Innovative start-ups, young companies and their ideas are indispensable for the sustainable creation of significant added value in a market economy. In addition to technical innovations, social innovations also make a decisive contribution to improving social structures and solving future problems, thereby increasing the quality of life.

Due to their proximity to application and practice and their focus on solutions, universities of applied sciences (UAS) are particularly suited to teaching students and employees entrepreneurial thinking and establishing a practical start-up culture based on concrete research and start-up ideas.

Within the framework of the Research at Universities of Applied Sciences programme, the BMBF uses the StartUpLab@FH funding to fund the establishment and operation of research spaces, with the aim of creating necessary structures and strengthening the internal networking of all stakeholders with regard to the individual funding of entrepreneurial thinking and the establishment of companies at UAS.

The universities of applied sciences apply with a “concept for the support of entrepreneurial thinking and scientific start-up spirit at the UAS” (start-up concept). This concept should describe both the structure and use of the StartUpLabs and the embedding of the StartUpLabs in the further activities of the UAS in the area of business creation. If funded, the UAS then puts these concepts into practice.

The StartUpLab is expressly intended to be the first point of contact and open meeting place for those wishing to set up a company and to offer creative stakeholders special scope for experimenting, validating and testing innovative ideas. To this end, the UAS should provide the equipment and support its students, staff and lecturers with systematic knowledge and individual advice.