Entrepreneurship & Innovation

Description

In a fast-changing and increasingly complex world, emerging and established companies must continuously challenge and rediscover themselves through innovation. The E&I specialization is aimed to foster your entrepreneurial thinking and behavior, such as recognizing and taking advantage of new market opportunities. The target profile is not only that of an innovative entrepreneur; E&I alumni work as consultants, innovation managers and in many other areas.

Our teaching programs present students with state-of-the-art knowledge in the areas of entrepreneurship and innovation. The E&I Core Lectures equip you with a solid knowledge base about theories and techniques of entrepreneurship and innovation management. At the heart of the SBWL is the practical application of this knowledge. In our project courses, students work in small groups to identify real business ideas, write business plans and work on concrete projects in cooperation with project partners such as ÖBB, Fujitsu or Verbund. In all courses, practitioners (e.g. from BCG, Accenture and the start-up scene) coach the student teams.

E&I project courses have won numerous national and international awards. "Such a success is only possible because we have incredibly entrepreneurial students - and their energy and creativity is supported by a highly professional Institute team," emphasizes E&I founder and Institute director Prof. Nikolaus Franke, who brought the concept with him from his stay at MIT in 2001.

Admission

We base our admission process on two main criteria: Academic performance and E&I related skills. The two criteria are applied as follows:

• WU Student Ranking: If your current grade point average puts you in the top 5% of your cohort (ranking: grades only), you will be accepted automatically into the E&I specialization. Just use the online application form to send us your GPA confirmation (the link goes online on Januar 27, 2022) and you will be accepted. Please make sure that all required grades are listed in time in the ranking you submit to us. Please also remember to register for the “Access to Specialization in Business Administration: Entrepreneurship and Innovation” course on LPIS. Please note that the automatic acceptance is limited to 60 spots. In case that there are more applications from top 5% students than spots available, a ranking based on the GPA is applied. Furthermore, all applicants will be notified and encouraged to also apply via the skills entry mode.
• Skills: At least 30 spots are reserved for applicants with exceptional skills who are accepted to the program regardless of their GPA. Since we aim to equip our students with the knowledge and skills needed to be future entrepreneurs, we invest a lot of time in selecting the ones showing the greatest potential to thrive within our specialization. Therefore, we chose a skill assessment as part of our application process to learn more about our applicants, their past endeavors and future plans. Since we know entrepreneurship is not only about excellent grades, we encourage you to show us your organizational talent, your go-the-extra-mile attitude or your creative mind.

Structure

1.Semester

• Course 1 – E&I Core Lecture 1
• Course 4 – E&I Project I

1./2. Semester

• Course 3 – E&I

2.Semester

• Course 2 – E&I Core Lecture 2
• Course 5 – E&I Project II

Bachelor thesis

We supervise bachelor theses on topics related to entrepreneurship or innovation. We especially welcome students wanting to write their bachelor thesis in teams of two students. The E&I Institute offers new and innovative forms of bachelor thesis, such as the E&I Video Bachelor Thesis, in which students develop and produce an educational video.

Service for graduates

Das Institut  hat  sowohl für  seine derzeitigen Studierenden als auch für  AbsolventInnen  einen  eigenen  Club etabliert (www.e-and-i-club.org). Es werden regelmäßig Veranstaltungen für die E&I Community organisiert. 

The "E&I Excellence Program" recognizes students who have achieved outstanding performance, especially in collaboration with project partners.

(In principle, all students are allowed to collaborate with project partners, provided they pass the literature test).

Job profile

Graduates from our specialization work in a variety of industries and professions. Our 4,000+ alumni enjoy exciting and prestigious careers ranging from top managers in large corporations and business consultants to innovation managers and start-up founders.

There you find the presentation of the specialization fair!

Erfahrungsbericht

Die Aufnahme erfolgt über den Notendurchschnitt (Top 5 % im Ranking) oder durch den Skills Fit. Ich bin mit einem Notendurchschnitt von 1,3 und meinen Platz unter den Top 5 % im Ranking in die SBWL hineingekommen. 

Kurs 1 & Kurs 2: Core Lectures diese sind sehr theorielastig und bereiten auf die Projektkurse vor. 

Kurs 3: Zone-Kurse - 1/2 Theorie & 1/2 Praxis

Kurs 4 & Kurs 5: Projektkurse

Die Professor*innen erwarten sehr viel Committment und das ist natürlich auf der einen Seite ein Anspurn aber auch sehr stressig. Projektkurse sind mit viel Aufwand verbunden, aber man kann sehr viel lernen durch die Praxisnähe und die Zusammenarbeit mit Unternehmen. Man hat eine große Auswahl an Projektkursen und kann in den einzelnen Vorlesungen viele Mitarbeitspunkte abstauben. 

Ich finde diese SBWL bringt nicht nur einen Blick in die Praxis verknüpft mit Theorie, sondern auch ein gutes Network für den Karrierestart. Außerdem hat die SBWL E&I eine tolle und lässige Community.