University of Twente (NL)



The University of Twente is an entrepreneurial research university. It was founded in 1961 and offers education and research in areas ranging from public policy studies and applied physics to biomedical technology. The UT is the Netherlands' only campus university. From the early 1980’s there has been an active support of entrepreneurship for graduates entering the entrepreneurial path; start-up companies using UT-knowledge; and innovating regionally, nationally and internationally operating companies (small and large) acting in networks. To guide research in this area, coaching and training is offered to (Ph-D) students in these areas. In the Dutch Institute for Knowledge Intensive Entrepreneurship, NIKOS, which was recognised by the European Commission as a Marie Curie Training Site in 2002, research, teaching, consultancy and training, and business development support are combined synergetically to meet the interests of students, firms in and outside the region, policymakers and partners at the University of Twente. By experimenting with new forms of entrepreneurship support Nikos realises a field laboratory in which it is academically as well as practically relevant. Nikos is part of the School of Business, Public Administration and Technology. Its research looks at micro interaction patterns in networks of entrepreneurs and other actors leading to innovation and consequently change in economic structure on micro- meso and macro level.

In cooperation with Manchester Business School Nikos organizes the High Technology Small Firm Conference in Enschede every two years. A series of ten volumes (editors During, Oakey a.o. (1994-2003) has been published, in which a selection of papers are bundled, offering a broad view on the research on HTSF.