OPENUP

Platform based entrepreneurship development through Hackathons
flagUniversity of Pécs

  • 01 - Education
  • 02 - Arts and humanities
  • 03 – Social sciences, journalism and information
  • 04 – Business, administration and law
  • 05 – Natural sciences, mathematics and statistics
  • 06 – Information and Communication Technologies
  • 07 – Engineering, manufacturing and construction
  • 09 – Health and welfare

2. Innovative teaching and learning
  • Student partnerships/engagement in the teaching and learning practice
  • Online and offline cooperative and collaborative work – developing engaging dynamics in the learning process
  • Innovative online and blended learning methods, engaging and participative hybrid learning organization
  • Innovative multidisciplinary projects for students from different faculties
  • Entrepreneurship projects, work-based learning

At the University of Pécs students, researchers and professors are invited into a unique crash course of entrepreneurial capacity building. The introduced new form of entrepreneurship education, the applied process of knowledge, skill, competency, and attitude development aims to maximize the effectiveness of this capacity building. The OpenUp platforms bring students, mentors, practitioners, and professors together who work on various problems during the 1.5-day events two times a semester to find a solution, develop a minimum viable product, and validate (pitch) it in front of an expert panel. The Simonyi Hackathons (named after the founder Entrepreneurship Center) are held either in a hybrid form or fully online through and on the platform. Project teams are multidisciplinary, problems are provided by companies or are defined through the UN’s sustainable development goals, while the whole process is defined and gamified through the OpenUp platform. The Simonyi Hackathon is embedded into the programs of the Faculty of Business and Economics and is available for three credits to every University of Pécs student, may they be bachelor, master, or doctoral students. The course has a so-called pre-hackathon phase a hackathon phase and a post-hackathon phase. During the pre-hackathon phase, participants are working remotely on the platform and receive content throughout the week before the event. They fill out a personality test, meet virtually (via the platform’s video application) to get familiar with each other, with the basic problem, and with the methods to be used during the event. The platform requires them to create their profile, detail their competencies, previous studies, work, and training experiences. The platform learns from these profile data and recommends events, workshops, training for development, and recommends mentors to learn from, all provided by the University of Pécs Entrepreneurial Ecosystem. The event itself brings participants from different disciplines, with different personality types, interests, and competencies together to work in the project rooms, which include interactive templates, tutorials, and other resources. The participants receive constant feedback from the team mentors, from experts (2 online expert sessions). The event’s outcome is a 2-minute pitch presentation, validation, and access to the post-hackathon phase with further skill development opportunities through the openup platform.

Methodology
Tools, equipment, technology used
Outcomes and outputs, main results
Lessons learnt
Adaptability and sustainability of the best practice (for other institutions)
Promotion of best practice
Scope and impact
  • Faculty level

6.1 Digitalization
  • Outstanding, innovative, excellent practices of online / blended / hybrid learning
  • Innovative, novel methodology in using digital tools/devices in teaching
  • Innovative use of digital administration tools
  • Digital skills development and assessment both general and profession-related, embedded in course design, in teaching and assessment
  • Novel digital solutions (tools, frameworks, devices, tasks to enhance efficiency and motivation)

Reasoning: One main objective of the Hackathon course, event and the host platform is to facilitate the efficient cooperation between the public-private - governmental sphere of the economy to enable socio-economic growth via the development of entrepreneurial skills and capacity of university citizens. This general objective involves the improvement of the quality and relevance of the online teaching methodology at the University of Pécs to develop the entrepreneurial capacity of university citizens.


6.2 Internationalization
  • Outstanding practices of international online collaborative learning
  • Developing students' multicultural awareness
  • Students engagement in international projects
  • Courses implemented in international cooperation (projects, co-teaching, virtual/blended mobility, etc.)
  • Courses offered to international multicultural students both online and offline

Reasoning: While digitally developing entrepreneurial capacity, the OpenUp platform also aims at providing answers to current socio-economic problems by generating relevant business ideas on the part of university citizens. With the opportunities arisen from the digital solution of the platform, by internationally interconnecting the participants ideation and business model generation practices, significant intercultural, cross-industrial, and multidisciplinary benefits can arise.


6.3 Inclusion and diversity, universal design
  • Innovative teaching methodology for inclusion and meet diverse student needs

Reasoning: Since it is a hybrid or online course it allows easier access for those participants who have special needs. Through the competency and skill-based opportunities recommended by the platform, students receive information and support about their personalized carrier development path, while reaching their entrepreneurial goals.


6.4 Sustainability
  • Sustainability goals are addressed in the course(s)
  • Teaching material contains profession related sustainability aspects
  • Special courses reflecting to UN 2030 Sustainability goals, Green Deal - mini-courses, microcredentials
  • Social entrepreneurship projects, service-learning in the topic

Reasoning: The Simonyi Hackathon courses have different themes every semester. The international Hackathon have usually health-related themes, (Hack4Health theme: inspiring positive change and dedicated action in the field of Health Sciences.); or to create innovative solutions to pressing global issues related to the United Nations’ Good Health and Wellbeing Sustainable Development Goal.

3.3 Public contact datas
Name Email address Website
Anikó Kuczkó kuczko.aniko@neum.hu http://foreign.inputprogram.com/?lang=en