The University of Tartu established the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Centre
According to Erik Puura, Vice-Rector for Development, it is very important that different subunits of the university would feel the need for entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial ability training. “I really hope that we will be able to develop the training as attractive for a student as well as practical, so that becoming an entrepreneur after graduating from the university will be ordinary practice rather than an exceptional case,” said Puura.
According to Andres Kuusik, the one who coordinated formation of consortium from the part of the economics team, establishment of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Centre was a logical step made by the University of Tartu as the leader of entrepreneurship training. Entrepreneurship and transferable skills can be developed at any level with the help of consortium. “Each subject could include some component, which would develop entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship training has been thoroughly integrated already in several curricula, examples can be brought from Viljandi Culture Academy as well as from Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science. Transferable skills, e.g. the skill of project management, are needed by enterprising employees irrespective of the area of specialization,” Kuusik explains.
According to the Statutes, the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Centre is the methodical leader of the development of entrepreneurial ability and entrepreneurship training at the university, in cooperation with other universities as well as with partners all over Estonia. The role of the consortium is also to develop the necessary infrastructure for the development of entrepreneurial ability, representing the university in the field of entrepreneurial ability, entrepreneurship training and innovation, and regulating cooperation with companies.