At FUAS there are various institutions and third-party funded projects that provide answers to questions from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) – from founding, innovation and growth to company succession.
The Jackstädt Centre Flensburg (JZF), a joint Centre between FUAS and the Europa-Universität Flensburg, combines research, teaching and transfer activities of the economics and business departments of the two universities with a focus on business start-ups and SMEs with the CampusCareer Service.
The researchers involved in the JZF cover a broad spectrum of economic and social science. Specifically, the JZF examines and develops perspectives and solutions for the management challenges of our time together with partners from industry. This is done in co-creative processes, which are primarily embedded in third-party funded and teaching projects. The JZF team holds transfer-related classes and thereby increases the attractiveness of our degree programmes in the areas of business start-ups and SMEs. The courses are tailored to these areas specifically and are open for master’s students of both universities by means of learning agreements.
How can SMEs address future issues systematically? How do we transform existing business models? What role do digitalisation and new technologies play in this? How can SMEs successfully meet the numerous and diverse requirements arising in the context of sustainability? How does our region attract motivated young professionals from the Flensburg campus? And how do students gain access to practice partners where they can make active and competent contributions? These are questions that the JZF addresses with in a variety of formats in the field of SME.
As Schleswig-Holstein’s industry is largely made up of SME, the JZF contributes to a sustainable positioning of the economy in our state by actively promoting innovative start-ups through its existing expertise. Flensburg University of Applied Sciences has established very strong expertise and support structures for start-ups and can offer a wealth of experience in the areas of academic, green, interdisciplinary and women's entrepreneurship.
The German Gründungsradar (start-up radar) evaluates JZF’s start-up support concept as very successful and as one of the most important formats on the Flensburg campus. The "VentureWærft", a support structure operated together with other institutional partners from the region and across the German-Danish border, plays an important role for this success. The JZF’s part in this structure is the Dock1 start-up support incubator, while FUAS more specifically coordinates in the cross- border start-up ecosystem. In addition, the JZF is a member of the Schleswig-Holstein-wide "StartUp SH" e.V., which aims to strengthen the start-up culture in Schleswig-Holstein as a whole.
The third-party funded project TechStartUp@HS-Flensburg (TeStUp) allows for existing laboratories at FUAS to be expanded across and for new laboratories to be created. This is taking place across faculties. The labs are open for all members of FUAS and their own start-up projects and they cover the entire product development chain. From the initial idea generated and developed in the Opportunity Space to series production in the TechShop, prospective founders can pursue an alternative career path here and are supported in realising their ideas making use of the infrastructure, know-how and the Kickstart programme for financial support.
