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Academic Program for Entrepreneurship (APE)

Experience entrepreneurship. Learn entrepreneurship. Implement ideas.

The Academic Program for Entrepreneurship (APE) is one of the leading entrepreneurship, design thinking and innovation programs in Europe.

As an additional and continuing education program, the primary goal is to teach APE participants entrepreneurial thinking and innovation processes, to show them alternative career planning options and to provide them with the necessary tools. If successful start-ups and companies are created during the program, we will be all the more pleased.

Short facts

Target group

Age: 18 - 45+ years
Students from all universities, professionals, trainees, professors
Companies can also register their employees as part of a professional development programme (see below).

Costs

€5,000 per participation 
(can be provided by 100% or 50% scholarship, scholarship not dependent on your grades)
Participation is free of charge for full-time students at Hochschule München.

Time required, ECTS...

2 semesters (always starts in the winter semester)
6-10 h/week

Contents

As an additional and further education programme, the primary goal is to teach APE participants entrepreneurial thinking and innovation processes, to show them alternative career planning options and to provide them with the necessary tools.

Places will be awarded in two rounds. Applications submitted by 30 June will be considered in both rounds. The final application deadline is 1 September.

Apply

Impressions

Here's what former participants have to say about APE.

I was taught skills that I never learned in my studies or anywhere else. These are helpful for both business and professional life.

Anna M.

This is where the entrepreneurs of tomorrow are trained. It's a great opportunity to acquire entrepreneurial skills that also offer huge added value in a "normal" career.

Marco W.

My most important learning at APE was: I can do that too!

Leonie B.

"APE has shown me what strengths I bring to an innovation project as a designer. The different projects have also taken away my fear of familiarizing myself with completely foreign subject areas." 

Felix S.

My tip: Get out of your comfort zone & try new things!

Pheline H.

About

The program was launched in 2008 by the Strascheg Center for Entrepreneurship (SCE). As an entrepreneurship certificate program of the Munich University of Applied Sciences and the SCE, APE offers an additional qualification in entrepreneurship and innovation for professionals and students at all universities.

Over the course of ten months, participants learn methods and tools such as systems thinking, design thinking, lean start-up, prototyping and business modeling. At APE, the focus is on implementation and the methods learned are applied directly.

In a total of three different projects and team constellations, knowledge and experience in dealing with the innovation methods are deepened. On a personal level, participants expand a wide range of key skills such as teamwork and communication skills and can test their leadership skills in particular.

APE works closely with companies and organizations. They submit real-life topics for which the participants develop new products, services or business models - which are often subsequently implemented in the companies. Under certain conditions, there is often also the opportunity to work on their own projects.

Your advantages

Know-how & experience

Learn exciting methods and tools in the innovation process that will take you from a challenge or a problem, from a technology or from a simple idea to a successful innovation in the market. You will deepen your knowledge in three different projects and become more confident and stronger with each experience. You will learn to always think with the customer in mind when solving problems and developing innovative products, services and business models.

Personality & leadership

Your personal skills are challenged in interdisciplinary teamwork: Taking initiative, taking responsibility for yourself and your team, defining your role in the team. How good are your leadership skills? Customer orientation requires empathy and an understanding of needs. The closer you work with your customer during development, the more successful your solution will be for them. Integrating feedback constructively and moving on is a key experience in APE.

Community & Network

Many graduates remain connected to APE and enrich our program as coaches, speakers or project partners. APE alumni visit the current cohort once a month. They work together with the current APE teams on their tasks, give feedback, work on their own projects or exchange ideas over pizza and beer. Many APE alumni found companies together or hire other graduates as employees. There are also regular exclusive alumni get-togethers with interesting external guests.

International experience

Thinking outside the box also means exchanging ideas with people from other cultures. By participating in APE, you will expand your intercultural experience. Firstly, through the APE International Bootcamp (compulsory module), which takes place here in Munich. Secondly, through exclusive multi-day workshops abroad (optional). These workshops have so far taken place in Edinburgh, Scotland (Product Design // Edinburgh Napier University), Barcelona (Service Design // ELISAVA University) or Bordeaux, France (Cultural Entrepreneurship // Goethe Institute).

(These free workshops are organized exclusively for APE participants, but are not mandatory for obtaining the certificate. The workshops are free of charge. Flight and accommodation must be paid by the participants themselves).

Program schedule

Semester #1 (Entrepreneurship Module)

In the first semester, you will learn the basics of our innovation process. This includes methods of qualitative user research, systems thinking, design thinking, prototyping and business model development. The framework is either a start-up project or a project with a company. Through additional exclusive workshops with experts from various fields, you will expand your horizons and your entrepreneurship skills (Entrepreneurship Module).

 

International Bootcamp (International Module)

In the International Bootcamp, you will deepen your know-how and experience from the first project in an international context and act as an internal team coach. For one week, we work in English-speaking teams on a new topic or challenge.

 

Semester #2 (Intrapreneurship Module)

In the second semester, you will apply your growing skills to a company project. Our corporate partners submit various challenges and topics for which you and your new team develop and test innovative solutions and business models. The tasks come from a wide range of industries. Many of the solutions developed in APE are later implemented in or by the companies. Often with the APE team involved (intrapreneurship module).

The APE Mentorship Program

The APE Mentorship Program has been in place since the 2020/21 program year. Each APE participant is assigned a personal mentor for the entire program year. Mentee and mentor usually meet once a month for a personal discussion or exchange. This is primarily about the personal development and career planning of the APE participants, not about the APE projects to be worked on. The mentors are all founders themselves, managing directors of various companies, experts and managers from different industries and fields or professors. The assignment is made at the start of the program by the APE program management, in consultation with the mentors and mentees.

Time required

APE continuing education is time-consuming. All workshops and seminars are planned in such a way that participation is also possible alongside regular studies or work. Our workshops always take place on Mondays and Wednesdays from 18:00 to 21:00 on the SCE premises. Approximately 10 Mondays and 3 Wednesdays are scheduled per semester.

Due to public holidays and the availability of guest speakers, some dates may also take place on other days of the week in the evening. The bootcamp in the semester break comprises six full days in a row. (Attendance is compulsory during the bootcamp in order to receive the certificate).

All dates will be announced in good time. Participants in the program are expected to be present on the specified dates.

In addition to professional know-how, we also emphasize personal development and the expansion of key skills such as teamwork, communication and presentation skills. In addition to the regular APE dates, exclusive workshops are held on various topics. These are held by top-class experts from various industries, coaches or successful founders.

Applications

The application window for the coming program year begins in spring. Participation in the APE is free of charge for (full-time) students at Munich University of Applied Sciences. A financial contribution of €5,000 is required from other participants.

(Full-time) students from other colleges or universities can apply for a full scholarship, while working professionals and part-time students can apply for a partial scholarship (50%). Motivation and commitment are decisive for the awarding of scholarships, not your grades from your studies. The earlier you apply, the better your chances of a successful application.

To apply to APE, we need a CV, a short letter of motivation (max. 2 pages) and the completed application form.

You can support your application for a scholarship by selecting one of the following tasks (max. 1 page):

  • Which business model fascinates you personally and why?
  • Sit down in a public place, observe and find three problems that should be improved. Choose one of them and explain how you would go about finding a solution.

The available places will be awarded in two rounds. Applications received by June 30 can be considered in both rounds. The final application deadline is September 01. Please send your complete application to ape@sce.de. We will let you know at the latest two weeks after the end of the respective application deadline what happens next and whether you have been selected.

For companies

Participation for companies & their employees

Enable your employees to participate as a further training measure or become a corporate partner with an Innovation Challenge

There are three options available:

 

Innovation Challenge: You would like to bring a topic into the program

You can bring a current topic or a strategic challenge (innovation challenge) from your company into the APE program. An interdisciplinary team of participants will develop innovative solutions for your issue in the second semester - accompanied by experienced coaches and in close exchange with you as a practice partner. In this case, you do not need to have your own employees on the program.

 

Entrepreneurship training: You would like to enable your employees to participate

You can send one to three employees from your company to the APE program. They take part in the program on a regular basis and play an active role in the interdisciplinary teams. In the second semester, they work - together with other participants - on an entrepreneurial challenge submitted by one of the program's partner companies. The participation fee per person is €5,000.

 

Co-Creation: You would like to submit a topic and work on it together with your team

Would you like to submit a topic and also send your own employees to the program to work on the solution together with an APE team? In this case, your employees will benefit twice: from the intensive training and from the direct application of what they have learned to a topic relevant to your company. Here too, the participation fee per delegate is €5,000.

 

This creates co-creation at eye level - between young talent and experienced specialists and managers. At the same time, you promote innovation, methodological competence and team development in your company.

Former Participants

Here you can see a selection of start-ups of former APE participants:

Contact

Morten Edzards Education
International Projects
Entrepreneurship Education

T: 089 1265 3244

Linkedin morten.edzards@sce.de

Morten Edzards joined the Strascheg Center for Entrepreneurship in spring 2015. He is a fulltime member of the SCE qualification team and the program manager of the Bavaria Israel Partnership Accelerator (BIPA). In this and other educational formats and workshops, he uses co-creation, innovation methods such as design thinking and real time innovation, and brings together national and international stakeholders. For several years, he accompanied Start-Up League teams as a member of the start-up support team at SCE, supervised EXIST applications and was responsible for the management of the incubator at the Munich University of Applied Sciences. Morten holds a Master's degree in Political Science and History from the University of Heidelberg and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The focus of his studies was Israel and the Middle East. During his studies and afterwards, he worked in a management consulting firm with a focus on change management.

Downloads & Links

Downloads Registration formpdf
Links Video APE for Students Video APE Virtual Bootcamp 2021 Video APE for Businesses APE Shop
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