Industry has been complaining for a long time that a university degree does not prepare students for real problems and tasks for their future professional life. University focuses on teaching theoretical and methodical knowledge, knowledge being beneficial over a long period of time; however, it may not help much to solve tangible problems at work. At work, skills and competencies are required in addition to subject-matter knowledge.
Surveys have shown that students acquire competencies when confronted directly with problems which they have to solve independently. The acquired competencies have a lasting effect and can be used to solve new problems. It is, however, necessary that the student engages with the subject intensively. Self-directed, situational learning (i. e., dealing with real problems based on case studies) is seen to specifically foster competencies; it facilitates generalized knowledge acquisition. Generalized knowledge, i. e., situated knowledge which has been developed through abstraction from individual experience, always has a direct link to an actual situation in contrast to pure abstract knowledge. It is of utmost importance to encourage students to regularly reflect on experiences which they gained in the practical study of the topic.
E-learning-courses, which are didactically well-prepared and based on case studies, can convey generalized knowledge. Therefore, our goal in designing the erp4students program was to go far beyond teaching pure subject-matter knowledge: we developed a program of well-coordinated courses to enable students to act adequately in complex future work tasks. The learning environment supports and stimulates competence development of students.
erp4students is a program, consisting of extra-curricular courses, developed in Germany at the University Duisburg-Essen, and is offered exclusively to students. It offers the opportunity to engage intensively with the topic of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) while at university and to gain relevant competencies in working with the world’s leading enterprise software. Students will thus acquire a clear competitive edge on the job market in comparison to other graduates.

To see a detailed description of how the program works, please go to our section How does it work?

The University of Duisburg-Essen works in a close cooperation with SAP University Alliances. Being excited about the idea and the concept, SAP UA named erp4students a pilot project in 2006. Due to the great success of erp4students e-learning courses, SAP UA has made erp4students one of its strategic partners in the field of university education. But it is not only the University of Duisburg-Essen and SAP University Alliances who benefit from this cooperation. Prof. Dr. Adelsberger calls the project a “win-win-win-win-win-situation”:

1. For the students, who leave the university being perfectly prepared for the job market.
2. For the chair of “Information Systems for Production and Operations Management”: An exemplary research & development project
3. For the university: One of the most successful external funds projects aiming at educating “employable” students.
4. For SAP: Educating qualified users and consultants for their software products.
5. For the national economy: “Human Capital” grows, which has short- and long-term effects.

The cooperation thus proves to be advantageous for many parties. The clear focus, however, is on offering students the best SAP education they can get during their time at a university. Not only are they given the chance to severely increase their career chances by obtaining valuable certificates and precious skills in working with the most prevalent enterprise software. Due to a sponsorship from SAP UA which comes with the stated cooperation, this opportunity is also given to them at special student rates which cannot be found elsewhere.