Intercultural Innovations

The IBPC has always been characterised by the fact that the universities do not compete against one another. Instead, students collaborate in mixed teams across cultural and disciplinary boundaries. This fosters unique learning experiences and creates an environment in which new perspectives and working approaches meet, while participants gain a wide range of intercultural insights.

At the start of the ten-day programme, the participants were given a comprehensive introduction to current developments in the field of sustainable energy. Specialist lectures on alternative energy carriers such as hydrogen and synthetic fuels for petrol engines offered insights into the technical possibilities of industrial production as well as the entrepreneurial challenges of marketing such alternative products. Meanwhile, a visit to KAUST’s laboratories demonstrated the research being conducted on sustainable solutions for the transport sector, energy storage and CO₂ capture. This was complemented by a tour of the university’s own recycling company, considered a pioneering project in Saudi Arabia for the reuse of raw materials. An excursion to the electric car manufacturer Lucid provided a striking illustration of Saudi Arabia’s dynamic investment climate: an already operational production hall forms the nucleus of an emerging car plant in the planned city of King Abdullah Economic City, which is currently under development. Within ten years, this new city is expected to grow into a metropolis of one million inhabitants. The project is designed as a cornerstone of a post-oil future. The challenges lie in establishing not only a market for these vehicles in the coming years but also the industrial supplier ecosystem and the skilled workforce required. These insights into cutting-edge research, industrial implementation and the societal transformation driven by the diffusion of new technologies formed the foundation for the students’ further work on their business models.

Building on this, an intensive phase of conceiving, discarding, further developing and refining new business ideas began. In several workshops – from ideation and entrepreneurship to smart risk management – the teams deepened their ability to develop viable innovative concepts and applied these methods to their own project ideas. They were supported in regular mentoring sessions by, among others, Prof. Dr Volker Altstädt (Chair of Polymer Materials), Prof. Dr Stefan Seifert and Christoph Kretschmer (both from the Chair of Technology and Innovation Management). The mentoring was specifically designed to guide the teams from their initial ideas towards a robust business model. Alongside these working phases, cultural exchange and shared activities – such as visiting the old town of Jeddah, a football tournament or an evening boat trip – provided opportunities to get to know one another beyond the project work and to build international relationships.

In the final days of the programme, the teams worked intensively on refining their ideas. Some followed the path that is often necessary in entrepreneurship: discarding first and second approaches, revising their concepts, adding new ideas and taking their projects in new directions. Presentation rehearsals, accompanied by detailed feedback from the mentors, as well as a workshop on pitching and presenting business ideas, helped sharpen the final presentations. The presentations on the final competition day showcased in an impressive way how creatively the students had tackled the challenges in the field of energy and sustainability. The winning team, Future Heat, featuring Bayreuth students Vanessa Nering and Joshua Kaul, convinced the jury with a solution in which surplus solar energy is stored as thermal energy in large sand silos located at industrial sites and used as process heat when needed. This approach links renewable electricity generation with a robust and scalable form of heat storage. Sand, an abundantly available resource, is used to address the issue of temporary surpluses in renewable energy and the demand-based supply of energy-intensive industries.

For many participants, the IBPC was much more than a competition. Student Jacob Krüger (UBT) summed it up as follows: “The IBPC forces you to engage in real exchange – across cultures, working styles and academic backgrounds. You receive feedback on pitching and on aspects of the business plan for which there is usually no time in everyday university life. What I enjoyed most was working with a group of motivated and culturally curious students and forming new friendships.”

Overall, the IBPC 2026 offered the Bayreuth students an exceptional opportunity to gain extensive hands-on experience in international teamwork, to develop innovative business ideas and at the same time to become acquainted with a new academic and cultural environment. The blend of scientific input, entrepreneurial practice and intercultural exchange made the trip a special experience that enriched the participants both academically and personally.

Special thanks go to the supporters without whom the event would not have been possible. Particular recognition is owed to the Ingeborg Gross Foundation, which supported the competition financially with a donation.