Research transfer for the regional economy

Prof. Dr. Matthias Schmidt (Organizational Psychology) and Mike Altmann (Managing Director of Lausitz Matrix e.V.) received on Monday, January 19, 2015, the BMBF grant notification for 390,000 euros to support personnel development and recruit young talent for the Upper Lusatian economy.

Thomas Rachel, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, traveled to Görlitz for the occasion. Members of the Bundestag Thomas Jurk and Michael Kretschmer, the director of the School and Sports Office in the Görlitz district, Marlies Wiedmer-Hüchelheim, Prof. Schmidt from the HSZG, and project manager Mike Altmann joined the State Secretary in launching the initiative, which will now be implemented in the Görlitz district through the end of 2017 as part of the federal JOBSTARTER plus program. 390,000 euros in funding will be allocated to the region for this purpose. As part of the “Talenteschmiede plus” initiative, a regional apprenticeship network is to be established. Small and medium-sized businesses, in particular, will receive support in marketing and filling their apprenticeship positions. In addition to providing scientific guidance, the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences is contributing numerous methods and interventions from the field of communication and organizational psychology.

To enable companies to successfully train young people with less favorable starting conditions, the project team aims to establish a sustainable support structure in cooperation with chambers of commerce, the employment agency, job centers, vocational schools, and other partners. To this end, methods from personnel psychology are being integrated with new media to achieve improved “matching.” Colleagues from the field of computer science will also be involved in the development of this app for exploring career interests and skill sets.

The JOBSTARTER plus projects support small and medium-sized enterprises with concrete services in all matters related to vocational training, thereby helping to secure a skilled workforce. The program is administered by the JOBSTARTER program office at the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIB).