EIT Manufacturing's Teaching Factories Competition 2025: Call for companies and students

The Teaching Factories Competition 2025 is an EU-funded initiative organized by EIT Manufacturing aimed at fostering collaboration between industry and academia in the manufacturing sector. This competition encourages companies to propose real-world industrial challenges, which are then addressed by teams of higher education and vocational education and training students. Teams consist of 4 to 6 members and are referred to as Solver Teams.

Eligible applicants include both corporate entities, which can be public or private manufacturing companies, including SMEs and larger enterprises, established in EU Member States or Horizon Europe-associated countries, and academic participants, specifically students in higher education and vocational training.

The primary funding mechanism is a grant of €90,000, which will be awarded as financial prizes to the top three teams in each of the Higher Education and VET categories. In addition to financial support, challenge owners receive non-monetary benefits such as tickets to EIT Manufacturing networking events and access to online training opportunities.

Applications for the competition involve an open call format with specific deadlines for submissions. Companies submit challenges through a single submission window, while student teams have two cut-off dates for proposing solutions. The application process comprises two main phases: first, an eligibility screening where both challenges and team proposals are evaluated, and second, a competition phase where selected teams implement their solutions and present them to a jury for evaluation.

The competition promotes the development of dynamic solutions to industrial challenges while aligning with EU priorities such as the Green Deal and the drive for digital transformation in manufacturing. Interested participants can find additional details and submit proposals through the EIT Manufacturing website.

The initiative represents an essential opportunity for companies to gain fresh insights into their operational challenges and for students to acquire practical experience, recognition, and potential financial rewards.

The Teaching Factories Competition (TFC) 2025 is a collaborative initiative organized by EIT Manufacturing, designed to foster partnerships between corporates and academia across Europe by addressing business challenges. The competition invites companies to propose relevant industrial challenges and encourages higher education and VET (Vocational Education and Training) students to form solver teams of 4-6 members to develop innovative solutions. The primary aim of the TFC is to stimulate the creation of dynamic solutions to industrial challenges through academia-industry collaboration.

The competition spans approximately three months and includes coaching and training sessions for the solver teams to guide them during the competition phase and support the implementation of their solutions.

The submission process involves a single submission for companies and two cut-off dates for solver team submissions. Interested applicants can find more information and submit proposals via the provided website: https://www.eitmanufacturing.eu/calls/teaching-factories-competition-2025-call-overview/.

The evaluation process is conducted in two phases:

1. Application Phase:

 Companies: EIT Manufacturing will perform an eligibility check on the companies’ challenges to ensure they align with the call guidelines. EIT Manufacturing will decide which challenges to allocate for the first cut-off stage and which for the second cut-off, subsequently publishing a catalogue of challenges.

 Solver Teams: Teams can browse the catalogue of challenges and submit applications to multiple challenges, with one application allowed per challenge. EIT Manufacturing will conduct an eligibility check and evaluate the solver team applications. The evaluation will be performed by one EIT Manufacturing internal expert and one independent external expert. Up to four solver teams may be selected per challenge. The exact number of challenges and solver teams selected will depend on the number and quality of the received challenges and applications.

2. Competition Phase:

 Solver teams will implement their proposed solutions. A jury of three independent external experts will evaluate each team’s performance during an online pitch session. The jury will select the top three winning teams in each category:

 a) Higher Education Solver Teams

 b) VET (Vocational Education and Training) Solver Teams

The top three winning solver teams in each category will receive financial prizes. Additionally, representatives of the challenge owners will receive two courtesy tickets to EIT Manufacturing networking events and/or access to online training of their choice.

EIT Manufacturing is supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), an EU body, and is one of the innovation communities within EIT. EIT Manufacturing’s main objective is to unite European stakeholders focused on manufacturing within innovation ecosystems, adding unique value to European products, processes, and services, and fostering globally competitive and sustainable manufacturing.

Further information about EIT Manufacturing can be found at https://www.eitmanufacturing.eu/what-we-do/. Questions can be directed to support@eitmanufacturing.eu.

Key details of the call include:

Opening date: 16 December 2024

Deadline model: Single-stage

Deadline date: 01 September 2025, 17:00 (Brussels time)

Total funding available: 90,000.00 EUR

Project acronym: EITM BP 2023-2025

Full name of the EU funded project: EIT Manufacturing Business Plan 2023-2025

Grant agreement number: 101113259

Topic: HORIZON-EIT-2023-25-KIC-EITMANUFACTURING - EIT Manufacturing Business Plan 2023-2025

In summary, the EIT Manufacturing's Teaching Factories Competition 2025 is a call for companies to present industrial challenges and for higher education and VET students to form teams and propose solutions. The competition aims to bridge the gap between industry and academia, fostering innovation in the manufacturing sector. Companies can benefit from fresh perspectives on their challenges, while students gain practical experience and the opportunity to win prizes. The process involves an application phase where challenges and teams are evaluated, followed by a competition phase where teams implement their solutions and present them to a jury. The best teams in both the higher education and VET categories are awarded financial prizes, and challenge owners receive additional benefits such as tickets to networking events and access to online training. The initiative is funded under the EIT Manufacturing Business Plan 2023-2025 and seeks to promote globally competitive and sustainable manufacturing in Europe.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types are corporates, higher education students, and VET (Vocational Education and Training) students. Corporates propose industrial challenges, while higher education and VET students form solver teams to address these challenges.

Funding Type: The primary financial mechanism is an award, specifically financial prizes for the top three winning solver teams in each category (Higher Education and VET). Additionally, challenge owners receive courtesy tickets to EIT Manufacturing networking events and/or access to online training.

Consortium Requirement: A consortium is required for solver teams, which must consist of 4-6 members. Companies apply individually to propose challenges.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The opportunity is open to European stakeholders.

Target Sector: The program targets the manufacturing sector. It focuses on bringing together industry and academia to develop solutions for industrial challenges within the manufacturing domain.

Mentioned Countries: The opportunity is focused on Europe.

Project Stage: The project stage is focused on ideation and implementation of solutions to pre-defined industrial challenges. Solver teams are expected to develop and implement solutions within the competition timeframe. This suggests a development and demonstration stage.

Funding Amount: The total funding available is 90,000 EUR. This amount is distributed as financial prizes to the winning solver teams. The exact distribution of the prize money among the winning teams is not specified.

Application Type: The application type is an open call. Companies submit challenges, and student teams submit solutions to those challenges. There are two cut-off dates for solver team submissions.

Nature of Support: Beneficiaries receive both money (financial prizes for winning teams) and non-monetary services (coaching and training for solver teams, networking opportunities and online training for challenge owners).

Application Stages: The application process consists of two main phases: an application phase and a competition phase. In the application phase, companies and solver teams submit their proposals, which are then evaluated for eligibility and quality. In the competition phase, selected solver teams implement their solutions, and a jury evaluates their performance.

Success Rates: The success rates are not explicitly mentioned. However, the text indicates that up to four solver teams might be selected per challenge for the competition phase. Only the top three winning teams in each category (Higher Education and VET) receive financial prizes. This suggests a relatively low success rate for winning a prize, but a higher success rate for progressing to the competition phase. The exact numbers depend on the number and quality of received challenges and applications.

Co-funding Requirement: The text does not explicitly mention a co-funding requirement.

Summary:

The EIT Manufacturing's Teaching Factories Competition (TFC) 2025 is a European initiative designed to foster collaboration between industry and academia in the manufacturing sector. The competition invites companies to propose relevant industrial challenges, and higher education and VET students to form teams of 4-6 members to develop innovative solutions to these challenges. The competition spans approximately three months and includes coaching and training sessions for the student teams.

The process involves two phases: an application phase where companies submit challenges and student teams submit solutions, followed by a competition phase where selected teams implement their solutions. A jury of experts evaluates the teams' performance, and the top three teams in both the Higher Education and VET categories receive financial prizes. Challenge owners also benefit by receiving tickets to networking events and access to online training.

The total funding available for prizes is 90,000 EUR. The call is structured with a single submission deadline for companies and two cut-off dates for solver teams. The initiative is supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) and aims to promote globally competitive and sustainable manufacturing in Europe. The competition represents a valuable opportunity for companies to gain fresh perspectives on their challenges and for students to gain practical experience and recognition for their innovative solutions.