Transforming Academic Knowledge to develop Entrepreneurial Universities in Pakistan

About the Project

TAKE-UP is an EU-funded project aiming at improving the entrepreneurial culture at universities in Pakistan by establishing an entrepreneurial coaching infrastructure.

Self-assessment

Each partner university in Pakistan conducts a 360° self-assessment coming up with an individual strategic action plan. Through internships in the EU and job shadowing, partners at Pakistani universities are priorly exposed to entrepreneurial EU institutions in order to gain fruitful insights shaping the infrastructure demand at Pakistani universities.

Creating FabLabs

FabLabs are installed at all partner universities in Pakistan accompanied by necessary introduction concerning handling and maintenance of FabLabs. Thereby, an applicable infrastructure should be created arousing entrepreneurial interest and improving entrepreneurial spirit of students and researchers beyond a coaching level.

Individual Coaching Material

Teaching/training material for entrepreneurial coaches at Pakistani universities is generated based on the individual self-assessment to enable effective guidance of students during the start-up of their own businesses. Digital transformation of the generated material should facilitate the implementation of the trainings.

Train-The-Trainer Program

A train-the-trainer program for entrepreneurial coaches at universities is established to ensure a sustainable transfer of gained knowledge. Micro-coaching, online supervision, and workshops will be conducted and a TAKE-UP certificate guideline will be developed.

TAKE-UP Network

A network of trained and certified startup consultants is established through training workshops for non-partner universities and a national TAKE-UP conference will be hold in order to create a national knowledge base that can be linked to international experts.

Our Partners

TAKE-UP was initiated by Saarland University in partnership with Athens School of Business and Finance. The project intervenes in the Pakistani entrepreneurial ecosystem by helping a consortium of 4 Universities, GCU, CUI, University of Gujarat and LUMS develop entrepreneurial models for enabling students to take up entrepreneurship as a career alternative.

Saarland University

Saarland University (UdS) is a modern university within the Saar-Lor-Lux region established in cooperation with France in 1948. Today UdS hosts 18500 students, 17% of which are international students. In 2013, the Saarland University won the competition of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and was awarded entrepreneurial university. A sustainable start-up culture in teaching, research and administration was established and a startup centre offers support during all business formation phases and access to well-equipped office and laboratory space. Six hundred forty-three start-up projects were supervised and 132 companies founded so far.

Athens University of Economics and Business

The Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB) was founded in 1920 and is the oldest university in Greece in the general fields of Economics and Business. As part of its strategy towards innovation and entrepreneurship, AUEB has established the Athens Center of Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ACEin), the university’s incubation center. ACEin supports young entrepreneurs and researchers in turning their entrepreneurial ideas or scientific research results into a sustainable business model. More than 300 new ventures passed through the educational programs, while 70 of them were incubated and received support and mentoring.

Government College University Lahore

Government College University Lahore was established in 1864 and is the oldest educational institution of higher learning in Pakistan. GCU was raised to the status of a University in 2002. GC University is a modern, demand-driven, futuristic, quality conscious and affordable public university hosting almost 13000 students. GCU has an office of Research Innovation and Commercialization (ORIC) managing research activities of the University and providing incentives and support for students with their business projects. Recently, Lahore’s first ever business incubation centre was established exclusively for women.

COMSATS University Islamabad

COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI) is a fast-growing research-based university in Pakistan. Established in 1998 as COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT) , it has been upgraded to a Federally Chartered University in April 2018. CUI hosts almost 35000 students and is one of Pakistan's leading universities in the field of information technology. The Student Start-Up Business Centres (SSBC's) and CUI's incubation centre CUBATOR 1ne are first steps towards a CUI Technology Park in the future.

University of Gujrat

University of Gujrat is located in Punjab, Pakistan, was established in 2004 and hosts more than 27000 students. Its dynamic leadership and the dedicated team has set a pace and tone in a progressive way to achieve excellence both in academic and research. University of Gujrat has developed research collaborations with a number of national/international institutions and industry.

Lahore University of Management Sciences

Since its inception in 1985, Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) aspires to achieve excellence and national and international leadership to serve the critical needs of society. The LUMS Center for Entrepreneurship (LCE) and the incorporated National Incubation Center (NIC) aim to build a comprehensive entrepreneurial ecosystem, trying to reach out to all universities in Pakistan to maximize the growth potential of Pakistani entrepreneurs.