Introducing the University of Applied Science in the Technology Transfer Process

After WWII, the German economy rapidly increased, and is often described as the “Deutsche Wirtschaftswunder”. Within a short period, Germany reached zero unemployment, and human capital became the critical factor and resource in shaping the economic growth. While the bottle neck full of blue collar workers was solved by an active immigration policy that attracted people from Italy, Turkey or Greece, the lack of white collar workers and engineers still remained. At this time, public universities were unable to provide the quantity of well-educated people particularly in engineering sciences. In particular, the high opportunity costs of time made public universities less attractive compared to starting a career in the industry right after dropping out of school. In the mid-1960s, the German government decided to adapt a well-known concept from the theory of the firm – division of labor - to provide high skilled employees. A new type of university was created, the so called Universities of Applied Sciences. Public Universities are focused on basic research, while Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS) provide the economy with applied research and education. While studies at public universities can exceed four to five years, the length of study at a UAS is mainly limited to 3 years (6 semesters). After the Bologna Reform, Bachelor and Master Programs of UAS and public universities are treated equally. In the last decade, this division of labor between UAS and public universities has reached an additional objective the technology transfer process. While the role of public universities and their role within the technology transfer processes is intensively studied (Hülsbeck, Lehmann, & Starnecker, forthcoming), the impact of UAS remains rather under researched. Although they are quite successful in their cooperation with the industry and are nevertheless another backbone in the university-industry relationships, only anecdotal evidence on this type of university exists. This paper tries to shed some light on this type of university which could be a role model in particular for countries and regions where small and medium sized firms dominate the industrial landscape as they do in Germany.