22.10.2024 Workshops
Workshop “Collaboration with non-university partners”
How can I, as a member of a university, find a non-university partner? How do I maintain the collaboration in the long term? The IHS (“Innovative Hochschule”) project partners explored these questions at a workshop in Mainz from 9 to 10 October 2024.
More than 60 participants from 55 universities involved in the IHS programme took the opportunity for peer-to-peer learning and intensive dialogue on the topic of collaboration with non-university stakeholders. Together with the speakers from universities, companies, local authorities, and NGOs, the participants engaged in in-depth discussions, exchanged experiences, and developed approaches for successfully shaping partnerships – from their initiation to stabilisation.
Recruitment of collaboration partners
The IHS workshop took place on the premises of Mainz University of Applied Sciences and offered participants a variety of formats to discuss the specific needs of different stakeholder groups. The first day focussed on the initiation of partnerships and the key question of how universities can identify and successfully approach suitable external partners. Methods such as the 4-corner discussion enabled participants to change their perspective in order to better understand the needs and preferred communication channels of the respective target group. The accompanying poster exhibition and a speed dating event provided additional impetus for networking and collegial dialogue between the sponsored universities. “For us, it was also a great opportunity to present our work and then exchange experiences directly with the other participants,” said one of the speakers, Dr Daniel Zacher from the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt (KU).
Retaining partners and maintaining relationships
Source: VDI TZ / Henrike Perner
The second day focussed on long-term relationship management and the successful continuation of transfer partnerships. Prof. Dr Anett Mehler-Bicher, Vice President for Research and Transfer at Mainz University of Applied Sciences, moderated a lively exchange that made it clear that successful relationship management requires patience, perseverance, and time-consuming contact management, but also that valuable partnerships can emerge even from difficult initiation processes. Trust and transparency play a major role here.
All in all, this successful event showed that functioning partnerships and collaborations are a key factor for university transfer. The results of the workshop have provided the universities with new knowledge and interesting tools to make these partnerships even more successful in the future.
