Every day, new ideas, new knowledge and new technologies are created in the laboratories, workshops and offices of the universities. The Saxon universities of applied sciences (HAW) in Dresden, Leipzig, Mittweida, Zittau/Görlitz and Zwickau have joined forces to form the Saxony5 transfer network so that this expertise can be put into practice even faster and to a wider target group than before.

The five universities presented their strategy and plans for the next five years to around 150 guests from science, business, politics and civil society at the public launch event of the transfer network on May 4, 2018 at the Leipzig University of Applied Sciences (HTWK Leipzig).

Federal Research Minister Anja Karliczek said on the occasion of the launch of the transfer network: "Our universities are places full of ideas and knowledge. It is important to me that we use the results of research and development to improve the lives of our fellow citizens. We are therefore working to ensure that innovations reach people even faster. With Saxony5, five Saxon universities are now tackling this topic with regional companies and civil society partners and forming a dense network across the Free State of Saxony."

Across Germany, the federal and state governments are investing a total of 550 million euros over ten years in the implementation of innovative strategies for research-based knowledge transfer through the "Innovative University" initiative.

"I am delighted that the high level of scientific expertise of the five participating universities has been confirmed with the federal government's funding for Saxony5. The universities of applied sciences always focus on the practical application and thus the concrete benefits of scientific findings. It stimulates research if it is aware of practical application issues, and it helps companies if they are informed about the universities' research opportunities and focal points and know how they can benefit from them. The cooperating universities of Saxony5 will jointly design, implement and communicate their activities for the transfer of ideas, knowledge and technology. In this way, they will provide the economy and society of our state with nationwide networked knowledge and technology transfer," said Saxony's Minister of State for Science and the Arts, Dr. Eva-Maria Stange.

After the welcoming speeches, the focus was on the presentation of the project structure and the implementation concepts of the twelve sub-projects. Framed by a poster presentation, intensive discussions about the potential and impact dimensions of Saxony5's transfer approaches ensued during the subsequent get-together.

About Saxony5: 

The Saxony5 transfer network of the five Saxon universities of applied sciences has been in existence since January 1, 2018 and is funded as part of the federal-state initiative "Innovative University". The participating universities want to strengthen research-based knowledge and technology transfer by intelligently networking their skills profiles and resources in the form of interdisciplinary collaboration and also achieve a new quality of transfer in terms of methodology.

Funding bodies: Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and Saxon State Ministry of Science and the Arts (SMWK)

Funding period (1st selection round): 2018 to 2022

Funding amount Saxony5: approx. 15 million euros for five years

Universities involved:

Dresden University of Applied Sciences (HTW); Leipzig University of Applied Sciences for Technology, Economics and Culture (HTWK Leipzig); Mittweida University of Applied Sciences (HSMW); Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences (HSZG); West Saxon University of Applied Sciences Zwickau (WHZ)

Direct partners:

Cinector GmbH; Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems (IPMS); ICM - Institut Chemnitzer Maschinen- und Anlagenbau e.V.; Naturschutzbund Deutschland, Landesverband Sachsen e.V.; TechnologieZentrumDresden GmbH; Wirtschaftsförderung Erzgebirge GmbH

Sub-project 1: Pro-Transfer Change Management (Prof. Markus Krabbes, HTWK Leipzig)

Sub-project 2: OrgaNetz Transfer (Prof. Knut Schmidtke, HTW Dresden)

Sub-project 3: Co-Creation Lab "Factory of the Future" (Prof. Dirk Reichelt, HTW Dresden)

Sub-project 4: Co-Creation Lab "Networked Mobility" (Prof. Andreas Pretschner, HTWK Leipzig)

Sub-project 5: Co-Creation Lab "Additive Manufacturing" (Prof. Horst Exner, Mittweida University of Applied Sciences)

Sub-project 6: Co-Creation Lab "Supply Infrastructure" (Prof. Tobias Zschunke, Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences)

Sub-project 7: Co-Creation Lab "Agriculture and Biodiversity" (Prof. Knut Schmidtke, HTW Dresden)

Sub-project 8: Co-Creation Lab "Surface Technology" (Prof. Silke Mücklich, West Saxon University of Applied Sciences Zwickau)

Sub-project 11: Cluster for media knowledge and technology transfer (Prof. Christof Amrhein, Mittweida University of Applied Sciences)

Sub-project 12: Business cluster for utilization planning (Prof. Christian Busch, West Saxon University of Applied Sciences Zwickau)

Sub-project 13: Marketplace of ideas (Prof. Tobias Zschunke, Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences)

Sub-project 14: Transfer via minds (Prof. Anne-Katrin Haubold, HTW Dresden)