Leuphana University of Lüneburg and Junior Chamber Germany Launch a Partnership
The exchange between academia and industry should be strengthened
2026-07-17 Leuphana University Lüneburg and Wirtschaftsjunioren Deutschland e.V. will be working closely together in the future. By signing a cooperation agreement, University President Prof. (HSG) Dr. Sascha Spoun, Federal Chairman Heiko Kösling, and Federal Executive Director Ann-Catrin Gras of Wirtschaftsjunioren Deutschland e.V. have established a framework for exchange between academia and the business world. Wirtschaftsjunioren Deutschland is a nationwide and international network of approximately 10,000 entrepreneurs and executives under the age of 40.
The partnership opens up new opportunities for researchers, faculty, and students to engage in dialogue with young entrepreneurs and executives at German companies. At the same time, through their interaction with the university, the Junior Chamber members gain insights into current academic developments and can link these to their practical experience.
Another focus of the partnership is professional development. The Leuphana Professional School, the university’s institution for part-time study and lifelong learning, contributes its expertise and broad portfolio of professional development programs to the collaboration. Through exchanges with Wirtschaftsjunioren Deutschland, the partnership aims to generate new ideas for developing forward-looking educational offerings.
“The major social and economic challenges can only be solved by working together. The collaboration with Wirtschaftsjunioren Deutschland brings academia and business practice even closer together. Through research partnerships, exchanges with companies, and collaboration in academic continuing education, current research findings from Leuphana are directly applied within German small and medium-sized enterprises,” says Prof. Dr. Markus Reihlen, Vice President for the Professional School, Internationalization, Entrepreneurship, and Knowledge Transfer at Leuphana University of Lüneburg.
“Wirtschaftsjunioren Deutschland embodies the drive of a young generation of entrepreneurs to shape the future. The future of our economy depends on well-educated, entrepreneurially minded people. That is why dialogue with universities is particularly important to us,” emphasizes WJD Federal Chairman Heiko Kösling. “Together with Leuphana, we want to inspire students to think and act entrepreneurially from an early stage and strengthen the dialogue between tomorrow’s leaders and today’s entrepreneurs. At the same time, we are building a bridge between academia and business and creating space for new ideas, mutual learning, and joint innovations.”