Kick-Off in Innsbruck: MCI Creativity Award 2018 in Collaboration with Startup.Tirol
Awards Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship Education Entrepreneurship Teaching Modules Events Management Center Innsbruck

On the 2nd March 2018, interested students were invited to attend a Q&A kick-off event dedicated to MCI Creativity Award 2018. The event took place at ‘BASE EINS’, a startup hub in front of the Tyrolean State Theatre in Innsbruck, and was organized by MCI in collaboration with Startup.Tirol, the centerpiece of the EEE Regional Alliance in Tyrol. During this event, the students has a chance to learn every detail of how to prepare for a business competition based on the corresponding module ‘Idea Competition’ in the EEE Teaching Toolkit.

The module ‘Idea Competition’, freely accessible here, is designed primarily for the individuals experimenting with entrepreneurial activities for the first time. It has the aim to foster entrepreneurial ideas coming from different fields and supports also individuals who have not yet made experiences with entrepreneurship or management before, in sharing, spreading and eventually also commercializing their ideas. HEI educators can use the materials of the course to enrich the existing or create new entrepreneurship education courses.

The idea competition module consists of two parts. The aim of part one is to give an overview on how an idea competition could look like, how such competition might be structured and organized. The purpose of part two of this idea competition module is to support students in preparing for a successful participation in an idea competition.

In addition to module ‘Idea Competition’, EEE Teaching Toolkit offers two more modules: Course 1: Improving Entrepreneurial Skills, and Course 3: Encouraging Social Entrepreneurship, which are freely available at our Resource Platform.

 

Northern Ireland Student Wins Santander Universities Entrepreneurship Award
Awards Entrepreneurship Events

Irene Breen, a current MBA student at Queen’s University Belfast and a BSc Architecture (2002) graduate, has seen off competition from over 2,000 entries from across the UK to win the Santander Universities Entrepreneurship Award for her fledgling business ‘BellaMoon’.

Ms Breen was in London last month to collect the prize which includes £20,000 of equity-free seed funding, mentoring from one of the judges at the national final, support from Talent Cupboard and a fully funded intern.

Launched in 2011, the Santander Universities Entrepreneurship Awards have grown to be the UK’s largest student and graduate business pitching competition offering important support to budding entrepreneurs. So far, more than £260,000 has been awarded to graduate start-ups and small businesses through the initiative.

Irene’s winning business BellaMoon, was in the ‘Pre-revenue’ category, defined as a ‘business focusing on ideation, discovery and business validation with minimal sales generated if any’. BellaMoon is currently going through user testing at University of Durham Infant Sleep lab. It is a unique multi-functional baby breast-feeding and co-sleeping bed, pregnancy pillow and baby dock, which Irene is planning to bring to market.

Speaking at the special presentation event, which hosted students from universities and colleges across the country, Nathan Bostock, Santander UK’s CEO, stressed the importance of supporting higher education. He said: “At Santander we recognise the importance of encouraging young entrepreneurs, particularly amongst university students, and we are committed to supporting them every step of the way. We were impressed with the talent, determination and creative thinking showcased today.

To get to the grand final, Irene had first to submit a business model canvas and a short video to get shortlisted to the top 30 regional finalists. She then had to travel to Northumbria University to compete against 10 others for a top 2 place in the region before taking part in the London national final where she faced stiff competition from the top 6 (the best 2 out of the three Santander UK regions) challengers. The judging criteria included business mission, purpose and overview, an understanding of potential customers, identification and mitigation of risks and growth strategy.

 

Are you an active academic who recognises your students’ potential or a student on the island of Ireland and inspired by Irene’s story? A competition of similar action The 2018 Ireland Student Entrepreneur Awards is now open! There is an opportunity any student studying at a Higher Education Institute on the island of Ireland to turn a great idea into a winning project, cash and even a business with over €30,000 in prizes including an overall winner prize of €10,000! Similar to Santander Universities Entrepreneurship Awards, the competition has three stages: Creating the video and submission of the entry, Proposal of a business plan and Final Judging. Visit the website for more information and registration.

 

The content for this blog article was provided by Canice Consulting. Inquiries to Canice Hamill: @can_consulting1

MCI tops 2017 Universum Rankings
Awards Management

MCI as Austria’s only academic institution to take first place in two of three categories of the 2017 Universum Ranking: the number one in Employability and Career Service

Management Center Innsbruck (MCI) celebrates yet another international success: the recently published Universum Ranking (2017 Universum Talent Survey) has put MCI at the top of the Austrian academic landscape again. The Entrepreneurial School® is notably the only academic institution in Austria that has taken first place in two of, altogether, three categories.

MCI was awarded first place in the Strongest Focus on Employability category. This category rates the schools’ services in preparing students for the labor market, which are among the top priorities of the Entrepreneurial School®. The students awarded top marks particularly for MCI’s excellent reputation among potential employers, its high employment rate of graduates, its provision of practically-relevant training and immediately-applicable knowledge, its strong network with the business world, as well as its entrepreneurial approach and way of thinking.

MCI also secured first place in the Best Career Service category, which assesses the work of the universities’ career centers. With a score of 8.2 points, which is unique among Austrian universities, whose average score is 6.5 points, MCI has once again been placed at the very top. According to the students, the most important activities organized by the MCI Career Center are the preparatory career and application workshops, the excellent career platform for MCI students, and the annual Recruiting Forum held at MCI, which is considered an effective platform for exchange and communication between potential employers and students.