The “third mission” is becoming increasingly important for universities. But what exactly is the “third mission,” and what is knowledge transfer? How can I strengthen the concept of knowledge transfer at my university, what strategies do I need to implement within the university, and what kind of political support is required?

These were all questions discussed on March 21, 2018, at the Harnack Building in Berlin. The award-winning projects from the first funding period were invited to the kick-off meeting of the “Innovative University” initiative. In addition to opening remarks from high-ranking representatives of politics and associations, there were interesting expert presentations. Thus, in addition to the very fundamental questions—already raised above—and thoughts on social innovations, practical knowledge and insights were also shared. Notable examples include Prof. Torben Schubert’s study “Universities as a Regional Economic Factor” and the Blue Square initiative at Ruhr University Bochum.

The “Innovative University” initiative of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research is funded with 550 million euros spread over two funding periods of five years each. During the first funding period, 19 individual and 10 collaborative projects were selected. All projects focus, on the one hand, on closer networking between interdisciplinary teams and the public and society, and, on the other hand, on fostering innovations that provide societal added value.

Information on the funding initiative and the participating universities can be found on the new website: www.innovative-hochschule.de.

The Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences is represented by the collaborative project “Saxony⁵” together with the other four Saxon universities of applied sciences. The site manager for Saxony⁵ at the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences is Martin Kunack. After completing his KIA (sandwich-style) degree course in Mechanical Engineering, he worked for several years at Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. K in Schweinfurt and has been employed at the university since the end of February. If you have any questions or are interested in the Saxony⁵ project, please feel free to contact him.