The Collective Incubator sees its mission in initiating, professionalizing and rewarding student commitment and entrepreneurship at RWTH Aachen University and in the wider environment. It encourages and supports engagement in social, technical, scientific and educational areas. Its main goal is to increase the social impact that is achieved at the RWTH Aachen University and FH Aachen.
For this purpose, the Collective Incubator provides the platform on which the community members — student initiatives, start-ups and other groups — live and grow. Its main task is to connect the different entities among each other, to establish contact to scientists and corporates and to serve the needs and interests of its community in the best possible way. The present Code of Conduct has been given to itself by this community. It represents the basis on which the members want to interact among each other and with others.
At Collective Incubator, we aim to generate social and technological innovations, to offer personal learning perspectives, and most notably gain a social impact. In achieving this goal we support each other, as entities and as people.
This Code of Conduct provides guidelines for all members of Collective Incubator’s community, including companies and people. These guidelines address both the things we do and the things we don’t do—as good actors in the world and as productive members of our community.
Community members of the Collective Incubator must hold themselves to the highest standards. We recognize that each of us is an ambassador for our universities, the Collective Incubator and for the landscape of student initiatives and start-ups as such. Integrity in each of our entities is central to protecting our reputation for each other and for future projects. As part of the Collective Incubator community, we realize that we are living in public and need to act appropriately at all times. Therefore, those who do not abide by this Code of Conduct will be excluded from the Collective Incubator community and will no longer have access to the associated benefits.
The Collective Incubator Code of Conduct revolves around three key principles:
We help others whenever possible.
We are all busy, but when the ask is sincere and realistic, we respond and help. We are respectful of each other’s time and are clear and focused in our requests.
We respond quickly.
We make every attempt to prioritize and respond to requests from fellow community members, ideally within two business days.
We deliberately create a virtuous cycle.
We proactively work to give back to the ecosystem by giving first to others in our community with no specific expectations of return.
We appreciate the help of others.
No one goes it alone – student initiatives and start-ups are team activities. We express our appreciation for the help of our customers, mentors, and others that makes our success possible.
We respect “no” as an answer.
If another member says no to a request, we respect their decision.
We share talent and business opportunity.
When we become aware of good opportunities that we choose not to pursue directly, we share them with others in the community.
We are honest and transparent.
If we say something either publicly or privately, then we believe that it is true. We do not intentionally omit important and relevant factual information in an effort to deceive others. We strive to be clear and transparent in our communications.
We protect sensitive information.
When we are entrusted with sensitive, confidential, or personal information we use appropriate measures to secure it. We respect requests for privacy and confidentiality.