This is a major opportunity for higher-education institutions, businesses, research organisations, public or NGO partners across Europe. The call offers up to €2 million per project over 24 months, with a total budget of up to €70 million to accelerate innovation, entrepreneurship and strategic cooperation in the European higher-education ecosystem.
You can apply under two thematic tracks:
- Topic 1 – STEM: Build innovation and entrepreneurship capacity in STEM education, launch university-industry partnerships, and strengthen research-to-market structures.
- Topic 2 – European Universities alliances (EUAs): Deepen strategic collaboration between European University alliances and the EIT ecosystem, embed entrepreneurship training, and expand cross-border innovation networks.
👉 Submission deadline: 4 March 2026, 17:00 CET.
Visit the call page to access all key information, start forming your consortium with our matchmaking platform, and register for our upcoming Info Sessions.
We encourage you to act quickly: this call represents one of the largest opportunities to boost entrepreneurial and innovation capacity in European higher education. Join us in shaping the next wave of university-driven innovation and impact.
About the EIT Higher Education Initiative
The EIT Higher Education Initiative is the only EU programme fully dedicated to driving innovation in higher education. It connects higher education institutions with industry and supports early-stage innovation through talent development, entrepreneurship training and startup support.
Since 2021, the initiative has supported more than 500 higher education institutions, trained more than 118 000 students and staff, and helped over 2 000 startups and scaleups grow. The initiative is part of the EIT Campus – a coordinated education portfolio designed to train 2.3 million learners by 2028, strengthening Europe’s innovation leadership.
With this new call, the EIT continues to support higher education institutions in collaborating across borders, fostering talent, and boosting Europe’s long-term innovation capacity.
