At the Idea Slam, selected university teams or idea providers compete against each other on a public stage. They have to convince the audience and the jury of their business idea in pitches (short presentations). All JLU members of all departments and business units can participate: Students, doctoral candidates, employees and graduates up to five years after graduation. We are looking for innovative business ideas from a wide variety of fields. Scientific processes are just as welcome as product, service or technology ideas.

Further information at: https://www.uni-giessen.de/de/fbz/fb02/fb/einrichtungen/ecm/idea_slam/wettbewerb

Shaping the future and understanding the great challenges of today and tomorrow, such as climate change, demographic change, technological disruptions, etc. as an opportunity. This is exactly where the THM IDEECO, the THM's ideas contest, comes in, to cross borders together with your crazy ideas and thus solve problems and create the breeding ground of innovations.

To think about the future, we need you students, because YOU ARE the future and the pulse of tomorrow. Finding you, bringing you to the surface and promoting you is what drives the THM IDEECO.

Around the THM IDEECO we offer different platforms and events, including ideation workshops, hackathons, start-up consultations, the Iddencontest and the Ideenschmiede, as a community for all those who want to shape the future themselves.

Further information at: https://www.thm.de/site/forschung/transfer/existenzgruendungen.html

In the Hesse-wide ideas competition, the best entrepreneurial ideas from all Hessian universities compete against each other. The aim of the competition is to expand the start-up culture at Hessian universities, to network the universities more closely with each other and to support the ideas of the university members as well as to make them known beyond the borders of Hesse. The patron is Boris Rhein, Hessen's Minister of Science and the Arts.

Each year, universities in Hessen can enter up to three teams or individuals who can demonstrate a concrete interest in founding a company. The nominated ideas can come from all departments and from students as well as employees, professors or alumni. The winners are selected in a three-stage process by online voting and expert opinion, as well as by a jury, and receive comprehensive support in promoting their start-up. The "Hessen Ideen" competition is organized by the University of Kassel.

Further information at hessen-ideen.de/wettbewerb

With the Science4Life Venture Cup, a business plan competition is open to all founders from the fields of life sciences and chemistry, which is specifically geared to the requirements of both industries. The clear focus on content offers optimal added value for all competition participants, as support, further training and, not least, the evaluation of the competition entries is carried out exclusively by industry experts from the fields of life sciences and chemistry.

The competition is divided into three phases: the idea phase, the concept phase and the business plan phase. Science4Life thus maps the various phases of a company start-up, which begins with the development of a product, service or digital business idea and continues through the development of a business model to concrete planning for the first few years of business.

Further information at: www.science4life.de/venturecup

By organizing the Science4Life Energy Cup, the special needs of start-up projects in the field of energy are taken into account. Participation in this competition is open exclusively to start-up teams or young companies that are developing or already offering products, services or digital business models in the field of energy.

The competition is divided into three phases: the idea phase, the concept phase and the business plan phase. Science4Life thus maps the various phases of a company start-up, which begins with the development of a product, service or digital business idea and continues through the development of a business model to concrete planning for the first few years of business.

The Science4Life Energy Cup is sponsored by the Hessian Ministry of Economics and the Viessmann Group. The winners will receive prize money of more than €20,000 as well as the opportunity to participate in the Science4Life Academy Days, which include various workshops or individual coaching sessions.

Further information at: www.science4life.de/energycup