Research Center for Entrepreneurship Evidence

Since its fundamental reforms in 2006, Leuphana has strongly emphasized a profile in entrepreneurship research, teaching, and industry engagement. In 2013 the OECD and EU considered Leuphana as Best Practice for Entrepreneurship Education - “Supporting the entrepreneurial potential of higher education.” In 2015, the OECD study on the unique Leuphana Innovation Incubator showed a clear impact on regional development. In 2016, the university ranked as the top mid-sized entrepreneurial university in Germany three times in a row (Gründungsradar, Stifterverbandes), a position in the top ranks that could be sustained until today.

For creating an interdisciplinary entrepreneurship platform, the Research Center of Entrepreneurship was first established in 2012, which acted as a crystallization point for joint research. Over the years, different research groups and networked communities formed within the Research Center of Entrepreneurship. To account for this diversification of research topics, interests, and communities, Leuphana created three offsprings with different research profiles hosted in three research centers with their respective scholarly communities:

• The Center on Social Business and Values (YUNUS)
• The Leuphana Center for Organization & Social Transformation (LOST)
• The Center of Evidence-based Entrepreneurship Development (CEED)

Science leads to a better understanding, and understanding is the basis for reflective and informed action that will make a difference. Our research projects aim to improve our theoretical understanding of entrepreneurship so that we can support entrepreneurs in the entrepreneurial process. Our research projects have a psychological, economic and strategic perspective. This is because we believe that integrating these different perspectives leads to a comprehensive understanding of entrepreneurship and enables effective action to promote entrepreneurship. Our research projects cover areas such as the entrepreneurial process, corporate entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship training, university entrepreneurship, and evidence-based entrepreneurship.

Our current Research Topics are:

•  Digital Entrepreneurship
•  Entrepreneurship Training: STEP
•  Entrepreneurship Training: PI
•  Gender and Entrepreneurship
•  Social Entrepreneurship
•  regional Innovation
•  Sustainable Entrepreneurship
•  Female Entrepreneurship
•  Entrepreneurship for sustainable development
•  Professions and Entrepreneurship
•  Institutional Entrepreneurship
•  Corporate Entrepreneurship