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The EIT is linked to Horizon Europe, the EU’s research and innovation initiative. Successful applicants under this call will be notified in May 2023.
The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) has launched a funding call as part of a bid to boost innovation in higher education.
Up to 16 projects based on consortia consisting of academic and non-academic organisations will be selected under the call. The EIT is encouraging higher-education institutes (HEIs) and their partners from across Europe to apply for a slice of the total €12m funding.
Organisations who wish to apply can visit the EIT’s website to see the full text of the funding call.
The application system will open on 17 November, with consortia having until 28 February 2023 to submit their applications. The selected projects will be announced in May 2023.
This new funding call builds on two previous funding calls by the EIT which together awarded nearly 50 projects involving more than 290 HEIs and 300 non-academic organisations. Irish organisations are among some of the previous beneficiaries.
The EIT HEI Initiative is led by EIT RawMaterials, an EIT knowledge and innovation community. In the past year alone, projects have trained more than 9,900 students, academic and non-academic staff and have supported over 310 start-ups and scale-ups.
Commenting on the EIT funding announcement, Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, said the funding scheme will help HEIs transform into “leading examples of institutional change”.
“Initiatives like this directly support the New European Innovation Agenda, which is working to transform Europe into a global, deep-tech innovation powerhouse.”
The chair of the EIT’s governing board, Nektarios Tavernarakis, said: “As an educator and scientist myself, I have witnessed first-hand the important role of universities in driving innovation, reskilling and upskilling to meet the demands of the future of knowledge transfer.
“With rapid advancements in technology, universities need to react swiftly in delivering skillsets to students that will allow us to see more innovators emerge from their programmes,” he concluded.
The EIT is linked to Horizon Europe, the EU’s research and innovation initiative.
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