The European Institute of Innovation and Technology’s (EIT) HEI Initiative launches today its second call for proposals - EIT HEI Call 2. It will remain open until 28th February 2022. Through this call, the initiative aims to help higher education institutions (‘HEIs’) design activities that will improve their entrepreneurial and innovation capacity. Up to 40 consortia will be selected in Call 2. Each selected project will be awarded a maximum of EUR 1.2 million.
The HEI Initiative is a joint EIT Community activity coordinated by EIT Raw Materials. As an active member of the EIT Community, EIT Digital is participating in it. The Chief Education Officer at EIT Digital, Roberto Prieto, underlines the relevance of innovation and entrepreneurship within universities:
“Innovation and entrepreneurship are crucial for boosting a strong, inclusive, fair and sustainable digital Europe. Especially interesting is that the HEI initiative is further accelerating the integration of the interaction between research, education and innovation. I am delighted to bring in the expertise that EIT Digital had been gaining for the last ten years now also to the second HEI Call,” he says.
Consortia of eligible new HEIs are invited to apply to EIT HEI Call 2 and take this opportunity to unlock their potential for innovation and entrepreneurship. Applicants’ activities can focus on several themes:
- Fostering institutional engagement and change;
- Strengthening partnerships;
- Developing innovation and businesses;
- Enhancing the quality of entrepreneurial education;
- Creating and disseminating knowledge.
The HEI Call 2, Funding Phase 1 will run from July to December 2022, and projects will be awarded a maximum of EUR 300,000 during this period. Upon successful completion of Phase 1, Phase 2 funding of up to EUR 900,000 will follow for the period from January 2023 to June 2024.
Earlier this year, the HEI Initiative run a Pilot Call in which it selected 24 pilot projects to fund. The total maximum budget per pilot project was €1.2 million, broken down to €400,000 for Phase 1 (July - December 2021) and €800,000 for Phase 2 (January 2022 - July 2023).
EIT Digital supports three of the Pilot Call projects. BOOGIE-U is aiming to execute novel models for increasing innovation and entrepreneurial capacity within the consortium. EELISA UNFOLDS is set to become a leading European initiative in the transformation of higher education institutions into key players in the entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem.
The third project, InnoChange, strives to increase the entrepreneurial and innovation capacity and attitude of higher education institutions. In addition, it aims in strengthening, better integrating into and engaging with the innovation ecosystems in Central and Eastern Europe.
