Our Transfer Initiatives

At IMO, we want to promote a better transfer. Specifically, we want to establish a link between science and practice. We understand transfer of knowledge to be a vital link between research and society. Knowledge transfer leads to innovation on both sides, the knowledge sender as well as the knowledge recipient through mutual feedback processes. It is this understanding of reciprocal benefits that motivates us to work at interfaces in transdisciplinary settings. We are active in different settings to ensure the success of knowledge transfer and the transdisciplinary approach on international, national, and regional levels.

The transfer initiatives of the institute are aimed at making knowledge useful. Practical relevance plays a decisive role in our research projects. This becomes particularly visible in our research projects on entrepreneurship training in developing and emerging countries. The goal is to enable people to engage in autonomous entrepreneurial activities with the ultimate goal to promote the economic development of the country as a whole. The most recent activities in this area include projects in Togo, Mexico, and Ethiopia, which were realized in cooperation with the World Bank. Similar projects are funded by the German Commission for UNESCO, the DAAD and the BASF Foundation.

Other examples of transfer projects on the international level are projects on knowledge transfer in international relocations, e.g., in repatriate knowledge management. In collaboration with colleagues from Australia, Korea, and the United States, we seek to identify factors for knowledge transfer after the return from expatriation. We conduct this research in close cooperation with companies such as Airbus, Ford, Infineon, Otto Group, SAP, and Volkswagen. We publish research results on a regular basis in presentations, brochures, and practitioner journals. Similarly, in the field of global mobility, researchers of the IMO lead an academic network funded by the DFG, which forms a national research group on international HR topics. The network seeks to solve practical problems through academic solutions.

Furthermore, we conduct activities that are geared towards transferring scientific insights about ageing societies to provide solutions for ageing workforces, such as bridge employment and continuous education. These activities take place on international and national levels. We transfer research results to regional, national, and global companies, such as Airbus, Deutsche Bahn, Otto Group, and Volkswagen. Our research results are also well received in the political sphere with presentations in workshops within the European Union as well as in the context of the preparation of a G20 summit. We have been invited by “Das Demographie Netzwerk” to present our research results and take part in panel discussions about the development of the silver economy as well as ageing workforce interventions.