Innovation platforms and networks

Curiosity and dedication are important factors in innovation processes. FAU thus invites talented individuals who have a great deal of curiosity and are highly dedicated to join us in discovering innovation. The FAU Digital Tech Academy is our launch pad for all those who would like to discover innovation with us.

The Digital Tech Academy is the interdisciplinary hub for digitalisation and entrepreneurship at FAU. It is based in the Office of Knowledge and Technology Transfer and Continuing Education (wtt), which is the central point of contact for spin-off services, joint R&D projects, IP management, training and event management.

• Digital Tech Academy website
• Events at the Digital Tech Academy

Would you like to develop innovations yourself? Then JOSEPHS®, the open innovation lab in Nuremberg city centre, is just the place for you. JOSEPHS® offers both individuals and entire organisations an exciting range of services for innovation. Click here to start developing your ideas.

JOSEPHS was set up as a project in 2014 by Fraunhofer IIS with the support of the Chair of Information Systems 1 at FAU. The aim of the lab is to discover the future and experience the creative world of product and service development. Test new ideas in our workshop and play an active role in creating and improving innovations. Your feedback is passed on directly to the companies involved.

• JOSEPHS’ website

Do you have a great idea, an initial concept, maybe also a prototype and a strong team with which you’d like to start a company? Then you should put your ideas to the ‘start-up test’ and have your proposal evaluated. ZOLLHOF, the digital start-up centre at FAU, is the right place for you. With the help of talented entrepreneurs, you will quickly learn how you can turn your idea into a market-ready innovation or set up your own company.

The digital start-up centre ZOLLHOF offers comprehensive support to start-ups in areas such as the Internet of Things, smart city and big data. It was set up in Nuremberg on FAU’s initiative. Those starting their own companies can hire open office space including infrastructure, and are given practical assistance in developing their products and services, benefiting from connections to an extensive network of companies and entrepreneurs cooperating with ZOLLHOF. ZOLLHOF offers its own ‘Student Tech Accelerator’ to students, giving them the opportunity to get in touch with start-ups and corporate innovators and to actively shape innovative products for the future as a full member of their team.

• ZOLLHOF website
• Events at ZOLLHOF

For when things really start getting serious, you can choose to work with professionals from large corporations and medium-sized business to develop high-performance products and processes in the context of real entrepreneurial innovation. LZE is the right place for you in this case.

The High-Performance Centre builds on the many years of intense collaboration between the Fraunhofer Institutes and FAU as well as the unique concentration of research and industry in the field of electronic systems in Erlangen and the surrounding Nuremberg Metropolitan Region. Excellent research and joint planning form the basis for an extensive long-term strategic partnership between Fraunhofer, FAU and industry. The pilot phase for the High Performance Centre for Electronic Systems started in January 2015 and is funded by the Bavarian State Ministry of Economic Affairs and Media, Energy and Technology.

• LZE website
• Events at LZE

Workshops, laboratories, prototypes: On a floor area of 480 square meters in the former AEG premises in Nuremberg, the “NKubator” is available to help boost the sustainability of your start-up, both when it comes to the company itself as well as when developing products and ideas. The IdeenWerk package is aimed at sparking the creativity of founders and their staff, Startup Werk offers floor space and support for green start-ups and SustainAbility helps start-ups develop sustainable business activities.

NKubator is funded by the city of Nuremberg. It is operated by ENERGIEregion Nürnberg e.V., a skills and cluster initiative committed to the topics of energy and environment in the Nuremberg Metropolitan Region. Other project partners behind the NKubator are the Department for Economic Development at the city of Nuremberg, the Institute for Factory Automation and Production Systems (FAPS) at FAU and Energieagentur Nordbayern GmbH. All the partners have many years’ experience in supporting start-ups in the region and have strong ties to research and industry for encouraging sustainable success.

• NKubator website
• NKubator events