Entrepreneurship for All: Israel’s Experience

In Israel, which boasts the greatest number of start-ups per capita in the world, entrepreneurship courses have been sprouting at universities and colleges throughout the country to meet a grassroots demand. These aim to arm students with much needed theory and a toolbox of mentorships, networking and tips on how best to approach investors for funding, writes Shoshanna Solomon for The Times of Israel.

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, however, now wants to make entrepreneurship part of the staple diet of all of its students – including historians, engineers and philosophers. “Our vision is that each and every student, from semester one in year one, will learn something about innovation,” said Amnon Dekel, the newly appointed managing director of HUstart, the Hebrew University Entrepreneurship Center. “In this century, as you go forward in life, whether you work in tech or in services, you need to be innovative and an entrepreneur.”

The university plans to strengthen its curriculum with project-based learning, including courses and entrepreneur workshops. Those students who have developed an idea and want to take it forward, in any field, will be encouraged to join accelerator programmes and may also get university funding for their initiatives.

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