry
  • A Generalizable Model for Biotech Market Opportunity Assessment
  • Resource Allocation, Research Maturity and the Commercialisation Decision?
  • Strategic Alliance for New Zealand Biotech Start-ups – Product Commercialization
  • Identifying the potholes on the route to New Zealand Biotechnology Funding
  • What environment should New Zealand provide to attract foreign manufacturing?
  • Analysis of Business Models in the New Zealand Human Health Biotechnology Sector
  • Minimizing Time to Market via Early Consideration of Regulatory Affairs

2008 Thesis topics

  • The influence of global health and well being trends in New Zealand upon consumers' desired value perceptions - A case study
  • The commercialisation of bioinformatics and market entry modes decision making: A case study from a New Zealand (……)firm
  • Evaluation criteria: comparison of biotechnology and high-technology sectors
  • Managing risk in new product portfolio decisions - a case study
  • Biotechnology business models and interfirm collaborations: A quantitative analysis
  • Achieving Fast Growth: Lessons for NZ biotech from NZs fastest growing companies since 2001
  • Successful strategies in botanical drug development companies (-Dynamic capabilities view)
  • Ingredient co-branding: strategic and marketing implications for a NZ supplier of functional ingredients
  • A decision support model for the strategic development of (‘x’ sector of the biotech industry)
  • Application of market opportunity analysis for pharmaceutical in-licensing decisions - a case study on x-drug and y-drug markets in country-Z

2009 Thesis topics

  • The birth and development of biotechnology clusters in Auckland – an analysis of the normative model
  • The nature of boards’ work: Strategising in the context of the converging pharmaceutical and consumer goods sectors in the New Zealand biotechnology industry
  • Demystifying the New Zealand public’s attitudes towards genetic engineering – An empirical analysis
  • Value creation and the role of collaborations, patents and licensing
  • Adoption of disruptive innovations in primary health care – A study of GPs and a gene test
  • The role of product modularity in the design of medical devices – A case study
  • New Zealand’s place in the biofuels world: A comparative analysis of potential feedstocks
  • Intellectual property capture in flavour biotechnology and flavoured products
  • Establishing a framework for competitive intelligence: A case study of a UN-NZ biotech start-up

2010 Thesis Topics

  • Understanding the acceptability of a new product within a social system
  • Intellectual property protections of plant varieties in the context of fruits and vegetables: multiple case studies of protection strategies
  • Understanding the relationships in the 'innovation ecosystem': a biotech manager's perceptions of university-industry linkages
  • The influence of value proposition on supplier switching: a study of food ingredients
  • Reconciling stakeholder perspectives on freedom to operate review in research commercialisation, with case studies in biofuel from algae
  • A theoretical framework aiding in concept selection for new product development in waste stream
  • A cultural analysis of the consumer perceptions of functional foods promoting sleep
  • A study of science and industry collaboration: what makes a successful interaction?
  • New Zealand Business Management in the Agricultural Sector: a case study of factors influencing farmers' decisions in adopting novel technologies
  • A comparative analysis of foreign markets for the international expansion of a New Zealand-based pharmaceutical firm
  • Developing a scorecard model for the ranking and selection of drug candidates
  • A study of the motivations and barriers for overseas Chinese investors to invest into New Zealand's life sciences
  • A study investigating the most effective intellectual property protection (IPP) methods to appropriate value from innovations based on natural sources, for small medium enterprises (SME's) in Australasia
  • Physician power over patient choice: what factors, physiological and psychological, play the biggest role in physician prescription choice in Parkinson's disease?
  • A cost-benefit analysis of GM High Energy ryegrass on the proposed agricultural emission trading scheme (ETS)
  • Capturing value from intellectual property: a study of the commercialisation of university based innovation
  • To collect or not to collect electronic medical data for business analytics, within a medical device organization
  • From disease to regulatory approval: a comparative case study of single product biomarker diagnostic companies' journeys
  • Using freedom to operate searches to develop commercialization strategy: a case study on a New Zealand medical device company
  • Understanding the various variables that are required in the project portfolio optimization from a technology transfer office (TTO) perspective
  • The process of developing a value proposition for radical innovation: a case study

2011 Thesis Topics

  • The Role of Social Media in Strategy for Pharmaceutical Companies
  • The role of peptides in the biotech industry
  • Commercialisation of Health Information Technology
  • A decision making framework for human pharmaceuticals in NZ: building on national strengths while responding to global trends
  • Trends for producing reside-free-crops - where is the fit for biological control products
  • Pricing and reimbursement strategies for life science products
  • Exploring innovative milk compositions/bioactives and analyzing its commercial implications
  • The effect of cultural norms on product, brand and packaging design - a case study of New Zealand added-value ‘x’ products in ‘country Y’
  • A valuation model for enzyme technologies
  • Management Succession in Biotechnology Companies
  • How government (i.e. FRST/MSI) investment in biotechnology and clean technology firms is managed to give commercial success
  • New Product Development Portfolio Management
  • Reviewing and analysing the commercialization options for HyACT/antibodies in an oncology context
  • How can a dairy small-medium enterprise collaborate with public/private research groups to commercialise dairy bioactives in the Asian market?
  • Marketing and distribution strategy for pharmaceuticals
  • Review of current commercialisation pathways for dairy innovation both in New Zealand and globally
  • The Role of Entrepreneurial Networks in the NZ Medical Devices Industry
  • To proceed or not to proceed with a Medical Device Innovation: A decision making framework for technology based SME's