Frameworks for collaboration

1. SEMESTER COOPERATION PROJECTS

These primarily involve a transfer of knowledge in collaboration with companies. On the basis of an open and future-oriented formulation of objectives or problems, the Institute develops specific and innovative approaches to solving the problem as part of a semester project.
The spectrum of semester projects ranges from the development of clear and detailed product visions, in cooperation with the bachelor's program, to the formulation and implementation of corporate processes and innovation strategies in the master's program.

2. ONE TO TWO YEARS OF RESEARCH AND INNOVATION DEVELOPMENT

Multi-semester research and innovation projects provide long-term support for design, technology and research transfer. As a rule, these projects are part of funding programs from the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy (BMWi) or the EU (ZIM projects or similar). Here, Visionlabs acts as a project mediator and science or development partner in funding programs that support industry and scientific institu-tions in a collaborative network.
Some collaborations arise because we look for partnership with a company within the framework of a funded project in order to work on a specific task in the areas of innovation, strategy and/or design research.Alternatively, companies may bring their own problems and projects to the Institute to have them addressed in a university context.
For the most part, these ventures are carried out with employees who are permanently or specifically involved in the project. If required, this form of collaboration can also be combined with single-semester project tasks.

Project definition and collaboration
The first step is the creation of a concept for an eligible project. Here, funding initiatives by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy (BMWi) and the EU (ZIM and others) are particularly well-established. We work hand-in-hand with professional agencies and partners who manage the application and approval stages, along with the joint handling of research projects.
Work with external partners is usually carried out on the basis of a project concept. We develop this concept together with our project partners in a concept workshop.