In addition to teaching and research, the Third Mission is becoming increasingly important at universities. The term describes transfer and refers to activities that involve an exchange with businesses, society, and politics. This includes various projects such as cooperations with local authorities, formats such as Citizen Science, or the support of start-ups.
Federal policy currently supports third mission measures at 146 universities as part of six different funding programs. According to DatenCHECK from the CHE Center for Higher Education Development, these include the following programs: Startup Factories, Innovationscommunities, Innovative Hochschule, and T!Raum.
University of Bremen Well Represented in the Funding Lines
With five participations in Third Mission funding lines, the University of Bremen has the most in Germany. The university is an applicant in the Startup Factories, as well as in two T!Raum initiatives. It is part of two teams in the Innovationscommunities program.
Professor Michal Kucera, Vice President for Research and Transfer at the University of Bremen, sees this as an endorsement for the University of Bremen: "The good results show that our transfer strategy is working. We see ourselves as a driver of innovation and a source of inspiration for social and technological developments and are happy to take on this social responsibility."
The Projects:
T!Raum: As part of T!Raum, "#MOIN! – MOdellregion INdustriemathematik" has been supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) since 2023 in order to create transfer spaces for the future of regions. The aim is to bring mathematics to life in schools, industry, politics, and society.
T!Call: Until now, there has been no place in long-term care settings where teaching, research, and care are carried out simultaneously. In the T!CALL cooperation project, care facilities are being developed into teaching care facilities that act as a bridge between academia, vocational training, and care practice and enable a two-way transfer.
Innovationscommunities: The Innovationscommunity Urban Health (ICUH) is concerned with the question of what social and ecological change can look like in old industrial centers. Smartport Transfer (SPorT) is about promoting digitalization in maritime logistics.
Not yet included in the ranking is the "innovate! Center" funding from the Herz Foundation. The University of Bremen is the only university in Germany to have recently been awarded said funding. The aim is to bring research to market maturity more quickly and sustainable solutions for technological challenges will be developed in three pilot projects from 2025 onwards. The Joachim Herz Foundation is supporting the project with up to 30 million euros.
Further Information:
Https://hochschuldaten.che.de/third-mission-foerderung/ (in German only)
https://www.uni-bremen.de/en/university/university-communication-and-marketing/all-news/details/model-region-for-industrial-mathematics-is-being-created-in-and-around-bremen
https://www.uni-bremen.de/en/university/university-communication-and-marketing/archive/details/multimillion-dollar-project-for-better-quality-of-care-in-the-state-of-bremen
https://www.joachim-herz-stiftung.de/en/research/research-and-application/joachim-herz-transfer-center
Contact:
Anne-Kathrin Guder
Head of UniTransfer
University of Bremen
Phone: +49 421 218-60330
Email: anne-kathrin.guderprotect me ?!vw.uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de
