Is your Higher Education Institution prepared for future challenges?

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 strength and weaknesss, opens up discussion on the entrepreneurial/innovative nature of your institution and 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. It is free, confidential and open to anyone to use. Read more.

NEW: To further support Higher Education Institutions in their entrepreneurial development, seven profiles and corresponding sets of recommendations are now available for actions toward more innovative institutions! Read more

HEInnovate is an initiative of the European Commission launched in 2013 in partnership with the OECD. As a concept, it is embedded in numerous EU policy initiatives and funding programmes. Read more.

HEInnovate
in numbers
Total number of:
Self-assessments:30.8K
Higher Education Institutions:1.8K
Registered users:32.0K
Groups on the site:2.6K
Case studies and user stories

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

From 2019 to 2024, the University of Cologne has been receiving considerable state funding for establishing a Gateway Excellence Start-up Centre. A key approach is establishing nine new professorships. Seven of them are “start-up-oriented”, meaning that they deal with business foundation in their teaching, research, and student support activities, while focusing on a different academic subject. These professors are in the Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences, in the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences as well as in the Faculty of Humanities and the Faculty of Medicine...

  • Case studies

Since 2015, life science students from Vilnius University (VU) have participated very successfully in the iGEM innovation competition. At iGEM, an annual event in Boston, US, selected student teams from universities around the world compete with innovative solutions in synthetic biology. The main driver for participation was a renowned professor from the University’s Institute of Biotechnology. VU supports the iGEM student teams and their innovative and entrepreneurial activities through finance and the opportunity to use laboratories and meeting rooms. Entrepreneurship education is not part...

Members of the HEInnovate expert team

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.

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

News and events

Read the latest HEInnovate news and see our upcoming events.
You can also sign up to our news and newsletter to receive notifications.

  • News

We are happy to announce that we will hold a two-day long physical training session in May 2024 to provide information and advice on how to make the most of HEInnovate . The training is run in cooperation with the European Commission. The training session is aimed at participants who are interested...

  • News

The European Commission has launched an assessment of the instruments, deliverables, results and impact of its university-business cooperation initiatives. Here you can find an official letter from the European Commission endorsing this study and providing further information about its importance...

  • News

The next HEInnovate webinar will be dedicated to exploring the HEInnovate action cards in the form of small interactive group conversations using breakout rooms. The HEInnovate action cards provide relevant and actionable recommendations for short-, medium- and long-term implementation along the...