The digital innovation lab is an educational programme of the University of Vienna where participants learn the main tools and principles of entrepreneurship through a structured process. After an introductory phase, participants build start-up teams of 2 to 4 people to develop compelling business models. Course instructors mentor them at every step as they transform an initially rough idea into a mature business concept. At the end of the programme, start-up teams pitch their business idea to a jury of business experts.
In this programme we strive to achieve a high diversity of backgrounds. The ideal cohort will be formed by students of all genders and disciplinary areas (social and human sciences, economics, computer sciences, and natural sciences) equally represented. To make it easily accessible to international students, the entire course will be taught in English. The digital ilab is open to master students, PhD candidates, and postdocs. Participants do not have to apply with an entrepreneurial idea; we accept participants both without and with an initial idea. It is important, though, that if they participate with an early idea, they have not yet started working on a prototype. Master students interested in receiving ECTS should register both on this page and on u:space.
Registrations
Given the high demand we have set up a two-step procedure to register to the course. In the first step, you should register using the link below. The deadline for applications is the 22nd of February 2024. By the 27th of February, we will contact the accepted participants and invite them to register through the university platform.
In previous years, a few applicants dropped out of the course only a few days before kick-off. This is not fair for the many people in the waiting list who could not join on a short notice. Most of the time, the reason to drop out was that they could not commit to so many hours in class. Therefore, before you apply, we kindly ask you to check the schedule above and the important notice on the course requirements. We welcome applications only from students motivated to actively participating in the course. This is particularly important for successful team work and to garantee excellent quality of the business ideas presented at the end of the course. If you have an entrepreneurial idea but are not able to commit to this course, we invite you to join our slack workspace to get information about future programmes.
Eligibility criteria:
- you are a strongly motivated to learn how to start an innovative company
- you might have an initial idea but have not built a prototype yet
- you are a master student, PhD or postdoc (PhD candidates should check with their doctoral school if they are eligible for the 8 ECTS)
