Students at the University of Oldenburg are exceptionally well prepared to set up their own businesses. In the latest ‘Start-up Radar’ published by the Stifterverband and the Heinz Nixdorf Foundation, the university has taken first place amongst medium-sized universities.
For the first time, the University of Oldenburg is the top-ranked institution in the latest ‘Start-up Radar’ published by the Stifterverband and the Heinz Nixdorf Foundation in the medium-sized universities category. It had already secured second place in the previous 2016 ranking. Among the 54 medium-sized universities with between 5,000 and 15,000 students, the university scored 11.7 out of a possible 12 points across four categories, thereby clearly setting itself apart from the universities ranked below it. “Based on the indicators in the Start-up Radar, the University of Oldenburg is the leading institution for start-up support amongst medium-sized universities in Germany,” states the study, which has just been published.
“The University of Oldenburg has been renowned for many years for its holistic start-up culture in research and teaching. The latest Start-up Radar reaffirms that we are on the right track and issues a certificate of exemplary performance in all areas examined,” says Prof. Dr Meinhard Simon, Vice-President for Research and Transfer.
Start-up founders receive excellent support
The authors of the Germany-wide ranking, which is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, have for the fourth time surveyed all state and state-recognised private universities on their performance in start-up support. A maximum of three points could be awarded in each of the four areas: integration of start-ups into the university, raising awareness of start-ups, start-up support and start-up activities. The assessment examined, for example, the extent to which start-up support depends on third-party funding, how prominently the topic features on the university’s website, whether there are student start-up initiatives, and how well aspiring entrepreneurs are supported. The Start-up Radar recognises the University of Oldenburg for its outstanding performance, particularly in the areas of start-up support and start-up activities.
The various support activities at the university are coordinated and organised by the Centre for Start-ups and Innovation (GIZ) within the Department for Research and Technology Transfer, in collaboration with the Professorship for Entrepreneurship and the Junior Professorship for Female Entrepreneurship. Among the successful start-ups supported by the GIZ in recent months were the Oldenburg-based start-ups Fan12, ProtectMii and CONLYT ICS. In 2018, they received EXIST start-up grants, a one-year funding programme financed by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and the European Social Fund.
Excellent start-up climate
The 2018 Start-up Radar issues a certificate for an excellent start-up climate at German universities overall. More and more students and graduates are succeeding in turning their ideas and knowledge into their own companies. In total, students and graduates from the participating universities founded almost 1,800 companies in 2017, many of them in the promising sectors of IT services, medical technology and environmental technology.