Learning to found

The Gründungs-Hub Oberfranken (GO!) is a joint project of the four Upper Franconian universities and universities of applied sciences, which is funded by the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts through the “Hightech Transfer Bayern” initiative. GO! supports students and academic staff who are interested in setting up their own business with systematic start-up training. Together, a practice-oriented qualification and networking offer in the field of entrepreneurship and innovation is created, which builds on the existing start-up and innovation infrastructures at the four state universities in Coburg, Bamberg, Hof and Bayreuth. These offers are aimed at students and academic staff from all faculties and aim to teach basic entrepreneurial skills, regardless of background. On May 2, Bavaria's Minister of Science Markus Blume gave the go-ahead for this start-up support program. 

The Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Bayreuth is in charge of developing the qualification programs and digital teaching content. The institute already has a well-developed transfer and innovation ecosystem and now has four professorships. The program content is intended to translate research into action: “Students or employees with a research-intensive background, for example through teaching or their own research, are trained as potential entrepreneurs via the GO! The aim is to develop the necessary entrepreneurial skills and an innovation-oriented mindset in the participants,” says Prof. Dr. Matthias Baum from the Chair of Entrepreneurship and Digital Business Models at the University of Bayreuth, who is responsible for the GO! project within the institute. To this end, complementary services offered by the universities will be networked and made accessible nationwide in order to create increased interdisciplinarity, complementary courses, holistic research profiles and future technologies.

In future, students and employees of the University of Bayreuth who are interested in setting up their own business will be able to take part in practical and networking opportunities offered by all GO! members. In addition to the qualification program, joint innovation and start-up projects in Upper Franconia will also be promoted more strongly. “Practical formats will create a platform for supra-regional encounters for participants and considerably facilitate access to the cross-location innovation ecosystems. The entire program is very practice-oriented, allowing students and employees to follow up on existing or new start-up and innovation projects,” says Nico Au from the Chair of Entrepreneurship and Digital Business Models at the University of Bayreuth, which is part of the GO! hub.