Record in the anniversary year: 78 entries in the UNIKAT Ideas Competition 2018

In the anniversary year of the UNIKAT ideas competition, 78 entries were submitted. A total of 118 people took part in the competition as individuals or in teams.  The suspense at the tenth edition of the ideas competition lasted until the very end: more than half of the ideas were uploaded to the online portal in the last 24 hours before the end of the registration period, so it was not clear until a good two hours before the end of the competition that the previous participation record of 59 ideas had been broken.
"The record number of participants in the UNIKAT Ideas Competition 2018 impressively demonstrates how well the University of Kassel is positioned in the transfer of knowledge to society. Research, practical application and the path towards business start-ups accompanied by the university complement each other excellently," said Dr. Oliver Fromm, Chancellor of the University of Kassel.

The balance after 10 years of the UNIKAT ideas competition also bears witness to this. More than 400 idea sketches have been submitted since 2009, and numerous successful companies, associations and projects have emerged from the university's internal competition.

This year, ideas were submitted from all departments of the University of Kassel. Numerically superior - as in the two previous years - are the ideas of participants from the Department of Economics, closely followed by the School of Art and the Department of Ecological Agricultural Sciences. There was a significant increase in participation this year in the Department of Architecture, Urban and Landscape Planning. From technological ideas to cultural and social projects - the content of the ideas is enormously diverse and the participants deal with topics that are important to them. First of all, any idea is welcome in the competition; a fully developed business concept is not expected.

What happens next for the participants?
First, all 78 idea sketches will be evaluated by three qualified experts from the field. The evaluation will be based on the categories of overall idea, customer benefits, market opportunities and feasibility and will be supplemented by a "tips" category in which practical experience knowledge of the reviewers will be shared. The ten ideas with the highest rating (top ten) are given the opportunity to present themselves to a jury. The jury meeting will decide on the final placements.

At the final event on October 11 at Science Park, the top three will be announced in a ceremony. In addition, the top ten will pitch their ideas live to the audience, who will award an audience prize. If the participants would like to pursue their idea further, the UNIKAT team will offer a variety of consulting and support services for the potential founders after the competition.

All interested parties are cordially invited to the festive closing event and award ceremony on October 11, 2018. Info and registration coming soon at: www.unikat-ideenwettbewerb.de    

Contact:

Sandra Wilhelm
University of Kassel
UniKasselTransfer
Tel: 0561 / 804 7252
Email: ideenwettbewerb[at]uni-kassel[dot]de