New participation record: Ideas competition at the University of Kassel

From technological ideas to cultural and social projects - the content of the ideas is enormously diverse. The participants come from all departments of the university. As in the previous two years, most of the ideas were submitted by the Department of Economics, followed by the Department of Ecological Agricultural Sciences and the School of Art. This year, there was a significant increase in the number of entries from the Department of Electrical Engineering/Computer Science.

Whether products, services, practical applications for research results, or projects and initiatives -  in the competition, any idea is initially welcome. "The ideas competition is not a business plan competition. An elaborated business concept is not expected. Rather, the initial aim is to cultivate a lively and open culture of ideas at our university and to create a little extra motivation via the annual competition so that the many great ideas of our students and colleagues do not disappear into drawers," says Sandra Wilhelm, project manager for the UNIKAT Ideas Competition.

"The diversity of the ideas, their unconventional character, but also the high level of the ideas show the great creative and entrepreneurial potential of the University of Ideas Kassel," summarizes Jörg Froharth, Managing Director UniKasselTransfer, who initiated the ideas competition eleven years ago. "As UniKasselTransfer, we see it as our task to actively make the university's knowledge and competencies usable for society. The ideas competition makes a very important contribution to this, as numerous successful companies, associations and projects have emerged from the university's internal competition," Froharth continued.

What is the next step for the participants? First, idea sketches will be evaluated by three qualified reviewers. The evaluation is based on the categories "overall idea," "customer benefits," "market opportunities," and "feasibility" and is supplemented by a "tips" category in which practical experience is shared. The ten ideas with the highest score will be given the opportunity to present themselves to a jury. The jury meeting will decide on the final placements.

All interested parties are cordially invited to the final event and awards ceremony on October 24, 2019. On this day, the three first-place winners will be announced in a ceremony. In addition, the top ten will pitch their ideas live to the audience, who will then award an audience prize.

Info and registration shortly under: www.unikat-ideenwettbewerb.de

Contact:
Sandra Wilhelm
UniKasselTransfer
Tel.: 0561 / 804 7252
E-mail: ideenwettbewerb@uni-kassel.de