Entrepreneurial Skills
Turn Ideas into Impact - Career Skills for Changemakers
Are you looking for skills that will really get you ahead - in research, in your career and in life?
Then our Entrepreneurial Skills training program is just right for you! Whether you are a student, a doctoral student or a postdoc - regardless of your field of study: here you will learn how to get ideas moving.
Please note: hei_INNOVATION will continue to develop Entrepreneurial Skills for the winter semester 2025/2026. All students who are already aiming for the Entrepreneurial Skills Certificate can complete it as planned.
More information
What you can expect:
- Learn how to translate scientific findings into concrete innovations for business and society
- Identify real needs and use them to develop practical solutions - from the initial sketch to the prototype
- Bring your expertise into new contexts, build scalable business models and position them successfully
- Communicate convincingly - master your project pitch with professional rhetoric and storytelling
You don't have to start your own company to benefit from Entrepreneurial Skills
Entrepreneurial skills help you to start your career, to advance, to implement your ideas - wherever initiative, creativity and strategic thinking are required. Entrepreneurial skills are the key to recognizing opportunities, developing potential - and really making a difference.
The aim is to put you in a position to actively shape the major challenges of our time - with ideas that make a difference and skills that take you further.
Entrepreneurial Skills Certificate
The Entrepreneurial Skills Certificate documents successful completion of a broad basic education in the area of entrepreneurship. The range of modules consists of a module pathway, which offers elective options at certain stages. All courses combine the learning of theoretical principles with practical exercises. In view of the fact that Heidelberg University, as a comprehensive university, offers a comprehensive academic education in the natural sciences, life sciences, humanities and social sciences, the courses and their structured attendance to obtain the certificate are suitable for students of all disciplines.
In order to obtain the Entrepreneurial Skills Certificate, 15 credit points must be earned. Attendance of the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Basics course (5 ECTS) is compulsory. It is also compulsory to choose one of the specialization modules offered (2 ECTS). At the third station, there is a choice of three modules for personal development, of which at least one module with 3 ECTS is compulsory. After successfully completing the theoretical specializations of the pathway, the skills learned can be applied directly by choosing one of the practical modules offered at the next station. The Entrepreneurial Skills Certificate is successfully completed if the practical module is followed by an in-depth workshop (1 ECTS). There is a wide range of offers to choose from across all semesters.
Specializations of the Certificate
The "Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship" specialization aims to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of social entrepreneurship as an innovative approach to solving social challenges. They learn to systematically analyze social and ecological problems, develop creative and sustainable business models and combine entrepreneurial thinking with impact.
It is offered alternately with the "Innovation Management" specialization.
The "Innovation Management" module enables students to strategically understand, plan and practically implement innovation processes. They learn to systematically transform creative ideas into marketable products, services or business models. At the same time, they develop entrepreneurial thinking, problem-solving skills and an understanding of the diverse framework conditions for successful innovation.
It provides students with basic and advanced skills in the development and management of innovation processes - both in the context of entrepreneurship (start-ups) and intrapreneurship (innovation within existing organizations).
Individual attendance of the modules
If the aim is not to complete the entire certificate, each module of a station can also be attended individually and the participation will be certified. Most modules are thematically self-contained and can be taken without prior experience in the field of innovation & entrepreneurship or thematically specific prior knowledge. This gives course participants the opportunity to acquire specific (entrepreneurial) skills or to combine just a few modules. The exact requirements for participation can be found in the module handbook.
All modules are held in English; deviations are indicated in the course description.
