EIT Manufacturing Teaching Factories Competition – Deep Tech

A Teaching Factory is a collaboration space where practitioners bring experience from the factory to teach students, while students and professors/teachers bring knowledge from the classroom to teach practitioners.

The Teaching Factories Competition on Deep Tech in the Manufacturing Industry offers universities and VET schools a unique platform to engage in collaborative learning and problem solving.

The initiative aims at:

• allowing companies to learn and experience the advantages of utilizing advanced knowledge and methods taught in universities/VETs.
• allowing university and VET students to test and enhance their competencies by tackling real industrial problems and challenges through Challenge-Based Learning (CBL).
• offering a collaborative environment allowing teachers and industrial mentors to support students in generating innovative solutions.

Topic Description

The main topic of the Teaching Factories competition 2023 is Deep Tech which (among others) includes:

• advanced materials and manufacturing
• aerospace, including drones
• artificial intelligence and machine learning
• biotechnology
• blockchain
• Web 3.0
• electronics
• photonics
• quantum computing
• robotics
• semiconductors (microchips)
• sustainable green energy and clean technologies

To enhance the chances of a successful application, potential applicants are advised to consider the following factors:

• Understand the selected Challenges on which the Solver Teams will work: Familiarize with the business challenges published on EIT Manufacturing’s website together with the call information and documents. These challenges have been selected by external experts. Thoroughly review the challenges to gain a clear understanding of their objectives, constraints, and potential impact.
• Formulate Your Vision: Based on your understanding of the challenges, develop a compelling vision for the proposed solutions. Your vision should showcase your innovative approach and how you plan to address the specific challenges. Consider the feasibility, practicality, and potential impact of your proposed solutions. It is important to emphasize the unique strengths and capabilities of your university or VET school.
• Mobilize Solver Teams: Identify and mobilize student teams who will work collaboratively on providing solutions to the selected challenges. Ensure that the teams are composed of students from relevant disciplines and possess a diverse range of skills necessary to tackle the deep tech challenges effectively.

Funding Information

• The total maximum EIT funding allocated to this call is 10 000 EUR, plus extensive training opportunities for the students with calculated value of 30 000 EUR.
• The top 3 Solver Teams winners, will receive financial prizes as the following:
  • 1 st place: 5 000 EUR
  • 2 nd place: 3 000 EUR
  • 3 rd place: 1 000 EUR
  • Special award for women empowerment: 1 000 EUR

Eligibility Criteria

• To be eligible for applying, applicants:
  • Must be a public or private higher education institution i.e., university or a VET school AND
  • Must be a registered “legal entity”: any legal person created and recognised as such under national law, EU law or international law, which has legal personality, and which may, acting in its own name, exercise rights and be subject to obligations, or an entity without legal personality.
  • Must register in the EU Participant Register before submitting their application, to obtain a participant identification code (PIC)
  • Must be established in one of the following countries:
    • the Member States of the European Union: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden.
    • European Union member states’ outermost regions (ORs).
    • the countries associated with Horizon Europe and the low- and middle income countries;
• Applicants may submit up to two proposals presenting two different solver teams.
• Must present a Solver team composed by students with the following eligibility requirements:
  • Current Enrolment: The student must be currently enrolled at the University/VET institution as a student.
  • University Requirements: university students should be enrolled in at least the 3rd year of their course.
  • VET School Requirements: VET students should be enrolled in at least the 2nd year of their course.
  • Degree Status: The student should not have obtained their final degree at the time of the call closing.

For more information, visit EIT Manufacturing.