EN ROUTE TO THE ENTREPRENEURIAL UNIVERSITY

The TU München is facing up to international competition for knowledge and innovation and has adopted the strategic principle of the entrepreneurial university.

An entrepreneurial university is not in pursuit of economic prosperity. It takes a scientific business approach, from which the whole agenda of tuition, research, academic school education, further education and advanced training is derived. This goal can only be achieved through the constant updating of its contents, however, if it is accompanied by a clear investment, cost and performance plan. A good entrepreneur can weather setbacks and lean periods. Instead of acting arbitrarily, he allows himself to be guided by the object of the enterprise.

Ever since 1998, the TU München has been pursuing a gradual reformation process ultimately designed to transform this seat of learning into an entrepreneurial university.

1998 One year before the Bologna Declaration, TUM launched its first BA and MA courses. Students can currently study for a Bachelor's or Master's degree from a range of 60 subjects (2006).

1998 TUMTech GmbH (Technology Transfer and Management) was founded as a university-driven company specialising in the exchange of technology, fundraising, technological consultation, project acquisition in research and engineering.

1998 TUM introduced the first aptitude tests for admission. A two-stage procedure including a personal interview serves to determine which candidates are best suited for the respective TUM course of studies, based on their interests and talents.

1999 The TU München was the first university in Germany to embark upon a professional Fundraising campaign: more than 100 million Euros have been raised so far for new projects in research and tuition via the "Alliance for Knowledge".

1999 The TUM's Alumni & Career Service launched KontakTUM, the worldwide network of alumni from the TU München. Meanwhile the network has grown to over 27,000 alumni.

1999 TUM set up the first tenure track professorship in its Department of Physics.

1999 The "Experimentation Clause" in the new Bavarian Higher Education Act, which was initiated by TUM, was used to introduce a radical reform of the university's constitution. By doing so, TUM paved the way towards an entrepreneurial university. The new TUM organisation model is based on the concept of maintaining a clear division between university operatives (Senior Management and Deans) and the governing body (Administrative Council). The Administrative Council is composed of the Senate (members belonging to the university) and University Advisory Council (external members).

2001 TUM was the first university in Germany to appoint a Chief Information Officer (CIO), as is common in industrial companies, to join the senior management of the university. The university trusts that this move will help to boost the effectiveness of all processes connected with information and communications and accordingly make for considerable savings.

2002 TUM launched its commercially oriented university accounting system based on SAP R/3.

2002 The Center for Entrepreneurship UnternehmerTUM GmbH was launched thanks to the sponsorship of the entrepreneur Susanne Klatten. Its aim is to teach students and researchers the principles of entrepreneurial concepts and approaches at an early stage and to equip them with the basic business acumen required to pursue a career as either entrepreneurs or intrapreneurs.

2002 The TU München launched the ExzellenTUM project to prepare the university for the introduction of tuition fees. In the speech he delivered on the occasion of the TUM's "Dies Academicus" in December 2002, Prof. Wolfgang A. Herrman was the first German university principal to support the idea of university top-up fees.

2002 The TU München was the first German university to launch its own foreign branch campus when it founded the German Institute of Science and technology (GIST) in Singapore. GIST currently offers Master's degree courses in "Industrial Chemistry", "Industrial Ecology", "Intelligent Transportation Systems" and "Integrated Circuit Design" in collaboration with the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Nanyang Technological University of Singapore (NTU). There are also plans for additional courses and an expansion of the academic program to other Asian countries.

2002 TUM set up the mentorING coordination scheme to increase the percentage of women in engineering and scientific professions. The program is aimed at schoolgirls, female students and young women embarking on their careers. MentorING wants to encourage girl pupils to study for a degree in engineering or science, improve the career prospects of female students and enable junior female researchers to cope with the everyday challenges of their new workplace.

2002 The Garching Founder and Technology Center - Garchinger Technologie- und Gründerzentrum (gate) - was launched on the Garching campus as an incubator for start-up companies marketing high-tech solutions in mechatronics, software, IT and communications technology.

2004 With an anniversary donation from Linde AG the TUM set up the Carl von Linde Academy. The Academy's wide range of subjects boosts the students' sense of responsibility while fostering an entrepreneurial mindset.

2004 The IntegraTUM, elecTUM and HIS@TUM programs make the university fit for the new demands placed on the digital infrastructure. The goal is to create a user-friendly, seamless infrastructure for IT and communications technology at the TUM while contributing towards a platform for eLearning and a uniform examination administration system.

2005 In conjunction with the Students' Council, the TUM launched the StudiTUM project with a view to enhancing the conditions for study and overcoming recognised deficits. The senior university management has put funds totalling 500,000 Euros at the disposal of the StudiTUM campaign.

2005 In its newly founded TUM Institute for Advanced Study (TUM-IAS) the TU München has organised its top-level research in 15 selected future-oriented scientific fields. The TUM-IAS is designed to give top researchers at the university sufficient scope, pool the Engineering and Natural Science disciplinary cultures, coordinate the Faculties of Life Science and Medicine, integrate international fellows into the university's spectrum of research and introduce outstanding students to research work as soon as possible after commencing their degree courses.

contact: Presse@tum.de