The next generation of researchers and entrepreneurs: a perspective in difficult times

It has never been so vital as it is today for the concept of entrepreneurship to evolve – from business models focused purely on profit to approaches that combine resilience, sustainability and benefits for society. Simply understanding these principles won’t be enough for tomorrow’s enterprises – they will need to be actively embedded in their business strategies. Knowledge and technology transfer and adding value for the customer through individual solutions are what the Steinbeis Network is all about, and the Steinbeis Innovation Center for Material Development has certainly bought into this approach. By carefully matching up students and businesses, it is helping to develop tomorrow’s entrepreneurs today.

There’s no doubt that times are hard at the moment. Everyone’s talking about supply chain problems, the energy crisis, rising raw material costs, inflation, regulatory pressures, economic uncertainty and the skills shortage. Order books are often bare, and SMEs are seeking closer contact with each other again. Networking meetings and regular social gatherings for entrepreneurs haven’t been this well attended for a long time. The participants are adopting very different strategies to get through the crisis. While some businesses are resorting to tactical slogans and proactive marketing to sell their (potential) customers things they don’t currently need, others are banking on all-inclusive ‘carefree’ packages that cover a product’s entire value chain and mean the customer doesn’t have to worry about anything. However, this approach also deprives them of the option to customize the product.

Enabling success through individual support and adding value

What people are actually asking for is individual support with specific in-house processes such as digitalization, adapting to changing market conditions, logistical challenges, or the implementation of new finance and management structures. It is difficult to recruit the right personnel and young talents, especially for jobs requiring high personal motivation and a strong identification with the company.

Universities are also struggling to attract the next generation of students. Student numbers have hit a low, and most current research projects are understaffed and are carried out without student involvement. Working at a university is no longer as attractive as it used to be, and this has been the case for some time now. Today, young people in particular often have other ambitions, not least because their achievements tend to be better rewarded in industry.

The startup scene is another area in need of support. New ideas and the drive to innovate are the order of the day in startups. However, they often lack business partners, customer focus in their developments, the finance to add value, or even basic manpower.

Steinbeis can help to systematically address these challenges. The Steinbeis Network can identify “supply gaps” in businesses and universities and help to fill them in a targeted manner. Steinbeisers will undertake specific assignments, visit on-site in person where necessary, and provide an individual service that bridges the gap between research and industry. This transfer work has benefits for both businesses and universities. The Steinbeis model also offers incentives and attractive prospects for the scant few up-and-coming researchers – people like Johannes Kirchgässner.

Combining theory and practice

Industrial engineering and management/materials engineering student Johannes Kirchgässner turned down attractive offers from industry to do an internship semester at the Steinbeis Innovation Center for Material Development. While there, he worked on a customer powder logistics project for AM Metals GmbH and on a joint materials science initiative between the Steinbeis Innovation Center, the startup MAF Materialanalytik Freiberg KG and the Institute of Materials Engineering at the TU Bergakademie Freiberg.

In addition to the opportunity to work in an innovative field and in a place where research meets industry, other factors such as the flexible working hours and option of remote working also influenced his decision to do an internship at the Steinbeis Enterprise. In the short interview on the next page, he speaks about his reasons, experiences and plans for the future.