EIT HEI Initiative to launch new call for proposals in autumn 2024

The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) has announced that the EIT Higher Education Institutions (HEI) Initiative will launch its new call for proposals in autumn 2024. 

The EIT HEI Initiative is a Horizon Europe programme created by the EIT, a body of the European Union which EIT Health is part of. To date, the programme has supported over 40,000 students and staff in entrepreneurship training and provided support to over 1,100 start-ups and scale-ups.

The EIT HEI Initiative Call for Proposals 2024 will have a strong focus on enhancing the quality and competitiveness of European higher education. It will improve research and technology transfer from higher education and support business creation through strengthening collaboration between HEIs and business partners across Europe.

EIT HEI Initiative Call for Proposals 2024

The selected projects of EIT HEI Initiative Call for Proposals 2024 can expect to have a duration of 25 months, and an estimated budget of EUR 1.34 million per project to implement their activities*. The majority of the total project budget must be allocated to higher education institutions in the consortium that fit the following criteria:

• They did not participate in an EIT HEI Initiative project from a previous cohort

• They are not formally affiliated (i.e. member/partner) with any of the EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities (EIT KICs). Please find an indicative partner list of reference here
  (Please consult the final list of KIC partners to be published along the call text)

The call will incorporate a two-strand approach, where applicants will need to select one the following strands to apply to:

• Strand A: Innovation and entrepreneurship capacity building at higher education institutions (HEIs).

• Strand B: Innovation and entrepreneurship capacity building at HEIs for the enhancement of Deep Tech.

*Full details of the call for proposals, including the final budget and duration are subject to the final call text, will be published on the EIT HEI Initiative Call for Proposals 2024 webpage  in the autumn of 2024. Stay tuned with the EIT HEI Initiative website and social media for the announcement of the call text. 

Consortium composition criteria

Eligible applying consortia to the EIT HEI Initiative Call for Proposals 2024 must consist of a minimum of five full (funded) partner organisations, and comply with the following criteria:

• Minimum three full partner higher education institutions (HEIs), from three different countries

• One of the full partner HEIs must be the Project Coordinator 

• Minimum two HEIs must be a ‘new’ partner (i.e., didn’t participate in an HEI Initiative Cohort 1, 2 or 3 project) 

• Minimum one business partner 

Networking and matchmaking platform

The EIT HEI Initiative has launched a networking and matchmaking platform (hosted on Conversation Starter) for organisations to browse and connect with potential project partners, with whom they may decide to submit a joint application to the EIT HEI Initiative Call for Proposals 2024. 

Users must complete their profile with details of their organisation (for example whether they have previously participated in a previous EIT HEI Initiative project, the strand they are interested in applying to, what they are looking for in consortium partners). After browsing participant profiles, users can send invitations and hold meetings within the platform to discuss a potential partnership, leading to the formation of a strong and effective consortium.

Please note that the networking  platform has been set up for interested applicants to use independently. The EIT HEI Initiative personnel do not facilitate any interactions or meetings on the networking platform.

Create your profile now and let the matchmaking begin

Background and success of the EIT HEI Initiative

Due to the remarkable achievement of the EIT HEI Initiative’s pilot phase (2021 – 2023), including the training of 40 000 students and staff and providing support to over 1,100 start-ups and scale-ups, the EIT Governing Board decided to extend the programme until 2027. The pilot phase funded an impressive 65 projects, kicking off the process of achieving systemic transformation strongly and engaging a total of 359 HEIs and more than 380 non-HEIs from across 42 countries. Projects successfully strengthened the innovation and entrepreneurship capacity of HEIs by steering research and innovation strategies and structures beyond the classroom, running diverse activities aimed at addressing five key areas of innovation: 

• Fostering institutional engagement and change

• Strengthening partnerships across education, research and business

• Contributing to developing innovations and businesses

• Enhancing the quality of innovation and entrepreneurial education

• Knowledge sharing

Some examples of specific activities implemented by projects include creating new start-up support infrastructures on campuses (such as new or improved technology transfer offices), developing new guidelines for research, commercialisation and intellectual property rights strategies, creating and improving curricula to reflect real-world needs and the delivery of necessary training and mentoring to students, academic and non-academic staff with the purpose of building an entrepreneurial mindset and culture within the institution. 

The EIT HEI Initiative and its network of organisations has also been instrumental in providing support to Ukraine and its HEIs over the past two years. Thanks to the quick mobilisation of the EIT Community, more than EUR 2 million was mobilised to support 26 Ukrainian universities across 14 of its consortia. These results mean that – in a matter of a few months – the initiative was able to involve more than 10% of Ukraine’s HEIs.

Get inspired by some of these EIT HEI Initiative pilot phase project stories