The Honours Degree in Entrepreneurship offers the unique opportunity to develop your (business) idea with a focus on digitalisation, interculturality or sustainability. Our interdisciplinary team of experienced practitioners and faculty will guide you through the development and validation of your business model & prototype(s).
The Honours Degree in Entrepreneurship is the first interdisciplinary certificate course supported by chairs from all faculties at the University of Passau. Students from all faculties, Bachelor's and Master's programmes and all semesters can take part.
Participants should already have an initial idea and possibly also a team. Individuals can try to found a team or join a team during the Focus Days. The focus is on developing a business model which, above all, contains a solid business plan and is presented in a comprehensible manner. The seminars and workshops are held both by the participating chairs and by external speakers.
New this cohort: a podcast series that is exclusively available to participants and will be recorded by alumni of the University of Passau from the Entrepreneurship Context (currently in progress). This is intended to combine role models and content input and incentivise participants to put the content into practice.
The 'Honours Degree' in Entrepreneurship offers you the unique opportunity to bring your (business) idea to the next level. Following the overall objective to meet your individual needs as a start-up team, the programme is structured in two intense phases focusing on value creation and value capture. Within each intense phase, you will refine your (business) idea during different workshops and individual coaching sessions. Faculty from the PATEC Start-up Hubs specializing in (digital) technology, sustainability, interculturality, law and business will support you in developing and validating your business model & prototype(s). The resulting business plan and pitch deck will be an ideal starting point for your next steps as entrepreneurs. Complementary to the development of your (business) idea, you will benefit from workshops on "Entrepreneurial Negotiation" or professional "Pitch Training" to improve your entrepreneurial soft skills.
Moreover, experienced entrepreneurs and corporate representatives share their experiences with you and provide hands-on advice. The small number of admitted programme participants ensures intensive individual support by faculty and business partners and allows you to combine your acquired knowledge with hands-on working experience.
Starting with the Focus Days in April 2025 where we are kicking off the certificate programme, the course phase will take approximately 7 months and is expected to end in November 2025.
The Focus Days (24.04.2025 – 25.04.2025) are aimed at anyone interested in starting a business and applying for the 'Honours Degree'. The aim of the Focus Days is to get to know your (business) idea in detail and to evaluate them. On the basis of this evaluation, we will decide who will be admitted to the 'Honours Degree' programme. Together, we will then define which goals you would like to achieve and how the coaches can best support you. At the same time, you will have the opportunity to learn about the contents of the 'Honours Degree', to work on your idea and to exchange and network with other prospective start-ups.
Congratulations to the students of the University of Passau graduating from the certificate programme ‘Honours Degree in Entrepreneurship’ 2023
Have you ever heard of AMP Avenue, EmoGi, GovTech Solutions, HealthyFoodCourt, Pigeon Friends, or VRTourism? These six student teams of the University of Passau have successfully completed this year’s programme ‘Honours Degree in Entrepreneurship’ with the final pitch event on Thursday, 19th October. They had developed a variety of innovative business concepts that address societal and environmental challenges as well as customer problems using entrepreneurship and digital technologies.
Throughout six months, the prospective start-up teams participated in various courses exploring topics, such as market research, business model development, sustainability, intercultural communication, prototype creation, and negotiation skills. Furthermore, the programme includes personalised coaching for every single project from a team of professors, lecturers, start-up and industry experts.
At the final pitch event, the results of an intensive founders’ journey could be seen. After some introductory words from the President of the University of Passau, Prof. Ulrich Bartosch, and Prof. Dr. Christoph Barmeyer, holder of the Chair of Intercultural Communication, the teams pitched their ideas. They were evaluated by a panel of experts – Jan Boluminski (Board Member of Miles and More and Co-Founder of Payback), Dr. Maria Diekmann (Founder Innorivers), Dr. Jutta Krogull (Managing Director Lower Bavaria Region at bayme vbm), and Prof. Dr. Andreas Pfeifer (Honorary Professor, Investor and Business Angel). Special mention should be made of the two participating teams HealthyFoodCourt and VRTourism, from the partner university in Kiev (KNEU), who successfully participated in the ‘Honours Degree’ and continued to develop their ideas despite the ongoing war. Following the imaginative presentations, the students received their well-deserved certificates, accompanied by a motivating speech from Prof. Carolin Häussler. She emphasised: “Entrepreneurs are the driving force behind economic growth, but entrepreneurship goes beyond that. It has the power to make communities more vibrant, inclusive, and secure.”
We congratulate this year’s teams on their successful founding journey, and we wish them well in their future endeavours. In the spirit of Professor Häussler's words: “May your entrepreneurial spirit continue to thrive, may your ideas change the world, and may you always remember the lessons and experiences you gained during your time in the Honours Degree in the Entrepreneurship programme.”
If you like to get in touch with your own entrepreneurial spirit, or want to develop innovative ideas and learn valuable lessons about being a founder, be part of the next cohort in 2024! Get in touch here: www.wiwi.uni-passau.de/en/study/dte/honours-degree/
You can find impressions and further information about the event, this year’s teams and their ideas via this link: https://www.wiwi.uni-passau.de/en/dte/honours-degree/impressions-of-our-cohorts
The goal of PlanBee is to actively support beekeepers and gardeners through digital tools and thus contribute to the protection of biodiversity. PlanBee's offer includes two products: the app "Beekeeper" and a "sensor-supported beehive". The "Beekeeper" app addresses beekeepers and gardeners alike. While beekeepers are supported in their work directly at the beehive, e.g. by a pollen color directory available offline, the app provides gardeners with helpful tips on how to make their garden or balcony bee-friendly. The "sensor-supported beehive" enables beekeepers to observe the behavior of their bees on a daily basis and provides recommendations for their care based on the collected data.
Team members: Andreas Wollinger, Gero Camp, Joanne Coleen Lange, Micha Günther, Pia-Violetta Taufertshöfer, Simon Riester
Neuphony's vision is to use neurofeedback to improve brain health, making an important contribution to improving memory, sleep quality and reducing people's stress and anxiety. Neurofeedback can be easily used at home via Neuphony's convenient headband and accompanying app. The headband measures your brain's electrical activity and the app recommends relaxation and meditation techniques based on sensor data to achieve the client's desired state (e.g., better concentration).
Team members: Ria Rustagi, Bhavya Madan
With CONNI, wearing contact lenses is now for everyone. Whether you are a complete beginner, who struggles with contact lens insertion or an experienced lens wearer looking for a cleaner and more practicable way to handle your lenses.
CONNI is a portable, handy device that makes contact lens insertion easy, clean and comfortable. The precise mechanism of CONNI eliminates typical problems with lens insertion like trembling hands or eye closing reflexes. No mirrors or prior handwashing are needed. The CONNI facilitates clean and secure lens insertion every time, everywhere!
Team members: Maximilian Adelheit, Mariem El-Kaffas, Sebastian Feller & Ahmad Odehs
Lesson Organizer is a system that allows lesson planning in a flexible, well-structured, and more collaborative way. Lesson Organizer is currently available analogously as a set of cards, supported by a web-based app. In the future, the digital version of Lesson Organizer will include a lesson design and management tool. Lesson Organizer saves teachers time and energy, which they can in turn use for the benefit of a better work-life balance and to concentrate more on student-teacher-relationship. The app will be offered as a subscription model in lite and premium version.
Team members: Thea Kakavand & Florian Niederhuber
