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Knowledge transfer at the university: UniKasselTransfer turns 20
Image: University of Kassel.UniKasselTransfer is turning 20 years old. Its foundation in 2004 emphasises the special importance of knowledge transfer in the profile of the University of Kassel: “From the very beginning, the University of Kassel has been committed to dealing with social challenges - in contrast to many traditional universities. 2004 was a turning point in that knowledge transfer became one of the four core tasks of the university - alongside research, teaching and graduate support,” says Chancellor Dr. Oliver Fromm, who promoted the topic under the university presidency of Prof. Dr. Wolf-Dieter Postlep.
With this in mind, UniKasselTransfer was created as a central institution that has continued to develop over the last 20 years: In addition to the core transfer services of technology, patenting and start-up support, further services have been added. For example, UniKasselTransfer supports students on their path into the professional world with its Career Service, opens up access to the university for employed persons and senior citizens with its Citizens' University and organises a wide range of collaborations with public, cultural and charitable institutions. UniKasselTransfer is based in the Science Park building on the campus Holländischer Platz.
Milestones in the two successful decades since its foundation include the establishment of the further education institution UNIKIMS in 2005, success in the Stifterverband’s ‘More than Research and Teaching’ programme (Service Learning) in 2012, the award as an EXIST start-up university in 2013, the opening of the Science Park in 2015, and, most recently, the award as an ‘Innovative University’ in 2022, which has paved the way for the SDG+ Lab at the UNI:Lokal as a second location in Kassel’s city centre.
“Recently, an even stronger collaborative idea has developed: Big societal questions cannot be solved by one academic discipline alone - not even by a system like science,” says Daniel Opper. The current head of UniKasselTransfer explains: “In order to tackle issues on a global scale, we need to find innovative solutions together with other social institutions and offer them to society. This is what our expanded, design-oriented understanding of transfer at the University of Kassel stands for.”
“We want to break new ground in order to intertwine social developments with science and relate them to each other,” says University President Prof. Dr. Ute Clement about the SDG+ Lab, which aims to advance this transfer approach in the years to come: “This will result in new forms of dialogue about research between basic principles and application.”
The history, present and future of UniKasselTransfer will be celebrated with an opening ceremony, music, a reception and more on Wednesday, July 24th, 2024, on the university campus in front of and in the Science Park from 4:30 pm. At the same time, the founding floor of UniKasselTransfer in the neighbouring Gottschalkstraße, which was renovated with funds from the Universitätsgesellschaft UGK, among others, will be reopened that evening. The festivities are open to the public. Registration is still possible:
https://www.uni-kassel.de/einrichtung/ukt/startseite
https://veranstaltungen.uni-kassel.de/event/unikasseltransfer-feiert-20-jahre-jubilaum-4270
Contact:
Daniel Opper
Head of UniKasselTransfer
Universitätsplatz 12
34109 Kassel
1st floor, room 1127
Phone: +49 561 804-2734
Mail: opper[at]uni-kassel[dot]de