As the Founding and Innovation Center (GIZ) of the Department of Research and Transfer, we serve as the central contact point for

• Students
• Employees
• Researchers
• Alumni

of the University who are interested in entrepreneurship. We offer professional support for those interested in starting a business, including advice on funding opportunities, coaching, qualification programs, and mentoring throughout the founding process. We help you bring your innovative ideas to life and thereby foster a campus culture full of creativity and innovation.

With the GIZ, the Chair of Entrepreneurship, and the Chair of Innovation Management and Sustainability, the University of Oldenburg strengthens its commitment to a culture of entrepreneurial independence and firmly embeds this focus within its organization, extending to the wider region.

We are among the top six entrepreneurial universities in Germany. The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (now the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action) awarded us this recognition in 2011 as part of the competition “EXIST Startup Culture – The Entrepreneurial University.”

Since the opening of the GIZ in 2012, we have successfully acquired 28 EXIST funding grants totaling nearly six million euros. In addition, we have supported more than 450 startup projects from a wide range of disciplines.