From northern Germany to Krems
Born in Neubrandenburg, Germany, Tanja brings a wealth of experience and passion for transformative education. Together with the development team, she is the dynamic force behind this innovative degree programme.
A native of northern Germany, she completed her studies at the University of Bremen and earned her doctorate in empirical economic research and applied statistics. She has been the programme director at IMC Krems since September 2021. Her research focuses on statistical methods in jurisprudence, statistical literacy, didactics of statistics and entrepreneurial education.
A funny detail on the side: during her studies and doctorate, she worked at the German first division football club SV Werder Bremen and "shooed" all age groups from children's gymnastics to yoga and senior sports through the gym.
Developing something completely new is a rare opportunity
"I see the opportunity to lead and develop a completely new degree programme as a rare opportunity. I appreciate the freedom I have been given in terms of content and organisation and strive to differentiate the StartUp Management* course from existing business courses."
Promoting practical learning in StartUp Management
"It's important to me that it's not just another business degree programme. During development, we tried as best we could to differentiate ourselves from our existing business degree programmes in terms of content and also to find a format that is different. Our aim is to deliver a consistently practice-orientated design of the course content. At best, it doesn't feel like a 6-semester degree programme for our students, but rather like a 3-year business project in which they have been intensively involved."
International perspectives
"When we had the first workshop on the development of StartUp Management* in November 2023, a development team member from San Francisco joined us. At our open house, I got into a conversation with a father who originally just wanted to enquire about StartUp Management* for his son. It turned out that the entrepreneur, who comes from India, has a lot of startup experience himself and is active in networks. Perhaps I not only convinced a new student after the conversation, but also acquired a new lecturer. That's the international spirit that I want as much of as possible in our new programme."
Why study StartUp Management*?
"StartUp Management* is particularly suitable for students who want to apply what they have learnt directly and enjoy working in teams. As early as the first semester, 'business ideas' are generated as part of a workshop, which are continuously developed over the course of the programme. As we hold the courses as bootcamps, i.e. in block format, we also hope to reach those who may already have one or even two legs in a business start-up, but still want to acquire the necessary specialised content and skills."
Values in teaching
"Ever since I started teaching at universities, it has been important to me to present difficult content to students as clearly as possible. As I have been teaching statistics courses since 2010, I know the challenge well. On the other hand, I want to give them added value by having them attend my lecture. After all, any specialised content can now be found in online courses or on YouTube. I involve the students a lot in my lectures. We take up questions, discuss them, digress and.... Even if I give the same course twice in a row, it's never the same. If, at the end of a degree programme, we've managed to convey to students the value of education, how important it is and how much fun it is to learn and know more and more, then we've done a good job."
More about Tanja Ihden as a teacher, researcher and private person
Tanja values the commitment to appreciation at IMC Krems. She emphasises the supportive culture, flat hierarchies and agile decision-making. The university's ambitious goals match her experience as a former competitive athlete. She has the vision to change the academic education sector in a sustainable way.
"The research project 'Entrepreneurial Education and Entrepreneurial Intentions' is interesting in connection with StartUp Management*. This is a joint project with the universities of our transnational programmes. In addition to IMC Krems, it also includes our locations in Baku, Tashkent, Sanya and Hanoi. As we offer the same study programme at all locations, we ask ourselves whether the entrepreneurial education imparted leads to entrepreneurial intentions in equal measure. In countries such as Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, China and Vietnam, start-up activity is extremely important. We already have a hypothesis, but as long as nothing has been published, we are of course keeping the suspense alive."
Sport is an important balance for her, even if regular exercise is no longer possible as often as it used to be since she started working at IMC Krems. For her, every minute of sport means recharging her batteries, whether it's a barbell class at the gym or rolling out the yoga mat at home.
*Subject to approval by AQ Austria
