Spin-offs contribute to structural change
Niels Oberbeck, President of the 'Technische Hochschule Nürnberg Georg Simon Ohm' (Ohm), talks in an interview about the transfer of ideas, knowledge and technology and innovation through cooperation in the metropolitan region.
Interview: Daniel Naschberger, Garber Advertising
Mr. Oberbeck, how does the transfer of ideas, knowledge and technology from the Ohm to the metropolitan region manifest itself?
We see transfer as a partnership-based and reciprocal exchange between the university and external players from the Nuremberg Metropolitan Region and beyond. In addition to research-based and business-oriented knowledge and technology transfer, which primarily takes place in cooperation with companies, transfer also includes activities that are explicitly aimed at groups from civil society, political and cultural life and an interested public in the metropolitan region.
What partnerships do you maintain in the metropolitan region?
Many of our regional cooperation partners come from the business world: these include international corporations as well as medium-sized companies, start-ups, craft businesses, trade and interest groups and chambers. Our application-oriented research and teaching benefits from close contacts with companies from the metropolitan region. We also cooperate with local authorities, schools, non-profit institutions, associations and organizations from the fields of social affairs, education, art, culture, politics, sport and the environment. Impulses are carried out of the university, but also into it.
What opportunities arise for the region through the networking of science and business?
As an application-oriented university, we are firmly anchored in the metropolitan region and are known as a professional partner. In transfer projects with industry and society, we are involved in solving the most pressing challenges of our time. Successful spin-offs from the Ohm contribute to structural change in the metropolitan region and ensure that scientific know-how is implemented economically in new companies.
What are some successful examples of innovative Ohm cooperation and transfer projects in the metropolitan region?
The list is long, but here are three. The “Campus Future Driveline” was created together with MAN and FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg and opened in 2023. The jointly funded projects include battery electric drives as well as hydrogen and fuel cell drives. The campus combines the expertise of industry and universities and is intended to enable a particularly effective and rapid transfer of technology from research to application. With the Technology Transfer Center (TTZ) Upper Franconia “Digital Intelligence”, we help SMEs in the region to put AI into practice with tailor-made solutions. The TTZ Nürnberger Land “Smart People - Smart Production”, in turn, will start in 2025. With nine specialized professors, it will support SMEs in the transition from manual production to automated or autonomous systems.
To what extent does interdisciplinarity in research and teaching play a role in promoting innovation?
The transfer activities at the Ohm reflect the university's wide range of disciplines and take into account the heterogeneity of the cooperation partners. Different types and forms of transfer are established depending on the subject area and industry. Interdisciplinarity plays a decisive role in promoting innovation in the metropolitan region and beyond. The diversity of disciplines and degree courses at the Ohm is also essential in this context.
What specifically characterizes studying and teaching at the Ohm in this context?
The fact that the courses are geared towards regional job profiles and fields of expertise. Dual study models and a compulsory practical semester teach our students entrepreneurial thinking and current issues. The completion of Bachelor's and Master's theses as external dissertations in cooperation with companies, organizations or authorities from the metropolitan region is a long-standing practice and offers great added value for both sides. Also in the
As part of the dual study program or further training opportunities, regional companies in particular benefit from the close integration of academic training and practice.
How important is the Ohm's international networking for the region?
We are successfully participating in various international collaborative projects at European level, which also create added value for the metropolitan region. One current research project, for example, is “FOODCoST” for the development of sustainable food systems.
What further developments do you expect in terms of transfer?
In the coming years, the state government's “High-Tech Agenda Bayern” and the “Hochschulinnovationsgesetz” will open up new opportunities and scope for action in transfer activities. Our spatial expansion with the Ohm Innovation Center in the west of Nuremberg also offers new opportunities for cooperation and innovative formats.
ABOUT THE OHM
Nuremberg Institute of Technology Georg Simon Ohm (Ohm) is a university of applied sciences. With around 13,000 students, it is one of the largest of its kind in Germany. The Ohm is a place of opportunity for research, teaching and lifelong learning: it researches the key issues of our society and develops and implements ideas for the world of today and tomorrow. It has a strong impact in the Nuremberg Metropolitan Region and beyond. Modern teaching and learning formats as well as the broad and practice-oriented range of courses open up excellent career prospects for students.
Transfer in figures:
- Around 3000 final theses on practical topics
- Over 1500 practical semesters of study
- Over 1350 dual students and around 550 company partners of dual study programs
- Around 330 publications/presentations
- Around 125 contract research and service projects
- 115 publicly funded research projects
- Almost 40 exhibitions/presentations
- 22 spin-off teams
- 9 invention disclosures and 6 patent applications
- 8 part-time Master's degree programs
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