The University of Oldenburg today opened the Start-up and Innovation Centre (GIZ), a one-stop shop for those interested in setting up a business at regional universities. Among the guests was Lower Saxony’s Minister for Science, Prof. Dr Johanna Wanka.
“A university-based, regionally rooted start-up culture raises the profile of higher education institutions in the north-west. It has the potential to be a key driving force behind the region’s economic restructuring,” explained Wanka. The topic of start-ups has been a high priority at the University of Oldenburg for many years, emphasised University President Prof. Dr Babette Simon. “By establishing the Start-up and Innovation Centre (GIZ), we aim to embed the topic of start-ups both substantively and organisationally within our university. In this way, we want to become a magnet for students and academics interested in starting a business, thereby contributing to the innovative capacity and competitiveness of the entire region,” said Simon at the opening ceremony.
In 2011, the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology recognised the University of Oldenburg as one of Germany’s top three universities for start-ups in the “EXIST Start-up Culture – The Start-up University” competition. With the associated funding under the EXIST IV programme, the GIZ is being established in close collaboration with Prof. Dr Alexander Nicolai of the Entrepreneurship chair. Nicolai has been responsible for entrepreneurship in research and teaching at the University of Oldenburg since 2005. For five years, he held an endowed professorship funded by the Oldenburg Employers’ Association (Arbeitgeberverband Oldenburg e.V.), NORDMETALL, the Oldenburg Business Association DER KLEINE KREIS e.V. and the Oldenburg Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK).
The GIZ offers professional advice, coaching and training both before and after setting up a business. Regular events – such as the monthly Start-up Café – explore the topic of starting a business from various perspectives and aim to inspire entrepreneurship. “We want to create a vibrant culture of creativity and entrepreneurial independence on the campus. After all, this provides the breeding ground for excellent research and innovative start-up ideas,” said Prof. Dr Katharina Al-Shamery, Vice-President for Research. Dr Petra Buchholz, Head of the GIZ, added: “Anyone with innovative ideas can sit down at a desk and sketch out their business concept. We at the GIZ then advise on how the idea can be successfully realised.”
In addition to establishing the GIZ, further projects have been developed as part of the EXIST IV programme, which are supervised by the chair of entrepreneurship. These projects aim to further strengthen the partnership with the business community. “As a leading start-up university, we now have the opportunity to attract entrepreneurial talent from beyond the region,” emphasised Nicolai. The key asset here is the regional business community, which is actively involved in many support initiatives. This ensures the necessary market focus in start-up support.
The services offered by the GIZ are also available to students, staff and researchers at the partner institution, Jade University of Applied Sciences. Prof. Dr Manfred Weisensee, Vice-President for Research and Transfer, highlighted: “The collaboration with the Start-up and Innovation Centre provides an excellent advisory service for all our campuses. We expect demand to come primarily from applied research and development projects.”
A panel discussion was also on the programme to mark the opening of the GIZ. Moderated by Klaas Heufer-Umlauf, experts discussed ‘Start-up culture as a catalyst for academia and business’, thereby exploring the creative and economic potential of start-ups emerging from the academic sector.
