Finalist

Entrepreneurial University of the Year Award

The University of Queensland

Finalist of the Entrepreneurial University of the Year Award

The University of Queensland - Australia

""Innovate fearlessly, ignite change: Unleash your entrepreneurship potential with UQ.""


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https://www.linkedin.com/school/uqventures/
(Official UQ Ventures LinkedIn account)
https://www.instagram.com/uqventures/?hl=en
(Official UQ Ventures Instagram account)
https://www.facebook.com/UQventures/
(Official UQ Ventures Facebook account)
@UQVentures
(Official UQ Ventures Twitter account)

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The Award Ceremony for this entry (award category "Entrepreneurial University of the Year ") will take place on 27 June 2023, 18:45 to 19:45 CEST.

Summary

The University of Queensland (UQ) stands out as a leading institution in fostering entrepreneurship, innovation, and collaboration between academia and industry. UQ's commitment to entrepreneurship is reflected in its formal Entrepreneurship Strategy and daily operations, which prioritise talent development, network growth, and industry investment. UQ offers a comprehensive suite of entrepreneurship-related initiatives, including high school, undergraduate, and postgraduate programs, accelerators, alumni activities, and the best university commercialisation arm in Australia, UniQuest. UQ's programs are tailored to provide the necessary knowledge and support at all entrepreneurship stages, promoting diversity and equity to encourage great ideas.

UQ Ventures, the delivery arm of UQ Entrepreneurship, supports university students through the delivery of proven entrepreneurship and innovation programs and deep connections with industry through pioneering collaborations in extra- and co-curricular learning and teaching experiences. UQ's holistic approach and supportive environment instil in students and alumni a sense of ownership of the ecosystem, leading to recurring investment from the business community into future endeavours.

UQ's commitment to entrepreneurship extends beyond its borders. In 2022, UQ provided international entrepreneurial leadership with support and development to aid the Vietnamese government, transferring knowledge and developing an innovative business model for government and industry collaboration to support entrepreneurs in Vietnam.

UQ's commitment to fostering entrepreneurship, innovation, and collaboration with industry, coupled with its comprehensive suite of entrepreneurship-related initiatives, deep connections with industry, and commitment to diversity and equity, make it unique as one of the most entrepreneurial universities in the world.

Key People


Mr Nimrod Klayman
Head of Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship,  The University of Queensland



Dr Jo'Anne Langham
Senior Manager Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship,  The University of Queensland



Mr Tomas Piccinini
Discovery Manager
Entrepreneurship,  The University of Queensland



Beth Lawrance
Ventures Manager
Entrepreneurship,  The University of Queensland



Chloe Budd
Ventures Community Partnerships Coordinator
Entrepreneurship,  The University of Queensland



Jacqui Niblett
Ventures Program Officer
Entrepreneurship,  The University of Queensland



Tyson Jennings
Ventures Program Officer
Entrepreneurship,  The University of Queensland



Sally Dwyer
Ventures program Officer
Entrepreneurship,  The University of Queensland


Acknowledgements

UQ Advancement and the Founders Pledge, UQ Business School, UQ Innovate from EAIT faculty and Uniquest.

Images

Naajihah Mahmood, Founder of HalalBee, delivering her pitch at the 2023 ilab Accelerator Pitch Night

The 2023 ilab Accelerator winners, Henrik Labs, in the workshop

Our 2023 UQ Ventures Student Ambassadors

Ventures Program Officer, Jacqui Niblett, facilitating our Curiosity Program

2023 ilab Accelerator teams ready to pitch

Students visiting NTU in Singapore as part of the 2022 Startup AdVentures Program

An amazing panel at our 2021 LeadHers Rise event to celebrate Women’s Entrepreneurship Day

Students networking to find co-founders as part of our Validate Program

IMPACT STORY

Impacting lifes

Naajihah Mahmood, an international student from Singapore, is creating a positive impact through her startup, HalalBee. She is the sole founder of HalalBee, a platform for the Muslim community in Australia to find halal food options near them. Her startup conducts verification checks to ensure no cross-contamination between halal and non-halal products, providing restaurants with a rating of their halal-friendly status. The idea behind HalalBee is to give the Muslim community confidence when dining at restaurants, and for restaurants to feel safe indicating they provide halal options.

Naajihah is compassionate and understands the complex problems faced by the Muslim community. She started HalalBee because of her own need and a desire to provide a solution. Naajihah sources halal food in Australia, where she has made her home. Naajihah understands that the problem of finding halal food options is prevalent in most cities. Through HalalBee, she is providing a platform for the Muslim community to find halal options near them.

Naajihah is changing the world through her startup and as a Food Safety Internal Auditor and Environmental Officer at a halal export abattoir. Her startup is not yet full-time, but she hopes it will be one day. She participated in the ilab Accelerator program and other UQ Ventures programs, where she learned design thinking, and the importance of validating a problem. Her experiences have helped her to develop the confidence to pursue her dreams. Through her hard work, Naajihah is changing the world, one halal food option at a time.

LEARNINGS

Lessons learned

Overall, universities must adapt to the changing needs of the entrepreneurial landscape and provide the necessary resources to support students to become successful entrepreneurs. By fostering a culture of innovation, emphasising practical experience, building partnerships, developing an entrepreneurial curriculum, and supporting innovation beyond the classroom, universities can help students excel academically as well as thrive in the world of entrepreneurship. Innovation and entrepreneurship also rely on multidisciplinary collaboration. Universities must engage students and faculty across departments to work together on entrepreneurial projects. Generally, universities need to change their relationship with students and see them as partners in the future: inspiring venturing spirits and building entrepreneurial mindsets.

Universities are also important anchor institutions in entrepreneurial ecosystems. They are a nexus of information, provide pathways for talent to connect with organisations and resources to make change. We must focus on building and strengthening the ecosystem by attracting and retaining talented entrepreneurs, investors, mentors and other key stakeholders, as well as helping entrepreneurs overcome many of the challenges they face when starting and growing a business. Universities must also foster global mindsets where they encourage and provide international exchange programs to expose students to different ideas and mindsets and also embrace diversity and inclusivity as these are critical factors in creativity and the development of innovations. Finally, universities need to forge partnerships with industry, government, and other institutions to build a network of resources, expertise, and support. These partnerships can provide access to funding, mentorship, and other resources that can help entrepreneurs succeed.

FUTURE PLANS

What's coming?

Imagine being part of a community that prioritises entrepreneurship and innovation as a key element of its strategic plan. At the University of Queensland, we have made it our mission to be known as a trusted partner to both industry and government, while simultaneously leading the way in entrepreneurship, knowledge exchange, and commercialisation. We want all students to have access to the entrepreneurial programs and our goal is for at least fifty percent of students (55,000 in total) to participate in our entrepreneurship programs and initiatives.

Through our global Startup AdVentures program, we are expanding our reach and offering even more exciting experiences for our students in 2023 and beyond. Our international connections provide insights and aspiration for students.

But we're not stopping there. Over the course of our Strategic Plan, we will also focus on the commercial translation of UQ research. By working more closely with industry and government, we are confident that our researchers can make a greater contribution to the innovation ecosystem, developing new industries and fuelling a thriving knowledge-based economy. We will go further with our students as we also attract gifts and grants for seed funds and scholarships to bolster experimentation and innovation.

With our technology transfer company, UniQuest, leading the charge, we aspire to be in the global top 5 percent of universities for commercialising university IP by 2032. We're committed to empowering our students, researchers, and community to innovate, create, and make a real impact on the world. UQ will continue to transform entrepreneurial education.

KEY STATISTICS

30,000+

Number of participants in entrepreneurial activities hosted by UQ since 2018

230+

Number of startup companies that have benefited from iLab Accelerator and incubator programs

$107M (AUD)

Amount of funding UQ Venture’s startups have attracted in investment and grants

6500+

Number of high school students who have participated in entrepreneurial and innovation activities facilitated by our Discovery program since 2018

129

Number of entrepreneurial coursework programs available across faculties

$2.5M (AUD)

Amount invested in a newly refurbished EAIT- UQ innovate makerspace to support aspiring innovators and entrepreneurs

300+

Number of students who have benefited from global entrepreneurial experience as part of our Startup AdVentures program

Triple E Awards

The Triple E Awards are a global recognition of efforts toward the quest for entrepreneurship and engagement in higher education. It is the first award to focus specifically on different dimensions of the universities' third mission. Implemented regionally, the Triple E Awards aim to foster change in universities and to emphasize their role in their communities and ecosystems.

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