Leuphana recognized as best Start-Up University

Berlin/Lüneburg. Leuphana University Lüneburg is the friendliest mid-sized university for start-up companies in Germany.  This was the conclusion of the Benefactor’s Association for German Science recently published report, “Start-Up Radar 2012.”  With its diverse activities to establish a start-up culture, Leuphana has set an example for other universities - this was the judgment of the Benefactor’s Association.

“We are pleased by this wonderful confirmation of our work,” said Sascha Spoun, President of the University.  “Encouraging entrepreneurial thought and action is one of our particular concerns.  An orientation towards practical actions is part of the university’s mission.  Creating a start-up culture is quite consistent with our goals and helps bring them to life.”

Leuphana was ranked first among the 30 universities surveyed with between 5, 001 and 15, 000 students.  In all areas of support for start-ups, the university demonstrated considerable accomplishment, the Association pointed out.  Especially excellent was the integration of start-up initiatives into the very structure of the university.  Two institutes and four professorships in total are engaged in research and instruction on the topic.  The university’s comprehensive consulting services and its multifaceted awareness campaigns were also given high marks.  “Opening Week 2012” was cited as another example.   With the help of experts from the business world, around 1, 800 first-semester students developed their own start-up ideas during the five-day event.  In terms of the overall number of actual new businesses established, Leuphana lead the field:  In 2012 a total of 221 start-ups proposals were reviewed and a total of 48 were implemented.  These start-up concepts were developed with assistance from across the university’s different faculties.

Leuphana’s placement in the “Start-Up Radar” is already the second high-quality distinction for the start-up friendly university this year.  In the finale of the Federal Ministry for Economy and Technology’s competition “EXIST-Entrepreneurial Culture- The Start-Up Universities” last January, the university was able to prevail with its project, “Leuphana 2020- Humboldt plus Schumpeter.”

Leuphana expects that this project will enhance its profile as a university dedicated to entrepreneurship. All current activities are, therefore, being coordinated centrally in the Entrepreneurship Hub, where they will be further strategically developed so as to give them greater visibility.   The Entrepreneurship Hub will advance cross-disciplinary initiatives for new courses, research projects and consulting services in the areas of corporate start-ups, personal career advancement and knowledge transfer.

Many of Leuphana’s strongest start-up initiatives were generated by the Innovation-Incubator Leuphana, which started in 2009.  This unique, pan-European project for regional development through academic knowledge receives massive support from the European Union.  Its individual measures are aimed at initiating new businesses and industries.  Countless start-ups in the region have grown out of collaborations with the Incubator’s services.