Co-ordination of activities and the offering of the right support for the right needs
TU Ilmenau does not have a Centre of Entrepreneurship and could benefit from a more
formalised institutional structure. It is more difficult to promote interdisciplinary activities and
mobilise resources without such a structure. TU Ilmenau has one person that dedicates 25% of their
working time to entrepreneurship support at the University. As part of a Centre it might be possible to
incentivise faculty and staff participation. It is also important to cultivate student leaders to continue to
spearhead initiatives. Several years ago, the University had plans to create a chair for business startups
but it could not be implemented due to a lack of resources. The co-ordination of the many good
initiatives in and about the university could be more aligned. Many of the initiatives deal with the
initial start-up support, but the support for instance for financing possibilities, growth opportunities, establishing professional local and regional networks, and forums for knowledge sharing need to be
re-defined. Clarification and targeting of individual needs has to be clearer to the start-ups and the
external support providers. At present a “one-size-fits-all” approach seems to prevail.