Increasing awareness of the value and importance of developing entrepreneurial competences and skills among staff and students is necessary for HEIs to become more entrepreneurial and innovative. A good first step to increasing awareness about support for entrepreneurs available on campus is establishing a central communication mechanism for both...
Having an understanding of the current impact of the entrepreneurial agenda is just one part of the result. Assessment of impact, particularly where comparisons are made externally, provides learning which should be taken on by the HEI for future improvements. The leadership should be committed to reflecting on the outcomes of the assessment of...
Entrepreneurial and innovative higher education institutions need to understand the impact of the changes they bring about. The entrepreneurial HEI combines institutional self-perception, external reflection and an evidence-based approach. An HEI that monitors the impact of all activities connected to the entrepreneurial and innovative agenda...
Comparing priorities, strategies, activities and services with peers (national or international) helps identify strengths and weaknesses for the HEI’s self-improvement. Comparison exercises can be challenging as common indicators need to be in place, otherwise bespoke exercises need to be undertaken which can be costly and time consuming. The...
Key performance indicators (KPIs) and / or other assessment mechanisms help HEIs monitor and evaluate how well they are performing. An entrepreneurial and innovative institution may wish to combine institutional self-perception, external reflection and an evidence-based approach in its assessment processes. Such methods of assessment might include...
Incentives and rewards for staff, who actively support the higher education institution in advancing its entrepreneurial agenda are crucial for raising involvement and commitment. Incentives and rewards should be available at an individual level as well as for faculties/departments. Examples include: · Development sabbaticals; · Rewards beyond...
The Rovira i Virgili University (URV) was founded in 1992. It is a public university serving southern Catalonia, a region with 800,000 inhabitants. The university was founded by the Catalan Parliament to unite existing higher education faculties and schools in the Tarragona area under a joint institutional umbrella. In 2015, URV had an annual...
In 2011, the Genome Canada’s Entrepreneurship Education in Genomics (EEG) pilot programme was set up for a three-year period. The programme provides funding for genomics researchers across Canada to educate the community with respect to creating and adding value to their research and to translate research discoveries into marketable applications...
Milan Polytechnic University (Polimi) is the largest Italian technical university. Its primary purpose is to provide students with solid technical competences. Recent studies on student entrepreneurship at Polimi have shown that the technical competences of Polimi alumni frequently generate new business ideas that often lead to start-ups. Thus, the...
University of Aveiro (UA) is a young innovative university that was founded in 1973 and soon after assumed the leadership in the teaching/learning and research in technical areas. The focus is on science and technology, particularly applied research that lends itself to technology transfer into the region. The university’s strap line is "Um Campus...
An international or global perspective is a key characteristic of an entrepreneurial and innovative HEI. Most institutions have internationalisation strategies, or internationalisation is reflected in their overarching strategy. An entrepreneurial and innovative HEI will harmonise its approach to global, societal and ecological challenges with its...
Staff are a higher education institution's key resource in advancing the entrepreneurial and innovative agenda. Many areas of the entrepreneurial and innovative agenda – for example entrepreneurship education, knowledge exchange, measuring impact – are fast moving and require new skills and new knowledge to be acquired, shared and developed within...
Lund University (LU) is located close to a science park in a region with numerous incubators and start-ups in a rather densely populated area. The University uses its strategic location as a source of competitive advantage by strongly collaborating with local established companies, start-ups, student organisations, support services and incubators...
Higher education institutions can build and foster an entrepreneurial culture by recruiting and engaging staff that have strong entrepreneurial backgrounds. This can bring in important human resources (knowledge, skills), as well as financial and social resources (access to networks), which are typically not available inside a higher education...
Resource paper prepared by Ben Jongbloed (CHEPS, University of Twente) Introduction The University of Twente (UT), based in the east of the Netherlands, was established in the year of 1961. It is a medium-sized university with a strong engineering core, next to a social sciences base. The UT is very much known for its entrepreneurial character...