First address for start-ups: foundation stone laid for Science Park Kassel

The new innovation and start-up center, which will be built on the university's North Campus by 2015, will bring together all of the university's start-up-related activities. Covering around 6,000 square meters, Science Park Kassel will offer space for 30 to 60 young companies. The facility is intended to send out strong impulses for the further economic development of the city of Kassel and the region of North Hesse and to sharpen the university's profile as a university for start-ups. The construction costs of around 15 million euros are being borne by the city of Kassel, the state of Hesse and the university. The foundation stone was laid on April 29 in the presence of Hesse's Economics Minister Florian Rentsch and Kassel's Lord Mayor Bertram Hilgen .

Rentsch described the Science Park "as a North Hessian beacon." This project is particularly important "in a region that has set itself the goal of offering highly qualified young people prospects". Mayor Hilgen expressed his conviction that this facility would "sustainably strengthen the development of Kassel as one of the most dynamic cities in Germany." University President Prof. Dr. Rolf-Dieter Postlep called the Science Park "both a place and a symbol of entrepreneurial thinking and action at the university." Eva Kühne-Hörmann, Hesse's Minister for Science and the Arts, said: "The Science Park will further stimulate the rapid transfer of innovative ideas from science and research into viable products and applications. The University of Kassel, in particular, as an award-winning university in the federal EXIST competition, is already contributing to this with its outstanding commitment to promoting start-ups and knowledge and technology transfer."

"Making ideas successful!" is the goal of Science Park Kassel. It offers students, scientists and academics from all areas of the university flexible office space and laboratories, workshops and studios with state-of-the-art equipment. In addition, young entrepreneurs will find so-called "co-working spaces," large offices in which several teams can work on their projects. Simply by sharing a space, this model results in exchanges and surprising approaches to solutions. Spaces for an "idea lab" are also being created, where students from a wide range of disciplines network with partners from business and society in joint projects. Here, companies and organizations have the opportunity to get to know creative minds.

Under a common roof, founders can exchange ideas with each other and with entrepreneurs or advisors from the university. The start-up consultancy Inkubator will move into the new building, as will GINo mbH (patent marketing agency and patent information center) and the UNKIMS Management School. The Science Park Kassel is a central element of the concept for promoting entrepreneurial thinking and action, for which the University of Kassel was awarded the title "Gründerhochschule" by the Federal Ministry of Economics last January. The Science Park Kassel will only be home to companies that cooperate with the university in research or teaching.

Economics Minister Rentsch praised the University of Kassel's knowledge transfer system and start-up support as exemplary; the state government provides intensive support to the university in this regard. "It is enormously important to tap existing potential for knowledge- and technology-based start-ups at university locations. After all, start-ups from science make a particularly effective contribution to economic, social and ecological structural change, as new knowledge and acquired skills are directly translated into innovations," said the Economics Minister. The Science Park Kassel will "develop a radiant power for the region - it has a structural-political and a labor-market-political meaning, it contributes to the strengthening of the innovation strength of North Hessen and is not least also an urban enrichment". The Science Park Kassel is an outstanding project in our regional structural policy, which is geared toward intelligent growth, employment and innovation."

The city of Kassel expects the Science Park to provide a further boost to its economic development. "Kassel's top position as one of the most dynamic cities in Germany is also due in large part to the effects of the university. The Science Park Kassel will reinforce this even further," explained Kassel's Lord Mayor Hilgen. Demographic change will lead to an increased demand for skilled workers in the coming years. Companies need specialist knowledge and qualified workers. SMEs in particular, for which their own research and development is often too expensive, need a good education and science system, and they need proximity to universities. Hilgen: "Promoting start-ups from within the university will create additional jobs in Kassel."

In addition to the goal of creating highly qualified jobs and increasing the loyalty of university graduates to the region, Kassel's city treasurer, Dr. Jürgen Barthel, hopes for another positive aspect: "We assume that, in addition to the highly qualified jobs, jobs in the middle and lower wage segments will also be created in the medium to long term, and that these positive aspects will also and especially have an impact in the neighboring district to the north." According to City Treasurer Dr. Barthel, the Science Park will unleash a significant structural impetus for the district and the city.

University President Postlep sees the construction of the Science Park as a "milestone in the development of the university." Postlep outlines the future development by saying: "The training of entrepreneurial skills, the identification of entrepreneurial ideas and talents, the support in the implementation of entrepreneurial ideas and their financing in very early phases will be expanded in the coming years for the entire breadth of our university. The Science Park Kassel will create a visible venue for the startup-profiled University of Kassel, but also overall for the knowledge transfer strategy on campus." Science also benefits via a feedback loop, he said. "As a rule, company founders remain close partners of their university, and the joint work repeatedly fertilizes research as well," Postlep said.

Dr. Oliver Fromm, who together with Dr. Gerold Kreuter forms the management of Science Park GmbH, emphasized the location quality of the center: "The professional and creative environment and the proximity to the university make Science Park Kassel the leading location for innovative start-up companies. Here, founders and companies from a wide range of industries and sectors find an ideal environment for the successful development of their business ideas and profitable networking with others."

The building owner, sponsor and operator is Science Park Kassel GmbH, which was founded specifically for this purpose and is owned 50 percent each by the city of Kassel and the University of Kassel. The city of Kassel is contributing around seven million euros, the state of Hesse around 7.5 million euros (from the European Regional Development Fund ERDF) and the university around 0.5 million euros. The managing directors are Dr. Oliver Fromm, head of the UniKasselTransfer knowledge transfer facility, and Dr. Gerold Kreuter, managing director of the FIDT Kassel technology and start-up center on Kassel's Marbachshöhe.

The new four-story building of Science Park Kassel is an essential part of the growing Campus North. The interplay of glass, exposed concrete surfaces and colored, refined aluminum determines the building's external appearance and ensures its harmonious integration into the campus architecture. The building is divided by two interior courtyards. The southwestern courtyard serves as the entrance zone. The northern courtyard allows natural lighting and ventilation down to the basement level. The building is being realized by the Stuttgart office of Birk Heilmeyer und Frenzel Architekten.

Info

Dr. Oliver Fromm

Managing Director Science Park Kassel GmbH

Tel 0561 804 2734, Mail: ofromm@uni-kassel.de

Marion Jäkle

Press Office Hessian Ministry of Economics, Transport and Regional Development

Kaiser-Friedrich-Ring 75, 65185 Wiesbaden, Germany

Tel 0611 815 2023, Fax 0611 815 2227, Mail: marion.jaekle@hmwvl.hessen.de

www.wirtschaft.hessen.de