Entrepreneurship Education Ecosystems in Engineering and Technology Erasmus Project

Project Title

Entrepreneurship Education Ecosystems in Engineering and Technology

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for higher education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Enterprise, industry and SMEs (incl. entrepreneurship)

Project Summary

Universities, education and societies are undergoing major structural changes, and future employment of graduates calls for innovative integration of entrepreneurship into the disciplinary knowledge and skills of graduates. Technical universities have responded to the multidisciplinary challenges of future education, by building entrepreneurship ecosystems, which can support the development of entrepreneurial skills. It is important to recognize that entrepreneurship per se can be viewed as a specific discipline also in engineering and technology programmes where the core of the educational outcome is based on a strong disciplinary knowledge in technology, engineering and science.

The partners of the consortium aim at enabling each student to be engaged in the entrepreneurship ecosystems and to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. The extent, to which a student adopts such working skills, will vary. Some may end up as experts of in-house entrepreneurship within companies and industry, some as interlocutors between the needs of society and agencies for delivery of hands-on outcomes of emerging innovations, and some may found a start –up and becoming an entrepreneur. Such skills, adopted by graduates, are a crucial drive for future European economy and welfare. Accordingly, for universities of technology, engineering and science this poses a specific demand, as it is not sufficient to link entrepreneurship studies to content and delivery of education. Rather, content and delivery of disciplinary studies must serve as enablers of development of entrepreneurial skills for future graduates.

The overall objective of the project was therefore to provide more graduates in engineering with entrepreneurial ambition, culture and skills (e.g. proof of concepts phase for start-ups). The project also aimed to increase the awareness of the importance of entrepreneurial skills and competences for international engineering education within university ecosystems and beyond.

The specific objectives were to:

1) Develop models for integrating entrepreneurship education into specific engineering and technology curricula at the M.Sc. level.

2) Create university – level and transnational training programs for teachers to integrate elements promoting the development of entrepreneurial skills via specific engineering/technology/ science disciplines.

3) Build a network for Entrepreneurship education by implementing an international joint bridging programme between the Cluster Universities within their entrepreneurial ecosystems.

Seven leading universities (or Faculties at comprehensive universities) compose the consortium in science and technology from seven different countries. The partners are members of the CLUSTER consortium.

The main activities and results of the project were the following:
– Desk study on the state of the art about entrepreneurial education at technical universities including a repository of best practices;
– Development of a toolbox for the academics/researchers/coaches to efficiently and successfully introduce entrepreneurship education in technical curricula;
– Identified strategies and methods to change the attitude of the Deans and programme directors towards the discipline;
– Crete awareness and motivation in this sense among the different target groups within the technical universities;
– Create structure, contents, teaching methods for a joint transnational bridging programme in international entrepreneurship for graduates from technical fields;
– Implement the pilot phase with embedded mobility among a limited number of partners;
– Receive feedback to improve and consolidate the joint programme;
– Run the full version of the intensive courses with the participation of all the partners;
– “Entrepreneurship Olympics” contest with the participation of a number of student teams to get visibility and sponsors through competition;
– Create a permanent network of entrepreneurship ecosystems.

The impact for the participating universities is represented by inspiration and ideas /methods for the integration of entrepreneurial skills into basic engineering/technology/science courses, creating joint courses between the partners, providing case-examples of success-stories for courses and projects, develop an understanding of the entrepreneurial ecosystems of partner universities. Academics from the field have been provided with the needed tools to introduce entrepreneurship elements in their daily activities. Students have been provided with the needed skills and tools to become international entrepreneurs and the labour market will benefit of the presence of these new professional profiles.

The Entrepreneurship network will keep operating beyond the project lifetime by constantly updating and further exploiting the results. Other technical universities have been invited to join the network and to participate in the future editions of the intensive courses.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 378253,25 Eur

Project Coordinator

KUNGLIGA TEKNISKA HOEGSKOLAN & Country: SE

Project Partners

• KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN
• AALTO KORKEAKOULUSAATIO SR
• THE PROVOST, FELLOWS, FOUNDATION SCHOLARS & THE OTHER MEMBERS OF BOARD OF THE COLLEGE OF THE HOLY & UNDIVIDED TRINITY OF QUEEN ELIZABETH NEAR DUBLIN
• TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAT DARMSTADT
• UNIVERSIDADE DE LISBOA
• POLITECNICO DI TORINO