Ensuring knowledge transfer: What will remain once the "Innovative Hochschule" (Innovative University) funding initiative comes to an end? How can proven knowledge transfer activities and formats be reliably continued, even when resources are scarce?  

In response, speakers from Prognos AG and the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI) provided initial insights based on the results of a survey of projects from the first funding round of the ‘Innovative University’ (IHS) initiative. They demonstrated that IHS funding is having a lasting impact and that the majority of universities funded in the first round have succeeded in tapping into new or alternative sources of funding, to continue knowledge transfer activities even after the IHS funding has come to an end.

The participants from the projects in the current funding round then turned their attention to their own institutionalisation plans. Under the guidance of Dr Marcel Drescher from the Ernst Abbe University of Applied Sciences in Jena, who is part of the Nucleus Jena project, the participants developed what are known as Opportunity Canvases.

Using the Opportunity Canvas enables project managers to strategically categorise transfer activities and formats and to design viable concepts for long-term sustainability. To this end, participants engage in a detailed examination of their transfer target groups and the added value of their transfer activities, and learn about institutionalisation models (role shifting, community building, automation, etc.) that they can directly apply to their own transfer practice. At the end of the workshop, the completed Opportunity Canvas provides an overview that classifies and prioritises the key starting points for successful sustainability, thereby facilitating the next steps in further implementation.