Make the Difference

Excellence Entrepreneurship Certificate

Develop a profile that stands for entrepreneurial excellence

With the Excellence Entrepreneurship Certificate, you deepen your competencies in entrepreneurship, innovation, and entrepreneurial leadership at an advanced level.

You combine academic depth with practical experience, international perspective, and independent execution – while earning an official university certificate that reflects ambition, high performance, and an outstanding entrepreneurial profile.

Bildschirm eines Teilnehmers am Unternehmensplanspiel

What can you expect?

An excellence profile in entrepreneurship, innovation, and leadership: You deepen the exact competencies required for ambitious entrepreneurial ventures, innovation projects, and responsible leadership roles. These include business model development, market and competitive analysis, design thinking, prototyping, financing, strategic thinking, and team leadership.

Practice, projects, and real responsibility: Excellence Entrepreneurship goes beyond traditional coursework. Study projects, practical phases, community formats, and independent work ensure that you not only understand entrepreneurship but apply it under real conditions.

Interdisciplinary and international learning: Through interdisciplinary modules and international elements, you broaden your perspective beyond your field of study and strengthen your ability to solve complex challenges with a long-term view.

A distinction with impact: The official university certificate represents not only knowledge, but a particularly strong, practice- and project-based qualification in entrepreneurship, innovation management, and leadership.

Excellence Entrepreneurship is not just a certificate, but a visible proof of entrepreneurial substance, responsibility, and excellence.

Who is this certificate for?

For students at Saarland University who don’t just want to study, but to shape and create.

For those who are not satisfied with the ordinary, but aim high – whether as founders, drivers of innovation and management, or individuals striving to take on responsibility at a high level.

Excellence Entrepreneurship is designed for ambitious, high-performing, and highly motivated students from all disciplines who are willing to invest time, energy, and commitment into their development. This is not a side program – it is a challenge that elevates your profile to a new level.

The 24-month Excellence Program

As part of the Excellence Entrepreneurship Certificate, you have the opportunity to join an exclusive 24-month cohort program. Each year, only 15 students are selected who pursue entrepreneurship with exceptional commitment and aim to grow within an intensive, high-level community.

The program combines close mentoring, entrepreneurial practice, international experience, and the development of your own ideas in a format that goes far beyond individual courses.

The first cohort starts in October 2026. Participation is based on a multi-stage selection process and is aimed at students who are ready to make the most of the Excellence Entrepreneurship Certificate within two years.

Program structure

The Excellence Entrepreneurship Certificate comprises 60 CP and builds on the Advanced Entrepreneurship Certificate. It expands your profile with additional specialization, interdisciplinary perspectives, a study project, and a final thesis – combining theory, practice, interdisciplinarity, and personal development in a distinctive way.

The certificate includes:

6 CP Foundation

12 CP Mandatory Module

18 CP Electives

12 CP Interdisciplinary Modules

6 CP Study Project

6 CP Final Thesis

As part of the study project, you may complete, for example, an internship or case study in a start-up or company, contribute to Triathlon community formats, or participate in an exchange with a partner university. This combination of depth, practice, and international experience is what sets this level apart.

Overview of courses

From this portfolio, you select the courses required to complete the certificate.

Entrepreneurship Basics	Advanced Entrepreneurship Zertifikat	Excellence Entrepreneurship Zertifikat	SS / WS	DE / EN	Mehr dazu
6 CP	24 CP	60 CP
Grundlagen (6CP)				Grundlagen (6CP)1
Unternehmensplanspiel (3 CP)			Unternehmensplanspiel (3 CP)		SS / WS	DE / EN
Businessplan School (3 CP)			Businessplan School (3 CP)		SS / WS	DE
Entrepreneurial Readiness I: Idea Creation (3 CP)			Entrepreneurial Readiness I: Idea Creation (3 CP)		SS / WS	EN
Entrepreneurial Readiness II: Team Creation (3 CP)			Entrepreneurial Readiness II: Team Creation (3 CP)		SS / WS	EN
Startup Management – Blockveranstaltung (6 CP)			Startup Management – Blockveranstaltung (6 CP)		SS / WS	DE
	Pflichtbereich (12 CP)
	BWL-Kompaktwissen: Unternehmensgründung I (3 CP)			SS / WS	DE
	BWL-Kompaktwissen: Unternehmensgründung II (3 CP)			SS / WS	DE
	Innovations- und Gründungsmanagement (6 CP)			WS	DE
	Wahlbereich (6 CP)	Wahlbereich (18 CP)
	Case Study Programm (6CP)			SS / WS	EN
	Driving Sustainable Innovation (3CP)			n. a.	EN
	Designing and Managing Sustainable Business Models (3 CP)			SS	EN
	Ent. Skills: Projektmanagement, Scrum, Kommunikation (3 CP)			SS / WS	DE
	Unternehmergeist Saar (3 CP)			SS	DE
	Digital Entrepreneurship (6 CP)			WS	EN
	Corporate Entrepreneurship (6 CP)			SS	DE
	BioTech Entrepreneurship (6 CP)			WS	EN
	Technologiemanagement (6 CP)			WS	DE
	Management of Digital Transformation (6 CP)			SS	EN
	Innovationsmarketing (6 CP)			SS	DE
	Gründungslehrveranstaltungsreihe (3 CP)			SS / WS	DE / EN
		Fächerübergreifende Module (12 CP)
		12 CP aus Basiskursen aus anderen Studiengängen der Universität des Saarlandes oder anderer Unis Beratungstermin / Motivationsschreiben erforderlich
		Studienprojekt (6 CP)
		Min. 180h Praktikum im Startup /Unternehmen
		Min. 180h Aktivität in Triathlon Community Formaten
		Abschlussarbeit (6 CP)
		Wissenschaftlich fundierte Arbeit zu unternehmerischen oder gründungsrelevanten Fragestellungen
	Zusatzleistungen
	Teilnahme bei einem Gründertreff			SS / WS	DE / EN
	Teilnahme bei einem Hackathon oder Startup Weekend			SS / WS	DE / EN

Recognition & Important Information

Participation in the certificate program is designed to run alongside your studies. Depending on your degree program and examination regulations, individual courses may also be credited within the elective area of your studies.

The key factor is coordination with your responsible examination office or the regulations set out in your program’s module handbook.

If you have questions about your individual study plan, the recognition of specific courses, or selecting suitable modules, we are happy to support you personally.

Great things are built on ambition.

Excellence Entrepreneurship is designed for students who are ready to invest more, expect more, and make more of their path.

If you want to earn a university certificate that stands for exceptional commitment and an outstanding entrepreneurial profile, start now.

Teilnehmer des Unternehmensplanspiels vor einer Leinwand

Questions about the Excellence Entrepreneurship Certificate?

Not sure how to get started or have any other questions? Feel free to reach out – we’re happy to support you.

Florian Staufer
Entrepreneurship

florian.staufer@uni-saarland.de

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