Destination
The University of Applied Sciences Burgenland aims to strengthen the spirit of invention, innovation and entrepreneurship among all its stakeholders. The primary target groups are the students and the teaching staff. Other target groups are prospective students, alumni and innovative Burgenlanders in general.
Requirements
UAS Burgenland is predestined to achieve this goal. 2,500 young, innovative and at the same time experienced (part-time study focus) people study in Pinkafeld and in Eisenstadt. Around 1,000 new students join each year, while at the same time graduates remain with the UAS Burgenland as part of the alumni network. Several hundred people are involved in teaching and research. They work at the UAS and implement innovative teaching ideas or innovative business ideas themselves. The subsidiaries additionally expand the UAS Burgenland's sphere of influence in research (Research Burgenland), continuing education studies (Austrian Institute of Management) and career-oriented education (Academy Burgenland).
Thematically, the UAS Burgenland offers a combination of technical subjects and the strong branch of economics that is predestined for innovation.
Strategy
Due to its high proportion of part-time students, the UAS is particularly challenged to support innovation projects with pinpoint accuracy. This requirement, combined with the demand for a personal relationship with students, results in a strategy that is geared towards flexibility and individuality.
Fostering the spirit of innovation and giving young people the courage to take things into their own hands that they would like to improve is something that is close to the heart of UAS Burgenland. That is why the topic of innovation is a companion in all degree programmes, explicitly and implicitly. Implicitly as a requirement of all degree programme directors in the selection of lecturers and teaching content. Explicitly through the integration of course content that brings the topic of innovation and entrepreneurship to the fore. In this way, we have already been able to celebrate very successful projects from courses. In 2018, for example, two teams from the Master's programme in International Economic Relations made it to the finals of the renowned i2b Business Plan Competition. Team BRAstige was delighted with the excellent 2nd place in the end!
UAS Burgenland has an excellent network of external and internal lecturers from a wide range of fields. This concentrated expertise gives founders and inventors a decisive head start. Ideas that come up in courses or are brought to the UAS by students are taken up by lecturers, programme directors and, last but not least, the Vice Rectorate for Research and Innovation, and an individual advisory concept is drawn up. In this way, the UAS Burgenland stands behind some successful start-ups as a silent godmother.
The University of Applied Sciences relies on a strategy of setting an example. To this end, it is involved in projects such as the Interreg project 'SmartUp', which works to network the start-up scene in the Austria-Hungary border region. The project includes basic advice, coaching and mentoring and the establishment of a cross-border start-up community - also known as Startup Pannonia. The Győr-Moson-Sopron County Chamber of Commerce and Industry is the lead partner of this project. In addition, UAS Burgenland cooperates with the Burgenland Chamber of Commerce, Wirtschaft Burgenland, Szechenyi University in Győr and UAS Campus 02.
In 2020, a business plan project from the Master's degree programme in International Economic Relations at UAS Burgenland can look forward to winning the i2b Challenge organised by Erste Bank and Sparkasse together with the start-up service of the Austrian Economic Chambers. "Choose your court" provides a way to digitally connect sports facilities and sports enthusiasts on one platform and promises enormous market potential.
