07. March 2025

UNITE Sciences e. V. officially founded by 19 scientific institutions from Berlin-Brandenburg

The innovation network aims to promote entrepreneurial talent in the region and accelerate technology transfer

UNITE Sciences e.V. was officially founded on March 4, 2025, with the ceremonial signing of the articles of association. The non-profit association unites 19 renowned universities, colleges and non-university research institutions from Berlin and Brandenburg with the common goal of promoting entrepreneurial talent, strengthening knowledge and technology transfer and creating a dynamic innovation ecosystem for science-based start-ups in cooperation with innovation-driving companies in the capital region. The association will play a central role in the transnational Startup Factory UNITE and act as a shareholder of UNITE gGmbH.

A Strong Network for Entrepreneurial Excellence

The 19 start-up institutions contribute their scientific expertise and many years of experience in promoting innovation. The close cooperation with the Startup Factory UNITE will create a powerful platform that will make it easier for young entrepreneurs to start their own business and at the same time intensify the exchange between science and business.

The founding members elected Prof. Dr. Günter M. Ziegler, President of Freie Universität Berlin and spokesperson for the Berlin University Alliance, as Chairman of the Board. He emphasized: “Today is a good day for our capital region. The founding of UNITE Sciences e. V. is a strong signal. The scientific institutions in Berlin and Brandenburg are ready to translate the enormous scientific achievements of Berlin and Brandenburg into economic performance and thus make them directly tangible. I would like to thank the founding members for the trust they have placed in me.”

Prof. Dr. Sabine Baumann, Vice President of Research and Transfer at the Berlin School of Economics and Law, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Stephan Völker, Vice President of Research and Appointments at the Technische Universität Berlin, Prof. Dr. Susanne Buiter, Scientific Director of the GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences, and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Alexander Pfriem, Vice President of Research and Transfer at the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development (HNEE), were elected as further board members.

Future Plans: Integration of Business Partners and Ambassadors

UNITE Sciences e.V. is just the beginning of a comprehensive governance structure for UNITE’s Startup Factory, which will be based on three pillars in the future. Yesterday, on March 4, 2025, the association commissioned the Board of Directors to found UNITE gGmbH.

In the coming weeks, the business association will also be founded, which will connect companies and foundations with the Startup Factory in the capital region. At the same time, an ambassador association will be founded, in which experienced personalities from the innovation and startup ecosystem will be involved. All three associations will act as shareholders of UNITE gGmbH and contribute to the success of the initiative with their respective focus and networks.

“In Berlin and Brandenburg, we have a diverse ecosystem with a large number of players. We have developed a structure for UNITE that does justice to this complexity and at the same time enables a high degree of agility,” says Laura Möller, Managing Director UNITE. “In this way, we enable innovation and entrepreneurship within the framework of a public-private partnership, which is emerging as a new and entrepreneurial structure with a strong science base in the capital region,” Möller continues.

The University of Potsdam is also one of the founding members. “As a young university with a strong focus on the transfer of science to the economy, we see the University of Potsdam’s task not only in training excellent entrepreneurial talent, but also in our role as a driver of innovation for the region. Together with scientific institutions, start-ups and investors, we are already shaping a dynamic ecosystem that promotes start-ups, transforms cutting-edge research into marketable solutions and enables sustainable growth. The transnational initiative of the universities and colleges in Brandenburg and Berlin within the framework of UNITE is a further step towards pooling existing expertise more strongly, making it more visible internationally and simplifying access to industry, venture capital and expertise in the start-up environment through professional networking,” says University President Prof. Oliver Günther, PhD.

List of founding members of UNITE Sciences e. V.

About UNITE

With UNITE, partners from science, business and society jointly operate a transnational, internationally leading innovation and start-up center. A high degree of digitalization ensures the resource-efficient mobilization of entrepreneurial talent, innovation and start-up potential of the partners, efficient networking of ecosystem stakeholders and data-driven further development of the center.

Entrepreneurial structures underpin the demand for speed, a willingness to take risks and the creation of scope for development. Internationality, diversity and entrepreneurial responsibility are drivers and success factors. Interested scientific institutions, companies and players from the innovation ecosystem are cordially invited to contact UNITE to find out more about the association’s activities and opportunities for collaboration.

UNITE is funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection, the Berlin Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises, the Ministry of Science, Research and Culture of the State of Brandenburg and Berliner Sparkasse.

www.unite.berlin

Voices of founding members:

Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin
“We are very much looking forward to exchanging experiences on the topic of innovation with universities, institutes and companies in the Berlin-Brandenburg region. The joint start-up support within the framework of UNITE makes entrepreneurship even more present, tangible and accessible for our scientists.” – Prof. Dr. Bernd Rech, Scientific Managing Director

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
“We need UNITE for the urgently needed further development of the startup ecosystem in the capital region.” – Volker Hofmann, Managing Director of Humboldt-Innovation GmbH

Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt
“UNITE offers the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt the unique opportunity to transfer excellent research results into practice more quickly by making targeted use of the synergies of the outstanding scientific landscape of Berlin-Brandenburg. Whether AI in medicine or quantum technologies – we support start-ups with our metrological expertise, give them access to unique measurement possibilities and will thus strengthen technology transfer.” – Prof. Dr. Tobias Schäffter, Head of the Berlin Institute of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt

Contact:

Press contact Berlin
Anja Kunack
Künstliche Intelligenz Entrepreneurship Zentrum - K.I.E.Z.
+49 176 41252348
anja.kunack(at)kiez.ai

Press contact Brandenburg
Karen Esser
Potsdam Science Park
+49 171 8362964
karen.esser(at)potsdam-sciencepark.de

Press release, 5 March 2025