BUT deepens cooperation with Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland

Brno University of Technology (BUT) is deepening its international relations thanks to a new cooperation with Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) in Cleveland, which boasts more than twenty Nobel Prize winners. The impulse for the intensive cooperation was a research internship of Vít Chlebovský from the Faculty of Business and Mangement at CWRU under a Fulbright scholarship. During the fellowship, Chlebovský focused on research on entrepreneurship promotion at universities in USA, which opened doors to further joint projects between the two universities.

CWRU is a leader in promoting entrepreneurship not only within the U.S., but globally. Their Veale Institute for Entrepreneurship and Sears think[box] create a great backdrop for university support of entrepreneurship.

Michael Goldberg, Executive Director of the Institute, also guarantees a course called Beyond Silicon Valley, which introduces students to the workings and structure of the entire entrepreneurial ecosystem, especially in less developed regions. It is based on an online course of the same name available on the Coursera platform, which has been taken by thousands of learners worldwide over the past 10 years.

In the course annotation, Professor Goldberg states, "The path for entrepreneurs to grow their companies outside of developed entrepreneurial ecosystems like Silicon Valley is challenging. Most markets around the world do not and will never look like Silicon Valley. In transforming markets with limited access to private sector funding, exemplified by Cleveland, government officials, donors and entrepreneurs are experimenting with creative approaches to support entrepreneurial growth."

Entrepreneurship in South Moravia as the focus of the Beyond Silicon Valley course

In the new academic year 2024/2025, as part of the development of the collaboration, it was agreed with Professor Goldberg that the course will focus on the entrepreneurial ecosystem of the South Moravian region. During the semester, representatives of institutions that actively support entrepreneurship in South Moravia will participate as guests in the various thematic seminars. Thus, students at CWRU will get a good idea of the commonalities and differences between the functioning of the regional entrepreneurial ecosystem in Cleveland and Brno and the opportunities that the South Moravian region can offer them in the future.

Similarly, students or academics of BUT who enroll in the course can get a detailed idea of all the factors that are necessary for the development of an entrepreneurial ecosystem. The capacity of the course for BUT is limited to 5 participants. The course will run online in the winter semester 2024/2025, every Tuesday and Thursday from 5.30-6.45pm. Important criteria for admission to the course are a very good knowledge of English – at least C1 level and a basic overview of the business environment not only in the Czech Republic but in an international context.

The deadline for applying for the course is 6 September 2024 via this form (in Czech). Subsequently, the selection of participants will take place according to the criteria indicated.

Authors: members of the contriBUTe team