HEInnovate is a self-reflection tool for Higher Education Institutions who wish to explore their innovative potential. It guides you through a process of identification, prioritisation and action planning in eight key areas. The self-assessment is available in all EU languages.
HEInnovate is not a benchmarking tool. It diagnoses areas of strengths and weaknesses, opens up discussion and debate on the entrepreneurial / innovative nature of your institution and it allows you to compare and contrast evolution over time. You can have instant access to your results, learning materials and a pool of experts. HEInnovate can be used by all types of higher education institutions.
HEInnovate is an initiative of the European Commission in partnership with the OECD. It is free, confidential and open to anyone to use. Read more.
Being an entrepreneurial higher education institution depends upon individuals, and innovative ways of doing things.
Entrepreneurial leadership and accountable governance are crucial to developing an entrepreneurial and innovative culture within an HEI. Such leadership defines entrepreneurship as a strategic priority and takes entrepreneurial and innovative practices from one-off experiment to an integrated approach that is core to how the HEI undertakes teaching, research and knowledge exchange.
The organisational capacity of an HEI drives its ability to deliver on its entrepreneurial strategy. If an HEI is committed to carrying out entrepreneurial activities to support its strategic objectives, then key resources such as people, funding and investments, expertise and knowledge, reward and incentive systems need to be in place to sustain and grow its capacity for entrepreneurship and innovation.
and Learning
Entrepreneurial teaching and learning involves exploring pedagogies, practices and flexible learning pathways to stimulate entrepreneurial mindsets in an inclusive and sustainable way. While the idea of creating a start-up remains a powerful and versatile pedagogical tool, entrepreneurship education is not just learning about how to transform an idea into a sustainable business. It is also about being exposed to entrepreneurial experiences and acquiring the skills and competences for developing an entrepreneurial mindset and equipping students to be able to contribute to addressing challenging issues such as sustainability and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
HEIs can help students, graduates and staff consider starting a business as a career option. At the outset it is important to help individuals reflect on the commercial, social, environmental, and lifestyle objectives related to their entrepreneurial aspirations and intentions. For those who decide to proceed to start a business, or other type of venture, targeted assistance can then be offered in generating, evaluating and acting upon the idea, building the skills necessary for successful entrepreneurship, and importantly finding relevant team members and getting access to appropriate finance and effective networks. In offering such support, an HEI should ideally act as part of a wider business support ecosystem rather than operating in isolation.
and Capability
HEIs are already deploying digital technologies, however the uptake and integration varies among and within institutions. HEIs should make the most out of the opportunities presented by digital transformation and consider digital technologies as a key enabler of innovation and entrepreneurship. An HEI’s digital capability is defined as the ability to integrate, optimise and transform digital technologies to support innovation and entrepreneurship.
and Networks
An entrepreneurial and innovative HEI proactively connects with its ecosystem (intended as an array of interlinked actors pooling skills and resources to pursue a common goal) to deliver social, cultural and economic benefits. The capacity to connect with entrepreneurial ecosystems and networks represents an important catalyst for organisational innovation in the HEI. It also helps the advancement of teaching and research, and transforms the HEI into an important actor in regional development and issues related to territorial cohesion.
A sustainable entrepreneurial HEI integrates the international into the design and delivery of education, research, and knowledge exchange by introducing new questions, approaches and alternative ways of thinking. Through considering international societal challenges, including the UN SDGs, the entrepreneurial HEI is also better equipped to support its ecosystem.
Entrepreneurial and innovative higher education institutions need to understand the impact of the changes they bring about. The entrepreneurial HEI combines institutional self-perception, external reflection and an evidence-based approach. An HEI that monitors the impact of all activities connected to the entrepreneurial and innovation agenda generates valuable information and data to be used to improve its own performance. Metrics should span beyond spin-off creation, the volume and quality of intellectual property generation and research income generation. Assessment activities should focus also on graduate entrepreneurship, skills and competence development, teaching and learning outcomes, talent retention, contribution to global, national and local economic development or the impact of the institution’s broader entrepreneurial agenda.
The steps below guide you through the features and content of HEInnovate. By clicking through the steps, you can gain an overview of how to use HEInnovate for an individual self-assessment completion and for carrying out group self-assessments. You can explore how to organise your HEInnovate workshops and join various HEInnovate events and webinars. You can also read about the resources, other initiatives and projects that are featured on HEInnovate.
self-assessment
completion
Explore the eight dimensions of HEInnovate by completing the self-assessment. The self-assessment tool has the simple purpose of helping higher education institutions identify their current situation, respecting the local and national environments, and from that, agreeing on potential areas for action. Under eight dimensions, there are 39 statements to consider in relation to your institution. You can choose whether you want to complete all eight dimensions or focus only on a few selected areas.
HEInnovate has a group function, it is a highly versatile feature which allows people with different roles to compare their results and use them to generate discussion, dialogue and strategies for change.
The group function of HEInnovate is the best way for higher education institutions to use HEInnovate for institutional change. Once registered, any user can set up a group and invite colleagues and relevant internal and external stakeholders to complete the self-assessment as part of their group.
The HEInnovate self-assessment tool works best if it is used as part of a process for HEIs who are exploring their entrepreneurial and innovative potential rather than in isolation. Workshops are an important part of the process as they provide an opportunity for those involved to discuss and prioritise actions for the future.
You can find additional information on how to organise your workshop among the Training Materials, including an HEInnovate Training Manual with suggestions for draft workshop agendas, whom to invite and format for the workshops; presentations about HEInnovate, workshop guides and an action sheet.
You can also seek advice to the organisation of your workshop by contacting the HEInnovate Team or the members of the HEInnovate expert team.
Explore the HEInnovate resources. The website provides access to relevant resources for further improvement and inspiration. The resources include:
- Case studies on institutional practices along the eight dimensions of HEInnovate
- User stories about the different experiences of HEIs undertaking the HEInnovate assessment
- Guidance notes linked to the individual HEInnovate statements to gain ideas and guidance on how to further your institutions practices and approaches along the different statements
- Digital resources, including video tutorials which provide advice on how to use the HEInnovate website
- Other documents, including the HEInnovate country reviews, relevant literature reviews and the concept note behind HEInnovate
and webinars
Sign up to our news and newsletter to receive notifications about the latest articles and upcoming events. We are also running a series of webinars, which usually take place at 5pm CET/CEST on the last Thursday of the month. The webinars engage invited speakers in discussions and experience sharing around topics of relevance to the current discourse in the field of higher education, with a special focus on innovation and entrepreneurship.
The Entrepreneurial Potential and Innovation Competences (EPIC) course assessment tool was designed to help educators to measure the effectiveness of their entrepreneurship courses. It can be used to assess the skill and competence development of participants in different entrepreneurship courses, modules, summer schools, bootcamps or training programmes. The assessment works with a set of statements across five thematic areas with which course participants can assess their development: (1) entrepreneurial competences, (2) entrepreneurial intentions and attitudes, (3) enterprising behaviours, (4) entrepreneurial strategies and (5) educational effects.
There are a number of initiatives run by the European Commission that are of interest to the users of HEInnovate. In this section of the website, you can learn more about the HEInnovate for EIT HEI Initiative.
in numbers
You can view and download case studies that showcase different institutional approaches and practices along the eight dimensions of HEInnovate,
and user stories about the experiences of various HEIs undertaking the HEInnovate assessment.
- Case studies
Young Universities for the Future of Europe (YUFE) is an Alliance emerging from a European Commission initiative to provide examples of what a European University should look like. YUFE has been active since 2019 and currently consists of nine young universities in Europe and two non-academic partners. They have a strong interest in promoting education that is student-centred and oriented towards solving practical societal challenges, embracing multiculturalism as a key trait of the European Union. The Alliance has a series of instruments to promote entrepreneurship and innovation: almost...
- Case studies
In February 2022, the Free University of Bolzano, in cooperation with NOI Techpark of Bolzano, offered an extra-curricular entrepreneurial programme named “Students & Company Sprint”. It was a five-day event where three companies presented an innovation challenge that student teams had to solve, mentored by experts and scientists. The student teams included second- or third-year bachelor students and master students from faculties of the Free University of Bolzano. The event followed the methodology of Google Design Sprint and was oriented towards problem-based learning in a limited time...
The expert group is an important driving force behind taking HEInnovate forward.
In this section you can read the profiles of our experts and contact them.
Milena Stoycheva is the CEO of JA Bulgaria and The Edge: R&BD and Visiting Professor with the EIT Digital Master School in I&E (Innovation and Entrepreneurship). Entrepreneur and educator, she is passionate about the importance of education and the...
Zsuzsa is the project manager of HEInnovate overseeing the daily running and continuous development of HEInnovate. Zsuzsa and her team have been supporting the take up of HEInnovate through the mobilisation of the expert network, the development of...
Oto Hudec has a background in statistical and evaluation methods and has almost 20 years of experience in the management of education and development at the Faculty of Economics. At the same time, he also works as a head of the Institute of Regional...
Suncica Oberman Peterka is Associate Dean for Environmental Cooperation, Projects and International Cooperation at the Faculty of Economics in Osijek, J.J. Strossmayer University in Osijek, Croatia. She is a full professor and teaches various courses...
Rebecca has been a core member of the HEInnovate Team since the inception of the initiative. She has worked with the European Commission and the members of the expert group to design the self-assessment tool and maintain its relevance. Rebecca is a...
Paul has been engaged with HEInnovate since its conception and has supported its growth and development including the development of the training materials during the past five years. He has undertaken institutional reviews using the HEInnovate...
Adina first attended an HEInnovate workshop and training in August 2015, given the initial interest of Babeș-Bolyai University in assessing and subsequently developing internationalisation. Adina since became a member of the HEInnovate expert group...
Fiona has over 20 years of experience of innovation and enterprise, in industry and in higher education. Her expertise enables her to play a vital connecting role between academia and business within entrepreneurial ecosystems. Prior to her current...
Pedro has significant experience in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, including teaching and management roles played at the University of Coimbra, after having completed his PhD at MIT. He has participated in several HEInnovate Expert Meetings...
Since 2013 Steve is manager of the student-entrepreneurship centre DO! (Durf Ondernemen) at Ghent University. Where he is active both as business coach for student-entrepreneurs and as challenger of entrepreneurial thinking within Ghent University...
Nadine is the founder of BCS Consultancy Services, a consultancy company specialising in advice and expertise on EU policies and EU programmes in higher education. Nadine advises on higher education strategic developments, leadership and governance...
Mikkel is an international consultant supporting organisations developing their entrepreneurial potential and societal impact. Mikkel has led the implementation of the EIT Climate-KIC entrepreneurship programmes across the Nordic countries developing...
Istvan is a member of the HEInnovate expert group and he contributed as the national expert to the HEInnovate Hungary review. Istvan has been working on the development of the entrepreneurial culture of higher education institutions (HEIs) for years...
Alessio is a Full Professor of Agribusiness, Rural Development and Branding at the Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment of the University of Pisa. His professional experience includes coordinating several Erasmus+ funded projects (The Wine...
Strategist, innovation and science manager, teacher, researcher, mentor and entrepreneur. He is the Executive Director of the Center for Business Innovation at Porto Business School, University of Porto and Professor of Entrepreneurship and...
Klaus is passionate about entrepreneurship and believes that an entrepreneurial society will create a better world. As Universities play a key role in educating young people to think more entrepreneurial, HEInnovate is a fantastic tool for all...
Ana has a Phd in Business and Economics, with a thesis about Operational risk in banking and focussed on internal and audit control for years. She moved on to the entrepreneurship world when she started to be part of the Global Entrepreneurship...
I have been involved in HEInnovate from the very beginning, and now I have used it in my university for more than three years. Since 2014, I have been working as leader of action plan for LUT Entrepreneurship Strategy. My doctoral thesis was about...
Annmarie is the Programme Director and a Business Studies Lecturer at the Dundalk Institute of Technology, Ireland. She is a member of the EU HEInnovate Expert Facilitators Group and has broad experience with using HEInnovate. She implemented the...
An enthusiastic user of HEInnovate, Barbara Gabriel has already implemented it twice in the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Aveiro with two distinct target groups. HEInnovate is the catalyst for change and for several...
Ester Bernadó is committed to higher education and life-long learning. She has held several positions in the university such as International Coordinator, Director of Bachelor’s Programs, Director of a Research Group in Data Mining, and Coordinator...
Read the latest HEInnovate news and see our upcoming events.
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This month’s HEInnovate webinar “How transnational education (TNE) can help your HEI to become more entrepreneurial” will take place on Thursday, the 23rd February at 5pm CET. In this webinar we will explore how transnational education links to the HEInnovate dimension of the Internationalised...
Given the success of the past training activities, we will hold two training sessions this Autumn to provide information and advice on how to make the most of HEInnovate. The training is run in cooperation with the European Commission. The sessions are aimed at participants who are interested in...
11 partners from 4 different European countries (Portugal, Spain, Denmark and Austria) got together under the Knowledge Alliances action, funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Commission, with the sole objective of achieving the development of sustainable product-services within the...
