We are pleased to welcome the new Cohort 2025 of the MSc in Sustainable Innopreneurship. By joining this program, our students are not only beginning a degree—they are taking their first steps toward creating real-world impact.

Learning in this program is grounded in action. The journey therefore starts with the intensive Innopreneurship Challenge. Over the course of six demanding weeks, students from diverse academic backgrounds developed into effective teams. Together with Duisburg Business & Innovation GmbH, they worked on a central question: how to develop and pre-test solutions that bring more startups, economic activity, and student life into the heart of Duisburg.

This initial phase is always challenging—new tools, new people, and new expectations—but the results demonstrate how quickly students can grow into their roles. They conducted user interviews, engaged with local stakeholders, and translated insights into concrete, testable ideas. What began as a group of individuals developed into a collaborative community with a shared sense of purpose.

The achievements of this cohort show what becomes possible when different perspectives, entrepreneurial motivation, and research-driven thinking come together. The creativity and commitment demonstrated during these first weeks form a strong foundation for everything that lies ahead.

Congratulations to Cohort 2025. You approached the challenge with determination and delivered impressive results. We look forward to accompanying you over the next two years at the University of Duisburg-Essen and within the Faculty of Computer Science.

We would also like to express our thanks to
• Jan Tiemann and Dominik Hausmann for their contributions to this year’s challenge,
• and to our input providers, including Carolin Vollenberg (Chair of Ralf Plattfaut), Elias Jelinek (Place Beyond Bytes), and Nicole Engelhardt.