Frequently Asked Questions

The pledge is a non-legally binding promise to support the initiative’s aim to train 1 million people in deep tech skills by 2025. Contributions to the aim are varied, but may include running training programmes, upskilling staff, hosting events or promoting the initiative.

Those interested are invited to submit their pledge on the website and sign the pledge document.
After the Pledge is approved, the Pledgers will receive account name and password to access the backend of the Platform and can proceed to providing information about the courses offered on the platform of the Initiative via the Quality Check. Courses offered may take place online, offline or in a hybrid format in any European language, but content on the platform must be submitted in English.

• Will be granted access to the community platform
• Will be invited to the networking events
• Will be incorporated into the Tech Radar

International Exposure

The Deep Tech Talent Initiative is the first European educational platform that offers courses in deep tech areas at all levels.
Courses and initiatives offered by Pledge members can gain international exposure and help attract wider audiences to the programs displayed on the website of the Initiative.

Knowledge and Networking Hub

Pledgers have access to a community platform where they can access up-to-date information events, funding and news related to deep tech skills training. Annual events organized by the EIT Community are also a chance to showcase training programs and network with other pledgers.
The platform of the Initiative features additional tools that users may benefit from, including:
1) Tools to match individual skill needs with available training.
2) A talent database of people interested in training in deep tech fields.
3) A course catalogue where pledgers can register their courses, gain a quality seal and benefit from enhanced marketing through the initiative.
4) A technology radar, which offers foresight for rapidly identifying emerging deep tech technologies and applications.
5) Tools to track and visualise the progress of the EIT Deep Tech Talent Initiative.

Financing Opportunities

By joining the Pledge, members will have the chance to find out about relevant funding opportunities offered by the EIT Community and other funding partners. Some funding opportunities are restricted to pledgers of the initiative.

Pledgers are invited to join forces with the EIT Community and contribute to skilling, re-skilling and upskilling of 1 000 000 people in deep tech areas.
Education and Training providers can launch new training programmes or adjust their existing training to match the ambitions and requirements of the Initiative. Member States or Institutions can produce strategic objectives for their region or launch/modify funding calls in support of the initiative. Funding organisations can contribute by creating a dedicated Call for Proposals, either through a new programme or through modifying existing programmes.
All Pledge members will be expected to upload information about their commitments to the Deep Tech Talent Initiative platform. In addition, they will be requested to report basic information to the EIT on a regular basis on their training activities implemented in line with their Pledge.

The minimum criteria cover the following points:

• A proven deep tech sub-sector focus
• Courses should not contain or use protected Intellectual Property or copyrighted content and materials that are not lawfully granted
• The training programme should contain at least 50 hours or more guided learning hours combined. In the case of courses aimed at learners under 18, the minimum requirement is for 25 hours of learning
• Students should be issued with a verifiable certificate of achievement or qualification from the training provider or the qualification’s regulator

• Pupils, especially young women, in secondary education with an interest in (deep) tech
• Students of Higher Education with a need for more specific training in deep tech
• Adult Learners in companies and on the job market who need additional skills in deep tech

The minimal requirement of 50 hours learning was set with inclusivity in mind and it can include any type of educational format (face to face classes + online classes + project work, etc.). The initiative would like to offer a chance for everyone – regardless of their existing level of deep tech and the financial and social situation of the trainee – to gain skills and knowledge in deep tech. By allowing relatively shorter programs to take part, those who wish to take a very first step towards deep tech can also join Europe’s largest deep tech talent training initiative.

The certification criteria means that all participants need to receive a certificate proving that they participated in the program. Certifications do not necessarily need to provide new qualifications.

Not all the Pledgers categories are expected to offer a list of courses.

Detailed information about the courses will be needed by Education and Training Providers after signing the Pledge. Pledgers are requested to make an application for any course they wish to publish on the platform.

Each course will undergo a quality-checking process to verify if the course details fulfil the EIT Deep Tech Talent Initiative requirements.

Education and Training providers can launch new training programmes or adjust their existing training to match the ambitions and requirements of the Initiative.

When signing the Pledge, organisations are committing to recording and reporting the data required by the initiative. This includes:

• Course code (for courses listed on the platform)
• Successful graduates:
  • Gender
  • Country of residence

The Definitions document is a non-exclusive list and will be updated regularly in line with the emerging deep technologies on the market, and with the support of the EIT Knowledge Innovation Communities and the Pledgers Community. If you would like to propose a new area of deep tech, please email info@eitdeeptechtalent.eu. In the meantime, please choose the area that most closely matches your technology.

Once a pledge is submitted the pledge target is locked.

Yes. In some cases, large organisations, such as universities, may wish to pledge multiple times for different departments. However, Pledgers are identified by their PIC (Participant Identification Code) and only one pledge can currently be submitted per PIC. Once a pledger is approved, multiple users from the organization can upload courses in support of the pledge.

Learners that have completed an approved course, listed on the EIT Deep Tech Talent Initiative website, must be included in reporting. Learners that have completed training and are residents of EU Member States and associated countries (according to Horizon Europe guidelines) will count towards the pledge targets.
Learners that have taken courses that are not listed on the platform and staff that have upskilled or re-skilled in deep technology also count towards the target.

Residents of EU Member states plus Horizon associated countries count towards the pledge targets. To be clear:

• Nationals and residents of Horizon countries – yes, these learners count towards the pledge target.
• Horizon nationals, but not resident – no, these learners do not count towards the pledge target.
• Non-EU Nationals, but Horizon resident – yes, these learners count towards the pledge target.
• Non-EU nationals and not Horizon resident – no, these learners do not count towards the pledge target

In addition to the existing and freshly initiated trainings in the field of deep tech, the EIT and its Knowledge and Innovation Communities will provide support for the development of new curricula in deep tech. Funding calls will be announced to Pledge members on an annual basis and will also be published on the website.

Participation in the EIT Deep Tech Talent Initiative does not exclude the possibility to apply for other calls from the EIT Community.

Deep tech is defined as a classification of organisation or a start-up, with the expressed objective of providing technology solutions to deep societal challenges. They present scientific or engineering challenges requiring lengthy research and development, and large capital investment before successful commercialisation.

The EIT Deep Tech Talent has developed a quality check for the training programmes targeted under the initiative. In addition, a Definitions document that identifies the fifteen deep tech technologies currently under the scope of the programme is available.

Please note that the Definitions document is a non-exclusive list and will be updated regularly in line with the emerging deep technologies on the market, and with the support of the EIT Knowledge Innovation Communities and the Pledger Community. 

Each person who completes an EIT Deep Tech Talent course that meets the minimum requirements will be added to the sum of trained individuals. The trainees will be reported by the pledging organisations. It is the responsibility of the Pledger to make sure that the reporting is accurate.
Upskilling and reskilling within the workforce are also an important contribution to the initiative. Wider actions aside from the courses listed on the platform are recorded during Pledger reporting. Numbers of staff upskilled in deep tech are counted and included in figures.

The talent community is an online space open to anyone to join, but is expected to comprise largely European talents that have taken courses as part of the initiative.

Talents can create a personal page as part of our Talent Community. On this page they can:

• Build their own profile based on their preferred courses and deep tech areas
• Mark courses as favourites as a way of saving their learning plan
• Get a personalised course offer using the platform’s AI-based Course Matching Tool
• Mark themselves visible to Pledgers wishing to provide an opportunity to talents

We also hope to expand the offering for talents to enable them to upload the certificates of courses they have completed as part of the initiative.

Talents can decide to leave the community at any time by going to the User Settings section of their profile and clicking on “Delete your account”.

Talents can choose to mark themselves as “visible” to Pledgers or not. If a talent is marked as visible, they may be offered job opportunities or be invited to events aimed at the deep tech community.

The Course Matching Tool aims to help learners find the best course offer, matching their needs and requirements, through an AI tool. Open AI translates the free text from the user to categories and the categories are then matched by the platform with the categorisation of available courses. The Course Matching Tool should be considered a beta and will be developed with better matching based on more data during spring 2024.

No. As mentioned on page 8 of the Call for Proposals Guidelines, EIT KICs cannot apply, either as a main applicant or as partners of a consortium.

No. The same action cannot be funded twice through different Horizon Europe funds. A situation like this would be considered double funding and this is not admissible.

No, only legal entities are eligible.

The Deep Tech Talent Initiative and the HEI Initiative are distinct initiatives, each
with its own focus and objectives. Therefore, yes, you can apply to this call if your project refers to different courses and actions.

Yes, all partners of the consortium must be Pledgers at the time of submission.

No.

A legal signatory of the university.

Prospective Pledgers need to state how many courses they wish to upload on the platform to become a Pledger, as well as how many talents they are planning to train until the end of 2025. However, this is not legally binding. If funding is secured and they develop more courses, this is very welcome!

Yes, they can apply as institutional Pledgers.

There is no need to have an accreditation to pass the Quality Check stage. Indeed, there are many courses on the DTTI platform which did not hold any prior accreditation. However, since the Quality Check and education accreditations are based on the same principles, having prior accreditations will speed up the Quality Check process and increase the chances of successful outcome.

Horizon Europe rules are applied to this call. Therefore, each legal entity can apply only once. But if an organisation is made of different legal entities, they can apply several times under those different legal entities. In the proposal submission, the organisation’s PIC number is required to check this.

Yes, if they are two separate legal entities.

No. Consortium members can be from the same country.

The course does not have to be an accredited university course. It’s a training programme with the objective of up-skilling and re-skilling talent. However, by the end of Phase 1 the course will be Quality Checked. Successful proposals should submit the course for Quality Checking as soon as possible, as the Approval Panel meets approximately every 6 weeks. You can access more information about the Quality Check process here.

The verifiability is two-fold:
1. It means that the certificate of achievement must be based on summative assessed learning objectives.
2. It means that the training provider has to have a sound learner records management system that will allow stakeholders (e.g., present or future employers) to be able to verify with the training provider that the certificate is authentic.

2 ECTS is the equivalent of 2 credits (50 hours of learning) BUT the training programme does not have to be validated by a university.

3 EQVET/EQF means the training programme must be level 3, the equivalent of post-secondary training. The course must fulfil the 50+ hour learning criterium and it must fulfil the EQF 3 or above requirement. EQF requirement is the same for all target groups.

Validation is done by the EIT Deep Tech Talent Initiative’s Quality Check team. This will occur between phase 1 and 2 and ensures that all requirements of the trainings have been met before moving onto phase 2.

The projects fall under Horizon Europe, and the general regulations regarding funding and cost eligibility are governed by the Horizon Europe Annotated Model Grant Agreement (AGA).

There is no co-funding required. It is 100% funded.

No, there is no requirement to share incomes. However, we are very interested in understanding how organisations are planning to continue their courses after the end of the projects, so it would be preferable to include your FSM plans in the proposal.

Yes, co-funding is allowed.

Chosen applicants are expected to report the following data for their learners by the end of 2025: course content and learner objectives and the data on successful graduates. The data submission should meet the reporting requirements of EIT Impact Framework for Participants in non-labelled education and training (https://eit.europa.eu/sites/default/files/eit_impact_framework_2022-2027.pdf).

All the information relating to this Call can be found in the dedicated Call web page. This is the main point of reference where you will find the application link, related material, links to events, etc.

There is no pre-proposal submission checking assistance available. All call documents are self-explanatory and can be consulted here. We have put together this FAQs to support and guide on additional questions. There are three info-sessions where applicants can ask more specific questions – you can either watch or register to the next session here.

We do run calls every year, but the scope might not be the same.

No. It is a fixed timeline that successful projects must adhere to.