After a week of intense work, the ifempower Spring School has successfully ended on 13th April 2021. Originally the training would have been held in Miercurea Ciuc, hosted by the Romanian project partner Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania, but due to Covid-19 pandemic it was held online. Based on the lessons learnt from the ifempower Winter School, which also had to be held online, the organizers managed to make the most out of the online format.
ifempower Spring School is a higher education study program for female students selected at the partner universities: Corvinus University of Budapest (Hungary), Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania (Romania), Sigmund Freud University (Austria). The Spanish project partner, Andalucía Emprende also selected students from Andalusian universities.
This intensive training consisted of thematic days. Each day had a specific theme, which were made-up by a) a session presented by a speaker b) a group discussion based on self-awareness and c) special small-groups work to support the development of business ideas of the students.
After the introduction of the participants and getting to know each other, #Day1 continued with the keynote held by Ms Katalin Czirjék (community builder, public speaker, Founder Transylvanian Women Entrepreneurs) who helped the students to be prepared for their pitch presentations.
#Day2 keynote speech focused on being a woman and doing business, held by Ms Orsolya Gergely (lecturer at Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania).
#Day3 keynote speech focused on how to start a business in an ever-changing environment held by Mr Jürgen Raizner (Director of Steinbeis Transfer Center EAST-WEST Joint-Ventures).
Since #Day4-5 were Saturday and Sunday, students received home assignments and started the preparation of their pitches.
#Day6 keynote speech was held by Mr Levente Tánczos (lecturer at Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania) on the benefits of business planning.
The group discussions based on self-awareness were coordinated by MMag. Mariia Lenherr (Psychoanalyst, Sigmund Freud University) and Ms Erzsébet Fanni Tóth (Project manager, Sigmund Freud University). Students were also supported through special small-group work to develop their business ideas. The groups were led by Ms Carmen del Pino Martínez Cáceres (Entrepreneur and business advisor, Andalucía Emprende), Ms Rozália-Klára Bakó (Associate Professor, Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania), Ms Roxana-Stefania Boboruta (Project manager, Steinbeis Transfer Management) and Mr Jürgen Raizner.
#Day7 of the Spring School, the 4th Multiplier Event of ifempower project took place. In the frame of the multiplier event students of the Spring School presented their business ideas to the audience and the invited jury. In the frame of the pitches, students could ‘sell’ their ideas and find investors with the help of whom they can start their business.
The members of the Jury, Ms Clara López Pliego (specialist in strategic planning, consultant and manager of innovation projects at Barrabés.biz), Ms Virginie Poncet (senior advisor at Bpifrance) and Ms Ágnes Puskás (economist, international project manager) evaluated the pitches. Students were awarded in the following categories:
- Ms Alexandra Lange was awarded for the Best Business Plan (nominated by Andalucía Emprende Foundation);
- Ms Ana Zore was awarded for the Best Innovative Idea (Sigmund Freud University);
- Ms Petra Kisbán was awarded for the Best Pitch (Corvinus University of Budapest);
- Ms Lola Álvarez Botella was awarded for the Best Social Impact (University of Málaga, nominated by Andalucía Emprende Foundation),
- Ms Petra Kisbán received the Audience Award (Corvinus University of Budapest).
During the Spring School, students also had the opportunity to take part in wonderful leisure activities: Moonrise band gave a fantastic concert on the evening of Day3, while Ms Pilar Algaba held a fascinating flamenco workshop and performance after the Multiplier Event, and as a closing accord to the Spring School as well. During the lunch breaks of the Spring School, students also received different online workout videos, provided by Ms Esther Berg, Ms Aliz Molnár, Ms Diána Kovács, and Ms Kata Pongrácz, to move their bodies and freshen up their minds.
For regular updates on ifempower stay tuned at ifempower.eu or subscribe to our newsletter! You can follow us also on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.