FH-Impuls: Transfer Workshop 2019 : Date:
On 14 and 15 May, the representatives of the FH-Impuls partnerships met at the Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt for the Transfer Workshop 2019. According to the motto ‘Strategic Partnerships with the Industry – Involving Industry Partners’, they exchanged views on issues relating to the successful networking of universities of applied sciences (UAS) with companies.
FH-Impuls is one of the central funding lines of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) for universities of applied sciences with a strong research focus. Ten so-called impulse partnerships are currently being funded, in the framework of which 80 cooperative research projects are now under way with the involvement of 12 UAS and around 140 companies. So far, the German government has provided 44.5 million euros for the partnerships.
This remarkable sum shows that the participating UAS have been successful in mobilising companies in their region for research. In addition, FH-Impuls establishes new regional networks beyond existing partnerships: on average, the UAS work together for the first time with about 40 per cent of the companies from the impulse partnerships. Through joint application-oriented research, the public benefits particularly quickly from regional innovations.
Cooperation with industry partners is the core of FH-Impuls, but often also a challenge for those involved because the goals of UAS and commercial enterprises are often very different. Therefore, this year’s transfer workshop focused on the integration of practical partners. It was again organised by the team responsible for the accompanying research on FH-Impuls (Technopolis Group, Stifterverband and inspire research).
Around 40 university representatives from all ten impulse partnerships as well as speakers from the industry and research communities met in Ingolstadt to discuss potential obstacles and practical approaches to initiating such partnerships: what expectations do external partners have of the university, and what do they consider important for a long-term partnership? How can contracts with industrial partners be structured? And how does a bilateral cooperation become a real network of partners?
These and other questions were addressed as part of workshops, short presentations and discussion groups. The teams benefit from the mutual exchange and the approaches presented, particularly in the upcoming intensification phase that begins in 2021 and in which the impulse partnerships are to be deepened and gradually consolidated through suitable projects.