University of Kassel opens center for entrepreneurial thinking and acting

The center begins its activities well before actual spin-offs and thus promotes entrepreneurial thinking and action even in the context of non-independent work in companies, non-profit organizations or schools. It also supports concrete start-ups by students, graduates or employees.

It bundles and coordinates the research work and teaching offered by various disciplines. This is also evident in the interdisciplinary board of directors, which is made up of representatives from the fields of "Entrepreneurship Education" and "Psychology of Entrepreneurial Action" as well as the fields of "Business Psychology" and "Business Didactics". Other disciplines are to participate in the future. The aim is to anchor entrepreneurial thinking and action as a key competence in various disciplines and to initiate and implement interdisciplinary research topics.

In addition to seminars and lectures, the center also offers workshops and idea workshops. In these events, students learn how to responsibly shape innovation processes. In essence, the aim is to strengthen the willingness to assume responsibility in innovation processes and the competence to successfully carry them out in an organization (intrapreneurship) or in the context of an independent existence (entrepreneurship). In their research, the participating scientists work on questions such as: What drives people to become socially engaged? What personal characteristics inhibit or promote the willingness to start a business? What learning environments do students need in order to get to grips with the subject? What personal competencies are required? What frameworks support responsible business leadership?

"Central qualification in a changing world".

University Vice President Prof. Dr. Andreas Hänlein called the center a "key element" for the university's further development. "Self-initiative, commitment and the targeted transformation of creative ideas into reality are central qualifications in a constantly changing world. We are making our students an offer here that they will find at few German universities. At the same time, the dynamic region of North Hesse will benefit by stimulating spin-offs, innovation and organizational learning. And last but not least, this center will result in research approaches that build on existing competencies and have the potential to make the University of Kassel a leading research institution in the field of entrepreneurship education in the future."

The University of Kassel has been successfully promoting knowledge and technology-based spin-offs for years. All related offers as well as research projects, courses and financing instruments for start-ups are bundled under the umbrella brand UNIKAT . As part of this strategy, the new center is responsible for integrating entrepreneurial thinking and action into research (UNIKAT RESEARCH) and teaching (UNIKAT EDUCATION). The leading director is Prof. Dr. Brigitte Halbfas, who holds the professorship for Entrepreneurship Education. Managing director of the center is Christian Martin.

Symbolic image (Photo: Frank/Uni Kassel) at
http://www.uni-kassel.de/uni/fileadmin/datas/uni/presse/anhaenge/2014/EXIST_2014_0124.jpg

Contact:

Christian Martin
University of Kassel
Research and Teaching Center for Entrepreneurship
Management
Tel.: +49 561 804-4544
E-mail: c.martin@uni-kassel.de
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