After the successful first training session conducted at the beginning of June, FH JOANNEUM invited more stakeholders to another free training on a topic chosen by the participants themselves on June 26th, 2014. As it turned out, SMEs were mostly drawn to learn about how to internationalize by analyzing markets and understanding their potential. The team was also very happy to see participants from the first training, who returned due to a high interest in the subjects offered.

Mag. (FH) Lisa Mahajan and Mag. Rene Wenzel opened the sessions with a short introduction to the GADGET project to give participants an idea about the framework in which the training operates. The training itself was led by Dr. Martin Neubauer, who worked with start-up companies, held a teaching position at FH JOANNEUM and acted as a consultant in Russia’s largest automotive engineering holding for many years. The 5-hour workshop covered topics such as market selection, market entry strategies as well as marketing and staff selection criteria.

Interactive and personalized modules characterized the training course and the feedback collected afterwards showed an even higher satisfaction level than the previous training. As a last point of action, it was announced that the third and final training on “project management, planning & controlling of R&D projects” will take place on July 3rd, 2014 and focus on EU project management and funding opportunities for Austrian SMEs in the energy and environment sector.