Seven Irish HEIs among successful applicants for €28m EIT Funding

Seven Irish higher education institutions (see table below)  are among 135 HEIs who will benefit under the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) HEI Initiative: Innovation Capacity Building for Higher Education.  Up to €27.5m is being made available to support HEIs with expertise and coaching, funding and access to the EIT’s innovation  ecosystem, Europe’s largest innovation network.

Each selected pilot project can be awarded a maximum of €1.2 million with up to €400,000 for Phase 1 (July – December 2021) and upon successful completion a conditional €800,000 for Phase 2 (January 2022– July 2023).

Projects can focus on several themes, including:

• fostering institutional engagement and change;
• strengthening partnerships between higher education, business and research organisations;
• developing innovation and business support services;
• enhancing the quality of entrepreneurial education;
• creating and disseminating knowledge.

A second call for proposals will be announced in late 2021 for projects that will start in 2022.  The initiative aims to reach 550 higher education institutions by 2027 to boost European innovation in higher education and support the twin transition towards a more sustainable, digital and competitive Europe.

Full list of beneficiaries

The Pilot Call for Proposals invited HEIs and local partners across Europe to design institution-wide action plans to improve their entrepreneurial and innovation capacity across all institutional levels.  By supporting such activities, this new EIT initiative will create systemic impact, empowering HEIs and fostering sustainable growth and jobs across Europe.

More details of selected projects.

The EIT strengthens Europe’s ability to innovate by powering solutions to pressing global challenges and by nurturing entrepreneurial talent to create sustainable growth and skilled jobs in Europe. The EIT is an EU body and an integral part of Horizon Europe, the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation.

The Institute supports dynamic pan-European partnerships, EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities, among leading companies, research labs and universities. Together with their leading partners, the EIT Community offers a wide range of innovation and entrepreneurship activities across Europe: entrepreneurial education courses, business creation and acceleration services and innovation driven research projects.

The EIT’s eight Knowledge and Innovation Communities work to accelerate the transition to a zero-carbon economy (EIT Climate-KIC), drive Europe’s digital transformation (EIT Digital), lead the global revolution in food innovation and production (EIT Food), give EU citizens greater opportunities to lead a healthy life (EIT Health), achieve a sustainable energy future for Europe (EIT InnoEnergy), strengthen the competitiveness of Europe’s manufacturing industry (EIT Manufacturing), develop raw materials into a major strength for Europe (EIT RawMaterials), and solve the mobility challenges of our cities (EIT Urban Mobility).