SCE wins EIT-funded project "Tandem+" to raise potential at entrepreneurial universities in Europe

Go back

Munich, 23.07.2021. The Strascheg Center for Entrepreneurship (SCE) wins the project "Tandem+" as part of a consortium of eight renowned European entrepreneurship actors with the Portuguese University of Aveiro in the lead. Tandem+ aims at harnessing the entrepreneurial potential of European higher education institutions and paves the way for an international Open Entrepreneurship Alliance for social impact in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Central elements of Tandem+ are "train the trainer" and micro-credential programs for the network partners, with a special focus on countries from the Regional Innovation Scheme of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT).

Tandem+ teaches entrepreneurship to talent, promotes international exchange of talent as well as start-ups, and develops a network of universities, EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) and relevant actors of regional ecosystems with a special focus on countries from the EIT Regional Innovation Scheme. Tandem+ is funded by the EIT HEI initiative "Innovation Capacity Building for Higher Education".

Tandem+ is an acronym of the terms Transformation, Acceleration, Networking, Development, Entrepreneurial Education and Mentoring+, which also reflect the essence of the program. The program builds on the results of HEInnovate (www.heinnovate.eu) and aims to harness the entrepreneurial potential of higher education institutions (HEIs) through a variety of different initiatives.

These include, for example, acceleration programs to foster talent and entrepreneurial activities for innovative cross-university formats, involving regional innovation ecosystems, among various other initiatives. Characterized by a cross-university holistic approach involving students, faculty, researchers and staff, and industry partners, all of these are based on micro-credentials and a common assessment framework for impact measurement in terms of personal development, societal outcomes, and innovation performance. The holistic approach is completed by its cooperative legal structure and a corresponding rewards program.

"The Tandem+ program gives us the opportunity to run our qualification programs and support activities for startups together with international partners, allowing us to scale our activities, engage our students and aspiring founders in an international environment, and at the same time network our regional eco-system with international players. In the future, with the help of a steadily growing network on an international and especially on a European level, we want to contribute to creating an environment together with the young talents at our universities and the partners from the eco-systems and to drive innovations that are suitable to promote added value on a societal level", SCE CEO Prof. Dr. Klaus Sailer clarifies the great ambitions of Tandem+.

Barbara Gabriel, Deputy Director of Internationalization and Cooperation at the University of Aveiro, continues, "Tandem+ reinforces the benefits of international and interdisciplinary teams pursuing real impact of teaching and mentoring talents and supporting start-ups by means of entrepreneurship and openness to other HEIs. This openness will be responsible to create a real Open Entrepreneurship Alliance, with a truly dynamic and growing network dedicated to (and with) other drivers for innovation and entrepreneurship."

Tandem+ responds to the strategic innovation agenda of the EIT Agenda 2021-2027 by creating an innovation ecosystem that goes far beyond the project network and is as dynamic as it is permanently open to expansion. Thus, Tandem+ is aligned with the main mission of the EIT KICs, bringing together companies, research centers and universities under their strategic objectives.

Within the framework of Tandem+, the following eight partners work together:

University Aveiro, PORTUGAL (in the lead) Czech Technical University in Prague, CZECH Republic Dundalk Institute of Technology, IRELAND Fonden for Entreprenørskab, DENMARK Fundació TecnoCampus Mataró-Maresme, SPAIN Josip Juraj Strossmayer University Osijek, CROATIA Strascheg Center for Entrepreneurship, GERMANY University of Economics Varna, BULGARIA.

About the Tandem+ Initiative: The project is funded by the HEI initiative of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) "Innovation Capacity Building for Higher Education". This new EIT initiative aims to strengthen the entrepreneurial and innovative capacity of higher education institutions. The project is funded with €400,000 and will run until December 2021, with the possibility to be extended for another 18 months.

About the Strascheg Center for Entrepreneurship The Strascheg Center for Entrepreneurship (SCE) provides educational and research programs in entrepreneurship, fostering innovation processes and the development of entrepreneurial personalities. The SCE supports start-ups from science and accompanies young companies from idea development to marketable innovation. In this way, the SCE contributes to actively shaping the future of our society and to establishing a comprehensive start-up culture. For more information, visit www.sce.de

About the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) strengthens Europe's innovation capacity by driving solutions to pressing global challenges and fostering entrepreneurial talent to create sustainable growth and skilled jobs in Europe. The EIT is an EU body and an integral part of Horizon Europe, the EU's framework program for research and innovation. The Institute supports dynamic pan-European partnerships, EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities, between leading companies, research laboratories and universities. www.eit.eu

About the EIT's HEI Initiative The EIT's HEI Initiative is a key objective of the EIT under its new strategy, the EIT Strategic Innovation Agenda 2021-2027. The initiative aims to support HEIs with expertise and coaching, access to the EIT innovation ecosystem, and funding to enable them to develop innovation action plans that complement the needs of individual HEIs. Under its pilot phase, the initiative has already funded 23 projects, with the next call expected towards the end of 2021 . www.eit-hei.eu