StartUpLabs@BO
Project description StartUpLabs@BO
The "StartUpLabs@BO" project began at Bochum University of Applied Sciences in early 2023 and is supported by the German Federal Ministry for Research and Education in the "Research at Universities of Applied Sciences" program. It lasts four years and focuses on improving start-up activities at the university. The "StartUpLab" is intended to be the first point of contact and open meeting place for those interested in starting up a business and to offer creative actors special scope for experimenting, validating and testing innovative ideas. For this purpose, the appropriate equipment will be provided and the students, staff and teachers will be supported.
The four main objectives of the project:
1. Increase transfer and start-up skills at Bochum University of Applied Sciences.
We want to ensure that students at the university can use the knowledge and experience they gain in their studies in practice. This can be achieved by founding companies or working on innovative projects. The goal is to bring the knowledge from higher education into the economy and society. The same applies to employees: We want to help them transfer their knowledge from research out of the university and into society.
2. Establishment and integration of decentralized labs and a central StartUpLab
We set up and network labs at the university where people can develop and try out practical solutions. There will be subject-specific, decentralized labs as well as a central lab - the Makerspace. Here, people will be able to try things out, get creative and gain experience with projects - following the example of the SolarCar project.
3. Increase diversity in startups.
We want to ensure that people from diverse backgrounds have the opportunity to start startups. We pay special attention to women*. So far, they are still underrepresented in the startup scene, but they have just as good ideas as their colleagues*. In most cases, however, structural hurdles and problems stand in the way, which we want to identify precisely in the StartUpLabs project and then clear out of the way. We want our offers to be taken up by everyone. That is why we pay attention to inclusion, family-friendliness and diversity as well as interdisciplinarity in all our offers.
4. Create offers for alumnae* and alumni*
After graduating, many graduates first start working in a company to gain professional experience. After a few years, some of them consider implementing their own ideas and starting a business. We would like to support alumnae* and alumni* in successfully implementing their start-up ideas. With us, they receive the support they need to successfully start their business.
The team
Working in the "StartUpLabs@BO" project:
- Katharina Weidemann (katharina.weidemann(at)
hs-bochum.de ) - Judith Wiemers (judith.wiemers(at)
hs-bochum.de ) - Anil Yalcin (anil.yalcin(at)
hs-bochum.de )
The StartUpLab funding
Many StartUpLab projects at other universities have been around for a while longer than ours. If you want to see how other universities have implemented the ministry's task, take a look here:
The sponsors
