Prof. Tessa Flatten Honored for Outstanding Commitment to Start-Ups
Federal Minister of Education and Research Bettina Stark-Watzinger presented Prof. Tessa Flatten, Department of Business and Economics at TU Dortmund University, with the UNIPRENEURS award on Wednesday, September 6, in Berlin: The prize awarded by the Ministries of Science and Economics honors professors for outstanding achievements in the field of university spin-offs. From around 700 nominations, 20 individuals were selected for their significant contributions to the transfer of innovations into the economy.
Already, about a quarter of all German start-ups are created in university and research-related environments. "We want to strengthen the start-up scene at our universities. Professors play a central role in this. They make a significant contribution to the startup culture at universities and are important drivers of Germany's innovative strength and future viability," said Bettina Stark-Watzinger, Federal Minister of Education and Research, at the award ceremony in Berlin.
"The award is a great honor," said Prof. Tessa Flatten. "Transfer is another central task of a university alongside research and teaching. I am extremely pleased to receive the UNIPRENEURS award, as it gives more visibility to the topics of spin-offs and entrepreneurship at universities." Tessa Flatten has been Professor of Technology Management at the Faculty of Business and Economics at TU Dortmund University since 2015 and has been a member of the Rectorate responsible for International Affairs since 2020. She conducts research on entrepreneurship, in particular on entrepreneurial marketing as well as on the founder*personality. Since 2021, she has been the director of the Institute for Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (TIE) at TU Dortmund University together with Prof. Steffen Strese.