Opening Week 2012

Start Up!

Leuphana organised a start-up competition as part of its 2012 Opening Week – a European first. 120 teams of students developed innovative start-up ideas and detailed concepts, and had their work assessed by an expert jury. The start-up projects were to be self-sustaining in the long term and offer answers to questions of social and economic relevance. Whether students wanted to start a social business, set up an Internet platform or develop new products, the aim of the Opening Week was to awaken freshers' entrepreneurial spirit before they even began their studies. By working intensively on a project idea of their choice, they learned teamwork skills and how to manage decision-making processes and got a realistic taster of what it means to turn dreams of your own business into reality. Right from the start, it was made clear that self-employment does not just mean setting up a business, but also actively implementing your own ideas and thus shaping both your own life and the society of tomorrow. The Opening Week 2012 was sponsored by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Technology.