Award: Entrepreneurial University

The St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences came in third in the category “Young Entrepreneurial University” of this year’s Triple E Awards, a worldwide distinction for activities in entrepreneurship and engagement excellence in higher education. The prizes were awarded this Tuesday night in Florence.

Extensive Commitment as Best Practice

The far-reaching commitment of the St. Pölten UAS in the fields of research, knowledge transfer, and teaching have one central goal: sharing the results of higher education and intensive research with society and the business world. At the same time, the St. Pölten UAS profits from the valuable input of students, external partners, and institutions.

“For many years now, the St. Pölten UAS has been undertaking wide-ranging activities as an entrepreneurial and engaged university. We are happy that our long-standing efforts are becoming increasingly visible in distinguished contexts at the European level and are recognised as good practice. Our achievement in the Triple E Awards is not only an important confirmation of our successful path but also a great additional motivation for our next steps”, says Hannes Raffaseder, Chief Research and Innovation Officer of the St. Pölten UAS.

These are some of the projects and activities that contribute to the St. Pölten UAS being an entrepreneurial and engaged university:

European University Network

The St. Pölten UAS coordinates the European higher education network “E³UDRES² – Engaged and Entrepreneurial European University as Driver for European Smart and Sustainable Regions”.

E³UDRES² is a European university alliance founded by the St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences together with five other higher education institutions in Portugal, Latvia, Belgium, Hungary, and Romania within the framework of the ERASMUS+ programme. The overarching goal of the project is to promote the development of small to medium-sized towns and their surrounding rural regions towards intelligent and sustainable European regions and to design a model for the “university of the future”.

Innovation Hubs

The St. Pölten UAS is involved in three Austrian innovation hubs. Their purpose is to offer information for companies and further training for their employees and to develop digital innovations. The Digital Makers Hub coordinated by the St. Pölten UAS is establishing a platform that ensures intensive interaction between different Digital Makers, advances the efficient exchange of experiences, and enables the nationwide coordination of the wide range of activities. Moreover, the St. Pölten UAS is strongly involved in the Digital Innovation Hub Ostösterreich of the Lower Austrian economic agency “ecoplus”. The UAS is also part of the Digital Innovation Hub Work in Linz.

Regional “House of Digitalization“

The digitalisation strategy of the province of Lower Austria defines concrete measures to bring the country and its people up to speed for the digitalisation. One central project is the “House of Digitalization”, which sees itself as a digital and physical ecosystem of education, science, economy, and administration.

The House of Digitalization makes it easier for companies to access scientific institutions, enables joint research, and implements lead projects and demonstration projects. In the House of Digitalization, several hubs in St. Pölten, Krems, Wieselburg, Wiener Neustadt, and Klosterneuburg offer their know-how to companies. The St. Pölten UAS coordinates the hub in St. Pölten.

European Network for Innovation

Together with the University Industry Interaction Network (UIIN), the European University E³UDRES² coordinated by the St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences has launched the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Network for Smart and Sustainable European Regions (E.I.N.S.).

While global capacities for innovation are concentrated in only a few urban centres and the big universities compete in research-oriented global rankings, the goal of E.I.N.S. is to promote the further development of “Smart & Sustainable European Regions”. To do this, it combines the forces of the internationally successful University Industry Interaction Networks (UIIN) and the European University E³UDRES².

Start-Up Programme and Initiatives

With the “Creative Pre-Incubator”, the St. Pölten UAS offers its students their own start-up programme which supports them from the project conceptualisation to the practical clarification of business-founding questions. Several teams of students and graduates have already started successful businesses with its help.

The St. Pölten UAS is also a co-founder of the innovation initiative SMARTUP that promotes innovation, start-ups, and entrepreneurship in the St. Pölten region. The city has tasked the UAS with the development of the initiative’s concept and coordination.

Links:

• Triple E Awards
• E³UDRES²
• Digital Makers Hub
• Digital Innovation Hub Ost
• Digital Innovation Hub Work
• Haus der Digitalisierung
• Creative Pre-Incubator
• SMARTUP

Der Digital Makers Hub, der Digital Innovation Hub Ostösterreich und er Digital Innovation Hub Work werden vom Bundesministerium für Digitalisierung und Wirtschaftsstandort im Rahmen des Programms "Digital Innovation Hubs in Österreich" gefördert.