International Research Conference on Challenges of Entrepreneurship at SZE

The third International Danube Cup Conference was held in Győr, focusing on research related to the challenges of entrepreneurship, particularly those faced by small businesses. The two-day event, co-organized by Széchenyi István University, brought together domestic and international experts from countries along the Danube. Over thirteen thematic sessions, participants discussed topics including the situation of female entrepreneurs, family businesses, technological innovation, and entrepreneurship education at universities.

The Danube Cup is an international university network dedicated to advancing entrepreneurship education, supporting student startups, and promoting academic research in the field of entrepreneurship. A key pillar of this collaboration among Danube-region countries is the Danube Cup Conference, held biennially to foster global cooperation among researchers. The event showcases trends in entrepreneurship education and startup ecosystems, provides a forum for sharing best practices, and encourages forward-looking dialogue among academic actors across the region.

The third Danube Cup Conference was hosted at the Győr Innovation Park of Széchenyi István University. Over the course of two days, 69 presentations were delivered across 13 sessions, with representatives from 30 universities in 20 countries, including scholars and researchers from nine Hungarian higher education institutions.

At the opening ceremony, Dr Tibor Dőry, Associate Professor at the Department of Management and Marketing and the conference’s chief organizer, emphasized that the event aims to inspire new collaborations and foster meaningful professional dialogue through thought-provoking presentations. Dr Sándor Remsei, Dean of the Kautz Gyula Faculty of Business and Economics, noted that 82 papers were submitted by participants, ranging from completed studies to works in progress and best practice reports. He highlighted the conference’s significant academic impact, as the most outstanding research papers will be published in high-quality, Scopus-indexed journals.

The Danube Cup network was introduced by its founder, Dr Pál Danyi, who explained that the initiative was launched nine years ago and now includes ten higher education institutions from five countries. “Our vision is to educate motivated and successful students with an entrepreneurial mindset, thereby contributing to a thriving region where innovative university ideas can be efficiently and effectively transferred into business practice,” he said. He also revealed plans to introduce a collaborative entrepreneurial training programme for member universities of the network.

Representing one of the conference’s key supporters, the National Innovation Agency, Mátyás Kutni, Director for Educational Services, greeted the participants. “Supporting student innovation and developing entrepreneurial skills and mindsets are among our most important and challenging tasks. I am pleased to say that through our programmes, we have already helped thousands of young people and researchers to engage with innovation and entrepreneurship,” he stated. He highlighted the Hungarian Startup University Program (HSUP) as one of the agency’s flagship initiatives—an inter-university online course offering higher education students modern entrepreneurial knowledge and innovative thinking skills relevant to the startup world. He expressed his delight that the agency could contribute to the success of the Danube Cup Conference, emphasizing that such cross-border initiatives can rapidly lead to valuable collaborations.

Throughout the professional programme, participants were introduced to cutting-edge research on topics such as women in entrepreneurship, the role of advanced technologies, modern marketing challenges, the characteristics of family businesses, and the importance of university-based entrepreneurship. The keynote lectures included a presentation by Professor Zoltán Ács, founder of the Vienna Institute for Global Studies (VIGS), titled “Digital Developments in the Danube Valley – Myth or Reality?”Professor Dimo Dimov from the University of Bath (UK) discussed the creation, acceleration, and financing of entrepreneurial journeys, while Dr Michael Dowling from the University of Regensburg (Germany) reflected on the interplay between collaboration and competition through the lens of his thirty-year research career. On the second day, Dr Reinhard Prügl of the WU Vienna delivered a lecture on the value sustainability and challenges of family businesses.