Education and Innovation
What counts is promoting young talent
Best of South-East
In cooperation with the University of Graz, the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, the Graz University of Technology and the Montanuniversität Leoben, Steiermärkische Sparkasse initiated – the “Best of South-East”. It is a support and further education programme for talented and motivated university graduates and students from Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, and North Macedonia.
This programme’s goal is to offer the aforementioned target audience international work experience, as well as possibilities for training and further education. Additionally, entering the job market is made easier through a trainee program or internship.
The University of Music and Performing Arts Graz – Mentoring Programme
The Mentoring Programme has been supporting promising young students from the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, who are financially challenged, since 2015. The monthly financial support allows them to concentrate on their studies and not be distracted by part-time jobs.
Steiermärkische Sparkasse is a partner of the programme because we want to support students from our extended home market and the Western Balkans on their journey. So that they never stop dreaming, keep their goals in mind and believe in themselves — in line with our motto #glaubandich (#believeinyourself).
Science Park
Since 2007, Steiermärkische Sparkasse has been providing funding support to Science Park Graz and sharing knowhow with the GründerCenter (Start-Up Centre). This academic start-up centre is a non-profit initiative under the AplusB programme of the Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation, and Technology (bm:vit) and is funded by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) and the Economic Department of the Province of Styria.
Science Park’s success is also be reflected in its numbers: since its foundation in 2002, more than 200 projects have been registered at Science Park Graz.
The Centre for Applied Technology Leoben (ZAT)
Steiermärkische Sparkasse has been supporting the Centre for Applied Technology since 2009. The centre was founded in 1999 as the first university spin-off centre in Austria. Due to its proximity to the Montanuniversität Leoben, both in terms of location and content, the main focus of the ZAT is on innovative personalities from the Montanuniversität environment. With its many years of experience and know-how, supported by a select network of experts, ZAT is able to make it easier for academics to become self-employed and successfully gain a foothold in the market.