Joint Entrepreneurship School

Since 2017, an annual two-week exchange has been taking place within the framework of the Joint Entrepreneurship School (JES) between students of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) in China.

During the Summer School in Shanghai and Karlsruhe, students develop a business model of technologies and patents developed at KIT in workshops in German-Chinese tandems over the period of two weeks.

During the first week, which takes place at KIT in Karlsruhe, Prof. Terzidis will conduct the workshops "Technology Application Selection (TAS)" and "Team Core Values" developed at the EnTechnon Institute. The week will be enriched in terms of content by lectures and workshops on the topic of company formation.

In addition to imparting specialist knowledge on the topic of company foundation and the corresponding skills, the focus is on breaking down cultural and language barriers between German and Chinese students and getting to know the start-up ecosystem of the other country. First contacts between young, prospective entrepreneurs from different countries make this event particularly valuable. In addition, the JES serves as an "action research" platform where the EnTechnon Institute conducts research on "International Entrepreneurship and Cooperation".

The second week of the JES will take place in Shanghai, China. There will be further lectures on topics such as "Business Start-Up", "Financial Planning", "Marketing", "Leadership" and "Intellectual Property". At the end of the course, the participants will have the task of presenting the developed business model in a five-minute short lecture ("pitch").

The curricular program of both weeks will be enriched by joint visits to the local start-up ecosystem, lectures by company founders followed by room for discussion, as well as cultural highlights such as the welcome dinner and visits to local sights.

As a study achievement to be evaluated, German-Chinese teams submit their business models in a final report based on an EXIST application and are rewarded with ECTS points in addition to their experiences and expertise.

 

 

 

Joint Entrepreneurship School 2024

Dear students,

In 2024 we want to organize again a Joint Entrepreneurship School (JES) in China with our partner university Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU). Two weeks are planned, probably in July (Karlsruhe) and September (Shanghai).

In contrast to past events, this time travel expenses to and in China cannot be covered for the students. I.e. the costs for visa, flight and hotel in China have to be paid by the students themselves. Based on the experiences of 2023, these costs can amount to approximately 1000-1500€ (125€ visa, 600-1100€ flight, 300€ hotel). Anyone who would like to contact us confidentially due to a financial hardship is welcome to do so.

Further information will be available in the WiWi-Portal in January.

If you have any questions, please contact Andreas Kleinn.


Joint Entrepreneurship School 2023

Seminarteilnehmer in Shanghai
JES 2023

This year, a Joint Entrepreneurship School (JES) could finally take place again. After a delegation of Chinese students from Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) had visited KIT in July, the return visit to Shanghai was scheduled for September.

The seminar was held in the morning and built on the contents started in Karlsruhe. Besides the development of business models, units on financial planning and marketing, the tandems of KIT and SJTU students created a final pitch. This pitch was presented to a jury on the last day. In the afternoons, accelerator programs like NeoBay and established companies like Alibaba were visited to offer the students insights into the Chinese startup and business world.

Away from the seminar events, participants had ample time to get to know the city of Shanghai better. Participants had the opportunity to admire the skyline, explore local street markets and bars, and sample the region's culinary delights. The trip thus offered students not only professional development, but also cultural insights and personal experiences that broadened their perspectives.

The JES as part of the Global Horizon Program (GHPro) at KIT, which is funded by the BMWK, is a unique opportunity for students to gain applied knowledge, get to know foreign cultures, and make international friends.

Joint Entrepreneurship School 2020 - 2022

In 2020 to 2022, due to the Corona situation, the JES was organized and conducted in a digital format by the EnTechnon Institute together with the Chinese partner, Shanghai Jiao-Tong University (SJTU).

 

The participants were 6-8 master students from KIT and the same number of PhD or master students from SJTU. The event was reduced to one week and took place digitally via Zoom in July.

 

The teaching sessions were held by Prof. Terzidis (workshop conception and leadership), while the organization and project coordination was the responsibility of Allen Mohammadi and Andreas Kleinn from EnTechnon.

 

During the workshop week, the participants worked in tandems (mixed KIT/SJTU) in action learning formats on their own projects. Based on KIT patents, the teams developed a business model and presented it to real investors from Shanghai on the last day of the program.

 

The following workshops developed at the EnTechnon Institute were conducted:

  • "Team Core Values" (how important it is to share the same values in a team).
  • "Technology Application Selection" (a framework developed by EnTechon Institute for technology push innovations).
  • "Business Modeling"
  • "Entrepreneurial Marketing" (how to segment markets for new ventures)
  • "Financial Planning" (how to make forecasts for the next years)
  • "Organization" (how to build a successful organization)
  • "Pitch"

 

Before the start of the JES, an intercultural coach was assigned to introduce the German and the Chinese students to each other's culture and to prepare them for teamwork. A joint session at the beginning of the JES also promoted the efficiency of the teamwork.

 

Since on-site visits were unfortunately not possible, the students had been given the task in advance of presenting themselves, the university, their hometown and parts of the start-up scene in Karlsruhe/Germany and Shanghai/China in videos they had created themselves. The videos were all very successful and entertaining and could thus "save" a small part of the intercultural experience.

 

Guest lectures from Chinese and German companies gave the participants a deeper insight into the dynamics of the innovation and entrepreneurship scene.

 

With the help of digital media, video conferencing programs, self-produced videos and guest lectures, the students were offered an instructive, academically relevant and, above all, safe event despite the adversities, which shows that international cooperation also works via digital media and offers great potential. Nevertheless, there is no substitute for the direct experience of travelling to a foreign country and being in direct contact with the culture.

For further information see the announcement from December 2019)

Impressions