The participants were welcomed with a video message by Petra Olschowski, Minister of Science, Research and the Arts of the State of Baden-Württemberg. The Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space reported on current developments in connection with the Bund-Laender funding programme “Research at UAS”.

Networking and continuity as long-term goals

As with previous status meetings, the exchange of experiences among participants was a central aspect of the event. In addition to many interactive programme components, there were presentations on start-up support at the HdM Stuttgart, the practice of IP transfer at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) and the financing of start-ups by business angels. The Biberach University of Applied Sciences provided a detailed insight into its StartUpLab. The presentation by the Stifterverband was particularly interesting, since it provided data from the Start-up Radar 2025 that was specifically tailored to the StartUpLab@FH universities. This data clearly demonstrated the success of the funding. The long-term outlook was discussed on a panel titled “Here to stay: StartUpLabs after funding” by representatives of three projects that have already expired and one that is still running. 

The projects have transformed UAS and taken support for the early start-up phase to a new level: with a makerspace for creating prototypes, more entrepreneurship in teaching, in some cases even as a separate degree programme, or with a strong network of internal and external partners.

Even though the last status meeting is over, and some participants look back on the past years with nostalgia, the work continues: with the open tasks of those projects that are still running, with networking – in person and bilaterally or in video conferences and on the joint Slack channel – and, of course, with the continuation and further development of the established infrastructure and measures.