EIT Deep Tech Talent Initiative Call for Training Proposals 2025

The EIT Deep Tech Talent Initiative has launched its Call for Training Proposals 2025 and is inviting organisations to collaborate on training deep tech talents by enhancing or expanding deep tech training programmes. The EIT Deep Tech Talent Initiative Call for Training Proposals 2025 is designed to engage a wide array of organisations committed to pioneering the future of deep tech education and skill development across Europe.

Through this call, the Initiative has allocated maximum funding of up to €1 million, with each consortium able to request up to €60k.

Project results are expected to contribute to the following expected impact:

• Mitigate the deep tech skills gap in Europe by equipping a diverse and inclusive workforce with critical competencies, enabling innovation across key technological areas.
• Position Europe as a leader in deep tech talent development, fostering creativity, inclusivity, and collaboration in training methodologies and curriculum design.
• Enhance Europe’s global competitiveness in deep tech industries while supporting the digital and green transitions through an empowered, well-trained, and gender-balanced workforce.

The Call

This Call is seeking proposals from organisations looking to expand or enhance upon existing deep tech training programmes. Improvements may include digitalisation, enhancing accessibility, scaling up, fostering international collaboration, localising content to different languages, establishing new academia-industry-NGO-government partnerships, or updating programmes with more ambitious and impactful KPIs, among other.

The Call for Training Proposals 2025 has three main objectives:

• Increase the number of people trained in deep tech in Europe. These should come from the following learner categories covered by the Initiative:
  • Students of Higher Education with a need for more specialised training in deep tech;
  • Adult learners in companies and on the job market who need additional skills in deep tech.
• Expand, improve and diversify the EIT Deep Tech Talent Initiative training catalogue;
• Foster collaboration between the EIT Deep Tech Talent Initiative Pledgers (400 as of February 2025)

Who can apply?

The EIT Deep Tech Talent Initiative Call for Training Proposals 2025 is open to all types of legal entities who wish to commit to pioneering the future of deep technology education and skill development across Europe.

Proposals must involve a consortium of at least two entities, coming from at least 2 different eligible countries, and respecting the following conditions:

• At least one partner must come from a Member State (MS).
• The other partner can be from either MS or Associated Countries (AC).

Additionally, all applicants must have signed the EIT Deep Tech Talent Initiative Pledge and  become Pledgers (have their pledge submitted) as early as possible and no later than 10 working days before the call deadline.

Applications must focus on enhancing, improving, expanding, or updating deep tech training content and programmes across any of the 15 deep tech areas covered by the EIT Deep Tech Talent Initiative:

• Advanced Computing / Quantum Computing
• Advanced Manufacturing
• Advanced Materials
• Aerospace, Automotive and Remote Sensing
• Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, including Big Data
• Biotechnology and Life Sciences
• Communications and Networks, including 5G
• Cybersecurity and Data Protection
• Electronics and Photonics
• Internet of Things, W3C, Semantic Web
• Robotics
• Semiconductors (microchips)
• Sustainable Energy and Clean Technologies
• Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Metaverse
• Web 3.0, including Blockchain, Distributed Ledgers, NFTs

What makes a successful proposal?

Successful proposals are expected to deliver the following outcomes:

• Bridging the Deep Tech Skills Gap: The proposals should describe efforts to reach a goal at least 300 trained learners by end 2025, of which at least 30% women.
• Fostering Creativity and Innovation in Deep Tech Curriculum Design: Support the development of innovative training methodologies that encourage creativity, problem-solving, and critical thinking among participants. Any type of training can be envisaged: online, onsite, hybrid, workshops, seminars, master and doctoral programmes, summer or winter schools, if they meet the outlined criteria.
• Enhancing Programme Appeal and Reach: Focus on empowering underrepresented groups through training programmes, such as increasing women participation. Attracting other under-represented minorities, or ensuring inclusivity across all EU members states, especially EIT RIS eligible countries, with moderate or emerging innovation scores according to the European Innovation Scoreboard.
• Adhering to the Quality Check standards and specified mandatory criteria.
• Collaborative Efforts: Applications must involve a consortium of at least two entities, demonstrating a collaborative approach to deep tech training. All partners must be or become pledgers of the EIT Deep Tech Talent Initiative.

Implementation of the successful proposals will be structured in two phases to optimise development and impact:

• Phase 1 focuses on enhancing, improving, expanding, or updating, and validating deep tech training content and programmes
• Phase 2 involves the launch and execution of the training programmes

Application Evaluation

Proposals that successfully pass the eligibility check are evaluated and scored against 5 criteria: Excellence, Impact, Implementation, Strategic Fit and European Dimension. The evaluation process will be carried out by two independent external evaluators, supported by one independent external rapporteur.