The Higher Education Initiative (HEI) is a European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) Community activity coordinated by EIT RawMaterials. The initiative is central to the EIT to make higher education institutions (HEIs) more innovative and entrepreneurial. It supports HEIs with expertise and coaching, access to the EIT innovation ecosystem and funding, enabling them to develop innovation action plans complementing their needs.

The EIT HEI has already achieved remarkable results, training over 130,000 students and academic/non-academic staff, and supporting over 2,600 start-ups and scale-ups.

The first three years of the EIT’s HEI Initiative, 2021−2023, were assigned as a pilot phase, and it launched three calls for proposals and funded three cohorts of projects. Under the first 3 calls, the EIT HEI Initiative granted EUR 69 million to a total of 65 projects, supporting 359 HEIs and 380+ non-academic organisations across Europe. The third call had a particular focus on capacity building and training talents in deep tech domains, thereby supporting the objectives of the new European Innovation Agenda and contributing to one of its flagship actions, the EIT Deep Tech Talent Initiative.

The Call for Proposals 2024 was the first in the EIT HEI’s post-pilot phase and the most ambitious call yet. It had a strong focus on enhancing the quality and competitiveness of European higher education, improving research and technology transfer from higher education, and supporting business creation through strengthening collaboration between HEIs and business partners across Europe.

This call funded  47 projects, each one with a total duration of 25 months and a budget of EUR 1.340.000.

For more information, please consult the results on the EIT website.

The EIT HEI has a networking and matchmaking platform on Conversation Starter. This platform allows organisations to connect with potential partners for joint applications to the call for proposals. Create your profile now and let the matchmaking begin!

What is the role of HEInnovate in the EIT HEI Initiative?

The use of the HEInnovate self-assessment tool allows HEIs to explore their innovation and entrepreneurial potential before applying under the EIT HEI. The result of the self-assessment allows them to focus their application on their concrete innovation needs. Therefore, all projects selected for funding under the EIT HEI are required to create an Innovation Vision Action Plan (IVAP) as part of their application. The IVAP will provide them a long-term vision towards increasing their innovation and entrepreneurial capacity at institutional level. The IVAP is based on the HEInnovate self-assessment for each HEI consortium member, to drive the choice of actions proposed for funding and institutional change within the HEIs.

For more information, please consult the EIT HEI website.