Campus 02

Have experience with technology. You don’t have to be an engineer, but you should be comfortable dealing with technical topics. Ideally, you’ll have held a position involving daily contact with engineers or other tech experts.

Have an entrepreneurial spirit. We’re looking for people who think in opportunities, not in threats.

Be a leader. It’s not enough simply to have great ideas – you need to be able to sell others on your cause.

Get along well with colleagues. Tomorrow’s innovation managers know how to talk but also when to listen.

Be able to handle pressure. Students in our program must be able to balance their studies with work and, in some cases, family.

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“Our Innovation Management master’s program equips students with the skills, knowledge and experience they need to drive innovation at regional businesses – or to found their own.”

Total enrollment: 5,463 (2021). Students accepted into program: 35 per year (master’s program), 45 per year (bachelor’s program)

Founded in 1996, Graz’s Campus 02 is a university of applied sciences offering bachelor’s and master’s degrees in both technology and economics. Within it, Professor Hans Lercher’s innovation management program aims to produce the movers and shakers of tomorrow. A part-time innovation consultant himself, Hans developed the program over fifteen years ago in response to what he saw as a regional need for “successfully realized ideas that help companies to be better than their competitors.” The way he sees it, his main responsibility is not necessarily to his students, the majority of whom come from Graz and its surroundings, but to the economy. “We need people who will make our region the most innovative in Europe.”

Finding those people involves an online application, a psychological assessment, a practical examination and an admission interview. The main qualities searched for are creativity, leadership skills and an “entrepreneurial spirit.” For the master’s program, roughly one in three make the cut. In contrast to the bachelor’s program, which gives students a foundation in innovation management, technology, economics, social skills and business English, the master’s has more of a leadership focus, with the goal of “building up an entrepreneurial mindset.” Master’s courses include strategic management, innovation marketing, business development and other skills alongside hands-on experience with regional and international partners in electronics, automotive, tourism, trade, craft and more, culminating in a thesis with a strong practical focus. The three-semester curriculum is designed to fit alongside students’ full-time jobs.

Successful alumni have gone on to work as innovation managers for Austrian businesses or even to found their own: blockchain company Block 42, for example, was founded by Hans’ former students. Tuition for residents of the EU and Switzerland is approximately €365 ($435) per semester; those from other countries must pay €5,000 ($5,980) for each semester of the master’s program. Classes are taught exclusively in German.

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