The 2025 “University Gem of the Year” Award Goes to Industry on Campus

In the public vote for the Stifterverband award, the University's transfer project received 29.11 percent of the 2,508 votes cast.

14.01.2026 · Press release

Group photo of the team in the sunshine under a tree on the lawn on campus
The IOC team led by Prof. Dr. Alfred Isele (third from the left) is delighted to have won the “Hochschulperle 2025” award and thanks everyone who voted for IOC for their support. © IOC

As a result, “Industry on Campus” (IOC) prevailed in the 24-hour nationwide SMS vote against the eleven other “University Gems of the Month” on the theme “Collaborative Research—Shaping Innovation with Companies,” which the Stifterverband had honored last year. The prize money amounts to 3,000 euros. Second place went to the “Intensive Case Study” practical module from the foundation of the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover (23.88 percent). Third place went to the “Dual Research and Development” cooperation platform at Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences (10.65 percent).  

“We are very pleased about the award and the nationwide recognition it brings to our ‘Industry on Campus’ project. The continuity of the initiatives by the University, companies, and high schools is now having an impact in many areas,” said IOC initiator Prof. Dr. Alfred Isele, expressing his delight at this fourth award for his project—which runs through 2027—following the “Hochschulperle April 2025” from the Stifterverband, the Transfer Prize from the move.more collaboration project involving the universities of Karlsruhe and Hochschule Offenburg, and first place at the Offenburg Science Forum. “It’s important to keep at it,” Alfred Isele added. And so, he and his team are already planning beyond 2027 for the future of the project, which is based on two pillars.

The first pillar, technology transfer, aims to support regional companies in adapting technologies for large-scale production to the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises. In a collaborative project with Schaeffler, Witzig & Frank, Siemens, and Beo, for example, highly complex machines with twelve machining stations and 50 spindles are to be made more efficient through AI as part of a process optimization effort. Other projects focus on implementing results from applied research to reduce energy and material consumption. Meetings held twice a year also promote networking among the roughly 20 participating companies.

The second pillar—securing a skilled workforce in the fields of mathematics, Informatik, natural sciences, and technology (MINT)—focuses entirely on inspiring young people to pursue technology by helping them understand it as a driving force for sustainability and ensuring prosperity. To this end, IOC offers introductory seminar courses for twelfth-grade students at Hochschule Offenburg. In these courses, students from six to eight schools have already explored topics such as wind power, hydropower, energy, and water. The next topics could include the bioeconomy and the circular economy. In addition, project participants will visit schools, and field trips with the students to partner companies are planned.

“The award for ‘Industry on Campus’ shows that close collaboration between universities of applied sciences, industry, and society is a true catalyst for innovation. We put scientific findings directly into practice, thereby ensuring the sustainability and competitiveness of companies. At the same time, the award is proof of Hochschule Offenburg’s strength in precisely this area,” said Rector Prof. Dr. Stephan Trahasch, expressing his delight at the success.

Further information on the project is available on the Industry on Campus website; the press release regarding the 2025 Hochschulperle award can be found on the Stifterverband website.