In November 2020, "Entrepreneurship at the University of Stuttgart" was the first event in the field of start-ups for both of the Clusters of Excellence at the University of Stuttgart. Invited by the Vice Rector for Knowledge and Technology Transfer Herr Prof. Dr.-Ing. Peter Middendorf and the Vice Rector for Research Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jan Knippers, Philipp Häßler (ENI) and Marcel Werle (ENI) provided information on how to start your own company, protect your ideas and where to seek advice. In January 2021, this topic was then continued with a panel discussion on "How to combine first founding activities with your role as a researcher".
Due to the successful events and the interest in the topic, the idea arose to establish a corresponding start-up series for the doctoral researchers in both Clusters of Excellence: The EXC – Start-Up Series was born. The series, which is jointly organized by the Institute of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Science (ENI), the Cluster of Excellence SimTech and the Cluster of Excellence IntCDC, comprises the following components:
- EXC – Start-up Talks
- EXC – Start-up Lectures
- EXC – Start-up Workshops
- EXC – Start-up Q&A.
The aim is to promote the founding of start-ups from research and its results.
What is it all about?
The EXC – Start-up Talks will feature discussions on current start-up topics with active and successful founders from the respective areas of the clusters. Topics will include such as success factors, collaborations and the path from research to market. The discussion, which are organized and moderated by Marcel Werle and Philipp Häßler, involve other experts from the University of Stuttgart’s start-up network.
The EXC – Start-up Lectures are designed to introduce researchers to topics that are necessary for starting their own business. These include legal aspects, IP, financing and market analysis. Experts from within the University and from Stuttgart’s ecosystem will give the lectures.
EXC – Start-up Workshops provide an interactive opportunity for researchers to develop a commercial perspective on their own research and potentially advance initial business ideas based on their research findings. The workshops will apply state-of-the-art start-up methodologies such as lean start-up.
Once a month, the EXC – Start-up Q&A take place. Here, PhD researchers have the opportunity to ask Marcel Werle and Philipp Häßler their questions about starting a business.
Who are they?
Marcel Werle is a start-up coach at the University of Stuttgart and supports students and scientists on their way to founding their own company with expertise in the areas of business models and market analysis. He is currently pursuing his PhD at the Institute of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Science at the University of Stuttgart and deals with experimentation in the context of start-ups.
Philipp Häßler is a technology scout at the University of Stuttgart and aims to identify commercially viable research results and scientists interested in founding a company. He is also the contact person for all questions related to IP in the context of start-ups. Academically, he is interested in the topic of technology commercialization and emerging technologies. He is currently pursuing his PhD at the Institute of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Science.