EIT aims to transform universities with more innovation funding – Yurika.R

European Institute of Innovation and Technology wants to make universities ‘entrepreneurship powerhouses’

The European Institute of Innovation and Technology has announced a fourth round of grants in its Higher Education Institutions Initiative, worth €1.34 million each for project run by universities.

The EIT said applications for the next round of its HEI initiative will open this autumn.

The initiative seeks to transform “HEIs into innovation and entrepreneurship powerhouses” and strengthen “their integration into local, regional and pan-European innovation networks”.

Applications must be made by consortiums made up of a minimum of three higher education institutions, from three different countries, and may be used either for general innovation and entrepreneurship capacity building within institutions, or capacity building specifically relating to deep tech.

EIT background

Created in 2008, the EIT is part of the EU’s research and innovation funding programme. It bridges gaps between business, research and education by funding networks in thematic areas like energy and digitisation, called Knowledge and Innovation Communities.

Applicant universities are not allowed to be members of other EIT communities and should not have participated in the EIT HEI Initiative before.

The EIT has previously been criticised by higher education associations for a perceived lack of support for HEIs.

The EIT HEI initiative is entering its fourth round and exiting its piloting phase, which ran from 2021-23, supporting 1,100 startups and scale-ups emerging from universities and their students.

The EIT also launched a networking platform with a matchmaking service to facilitate new consortiums eligible to apply.