EAS-EL selected for funding to strengthen AI-driven innovation and entrepreneurship across Arqus

Arqus is pleased to announce that EAS-EL – European AI Sandbox for Entrepreneurial Learning has been selected for funding under the EIT Higher Education Initiative 2025.

Led by the University of Graz, the project has been awarded up to €1,998,995 for a 24-month implementation period beginning in September 2026. EAS-EL will strengthen innovation and entrepreneurship across the Arqus Alliance by creating a shared ecosystem where students, researchers and staff can develop, test and transform artificial intelligence-based ideas into innovative solutions and entrepreneurial ventures.

At the heart of the project is the European AI Sandbox, a shared environment that will enable members of the Alliance to experiment with AI technologies in a secure and responsible way. The EAS-EL consortium operates as a high-reach, pan-European engine for institutional transformation, directly involving six Arqus Alliance partner universities: the University of Graz, University of Leipzig, the University of Granada, Durham University, Maynooth University and Vilnius University – and extending its reach to three associated partner institutions: the University of Minho, the University of Padua and University of Lyon 1. This HEI Consortium is levelled up by a well connected Innovation & Start-up Hub (ZWI) and a Business Partner (EY) that has real strong experience in industry proven AI projects and also an European wide network that can support the goals of EAS-EL.

For the Arqus Alliance, EAS-EL represents an important step towards strengthening its innovation capacity while reinforcing collaboration between its member universities. By combining AI expertise, entrepreneurship education and responsible AI governance within a common European framework, the project will create new opportunities for interdisciplinary cooperation. A distinctive feature of the initiative is its commitment to making AI innovation accessible across disciplines, encouraging participation not only from STEM fields but also from the humanities, social sciences, law, business and other areas.

Over the next two years, EAS-EL will establish shared structures that will remain within the Alliance beyond the project’s lifetime, embedding AI entrepreneurship into Arqus’ long-term strategy and fostering a new generation of innovators capable of addressing complex European and global challenges through responsible, human-centred artificial intelligence.

The selection of EAS-EL further reinforces Arqus’ commitment to excellence in education, research and innovation, while demonstrating the Alliance’s growing capacity to develop collaborative initiatives that generate tangible impact for its universities, their communities and European society.