On September 20, 2024, the first annual meeting of the UNIPRENEURS initiative was held at BI in Dresden. UNIPRENEURS recognizes outstanding professors who are particularly committed to entrepreneurship and university spin-offs. The participants, including Saxony's State Minister of Science, Sebastian Gemkow, and Prof. Ursula Staudinger, Rector of the Technische Universität Dresden, discussed ways to strengthen entrepreneurial culture and technology transfer at universities.

During the meeting, the importance of integrating research with entrepreneurial thinking to ensure regional economic success was emphasized. "The UNIPRENEURS initiative helps to turn spin-offs and the associated technology transfer into economic success stories," said Science Minister Gemkow. Another central topic of the meeting was the critical role of knowledge and technology transfer in fully realizing the potential of research.

The first UNIPRENEURS were selected in 2023 from over 700 nominations, based on a survey of entrepreneurs. The awardees are professors from across Germany who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to fostering university spin-offs. Among the recipients is Prof. Gerhard Fettweis, CEO and founding father of the Barkhausen Institut, who is dedicated to promoting technology transfer and supporting start-ups.

For more information on the UNIPRENEURS initiative, please visit www.unipreneurs.de.