Munich Startup: Please introduce yourself briefly: What did you do before becoming Managing Director of the LMU IEC? What do you hope to achieve in your role?
Julia Wimmer: Before coming to the LMU IEC, I worked as a research associate at the Institute for Leadership & Organization at LMU. As part of my doctorate, I researched how today's work organization affects individual employees and work teams as a whole. In recent years, areas of work and life have become more interconnected, both intentionally and unintentionally. This impacts the performance and innovative power of individuals and teams – on the one hand, it promotes knowledge exchange and makes work more flexible, but it can also quickly lead to overload and unclear role responsibilities. The knowledge gained from my research and the experience I have gained in academia over the past few years are now helping me greatly in the strategic design of the LMU IEC as an interdisciplinary institution whose goal is to combine research, teaching, and practice in a value-creating way.
Munich Startup: For many years, the LMU EC was an institution in Munich's startup ecosystem. Last year, to the surprise of many, it closed its doors and was replaced by the LMU IEC. What were the reasons behind this?
Julia Wimmer: With the LMU IEC, we position ourselves very closely with research and teaching. Our activities aim to holistically integrate research into practice and thus support the creation of innovations with high social relevance. We understand entrepreneurship as a powerful tool for harnessing innovations and making a difference in the world. For this strategic reorientation, it was important to carry out a complete reboot at the organizational level. The IEC is now an interdisciplinary center led by LMU professors and fully integrated into LMU. This enables it to fulfill its role as an internal and external point of contact for innovation and entrepreneurship.
“Translating science into practice”
Munich Startup: Who is behind the LMU IEC? Who initiated its founding?
Julia Wimmer: We currently have 30 members from among the LMU professors and junior researchers who make up the board. Professor Jelena Spanjol, head of the Institute for Innovation Management at LMU, serves as spokesperson for the board and has led the center since its inception, along with her fellow board members Professor Martin Högl (Institute for Leadership and Organization) and Professor Albrecht Schmidt (Institute for Computer Science). Twelve additional staff members are also working on the implementation of our research, teaching, and start-up support projects..
Munich Startup: What continuities exist between the LMU EC and the LMU IEC? What do you do differently? What priorities do you want to set?
Julia Wimmer: The LMU EC has already collaborated with several LMU faculties on teaching its course program. We want to expand this interdisciplinarity and also reach out to LMU researchers with our formats. We see the integration of research, teaching, and entrepreneurial activities as a key anchor when it comes to creating social value through innovation. Therefore, we are gradually establishing programs aimed at translating research into practical application – starting with raising awareness among students and researchers about innovative thinking and entrepreneurial action, through co-creation formats with students, researchers, industry experts, and community representatives, to supporting science-based start-ups. Our offerings include both curricular courses and extracurricular workshops, certificate programs, and incubation programs. We advocate a holistic perspective on value creation that integrates the economic, ecological, and societal impacts of entrepreneurial activities.
“Excellent network in science, business, politics and society”
Munich Startup: Which startups is your offering aimed at? Is there a focus on specific topics or development phases?
Julia Wimmer: Our program is very early-stage and, in many areas, specializes in translating science from all disciplines into practice. Our teaching focuses on raising awareness of innovation and entrepreneurship, promoting the further development of innovations with our incubation program, supporting the concretization of business models, and working closely with the LMU Spin-off Service during the financing phase. With these program modules, we primarily aim to address innovators, those interested in starting a business, and early-stage founders. A central aspect of our work is our excellent network in science, business, politics, and society – both nationally and internationally. This is evident, for example, in the Startup Program. Munich Global Impact Sprint (MGIS), a cooperation between the Munich universities LMU, HM and TUM.
Munich Startup: How do you want to further embed the entrepreneurial spirit in your studies at LMU?
Julia Wimmer: In the coming years, we will implement a broad-based program for impact-oriented entrepreneurship qualification. The curricular anchoring of entrepreneurship in the faculties is a central component of this. It is important to us to address students with topics relevant to them. Therefore, in this program, we combine subject-specific entrepreneurship topics with interdisciplinary course units. We are implementing this project, funded by the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts, together with the Center for Digital Technology and Management (CDTM) and our partner, the University of Augsburg.
Munich Startup: The two event series "Leading Entrepreneurs" and "Cashwalk" were established dates in the Munich startup event calendar. What event formats are you planning?
Julia Wimmer: Together with TUM and HM, we host the Co-Creation Conference every semester as part of the MGIS, which will take place virtually on April 6th. There, (tech) startups from around the world, key experts from industry, representatives from academia, the public, the cultural and creative sectors, and investors will meet to jointly create scalable innovations aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This will be followed by a series of workshops and lectures on innovation and entrepreneurship for various target groups in the coming summer semester. The semester concludes in July with the Demo Day of our incubation program, where our startup teams pitch to potential investors, co-founders, and industry experts.
