The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) has awarded €63 million to support 47 projects to strengthen innovation capacity within European higher education institutions
The funding comes from the EIT Higher Education Initiative’s 2024 Call for Proposals.
A Europe-wide push to close the innovation gap
This latest investment round connects 620 organisations from 46 countries, including universities, businesses, research centres, and public bodies. The initiative targets the early stages of the innovation lifecycle in higher education, helping institutions evolve into entrepreneurial activity and technological advancement engines.
Among the participating organisations are 284 higher education institutions (HEIs), 186 businesses, and 150 other partners such as public authorities and associations.
These 193 HEIs are joining the initiative as full partners for the first time, pushing the total number of funded HEIs to 501, surpassing the original 2027 target ahead of schedule.
Focus on deep tech and entrepreneurial training
Twelve of the 47 selected projects will also contribute to the EIT’s Deep Tech Talent Initiative. This flagship programme aims to train one million deep tech professionals by the end of 2025, addressing Europe’s need for advanced technological skills in fields like artificial intelligence, robotics, and quantum computing.
The EIT Higher Education Initiative supports projects that connect academia with industry to foster real-world innovation. These efforts include developing entrepreneurial training, mentoring start-ups, and launching innovation hubs within academic institutions.
Record-breaking interest and participation
The 2024 call attracted 130 consortia, bringing together 1,480 organisations from 55 countries. Due to the high quality of submissions, five additional projects were funded beyond the original plan, raising the total to 47. Each project can receive up to €1.34 million in funding. Consortia typically consist of full partners, eligible to receive funding, and associated partners that provide strategic support.
The overwhelming interest and broad participation emphasise the growing influence of the EIT Higher Education Initiative as a catalyst for innovation and collaboration across Europe.
A proven model for impact
Since its launch in 2021, the EIT Higher Education Initiative has already awarded over €69 million to 65 projects involving 308 HEIs and 135 non-academic partners.
These projects have supported the creation of more than 240 start-ups, trained over 90,000 students in innovation and entrepreneurship, and aided over 1,700 start-ups and scale-ups.
By fostering partnerships between academia, research, and industry, the initiative has helped create integrated innovation ecosystems. These ecosystems position HEIs as central players in Europe’s knowledge economy, capable of delivering lasting societal and economic impact.
About EIT and the future
The EIT is a body of the European Union and operates under Horizon Europe, the EU’s framework programme for research and innovation. Through its Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs), the EIT connects universities, businesses, and research labs to address global challenges and create new growth opportunities.
Nine KICs are active in climate, energy, food, health, and culture. A new KIC focused on water innovation, EIT Water, is expected to launch soon, with the call for proposals open until 17 June 2025.
With this latest round of funding, the EIT continues to play an essential role in shaping Europe’s innovation future by empowering its higher education sector to become a cornerstone of sustainable growth and competitiveness.
![Figure 1: Sketch of the evolution of the Universe over the last 13.77 billion years. It started with the Big Bang, followed by an extremely short period of rapid exponential expansion. The furthest we can see is the cosmic microwave background, when radiation decoupled from matter, approximately 380,000 years after the Big Bang. This is followed by the ‘dark ages,’ during which this radiation redshifted from the visible regime into infrared and sub-mm wavelengths. The occurrence of the first stars, about 400 million years after the Big Bang, ended this phase, spearheading the formation of galaxies as we see them today. [Credit: NASA/WMAP Science Team, public domain]](https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Fig-1_1200-100x70.jpg "How did the first stars form in space?")
