A practical leadership boost for women in deep tech

The European Innovation Council Women Leadership Programme or WLP is a training and networking offer targeted at women researchers and entrepreneurs in the EIC and EIT communities. The programme mixes virtual and in-person sessions, expert trainers, mentoring and business coaching. Participants and EIC communications say the initiative helps women build leadership and negotiation skills and grow networks that matter for scaling technology ventures.

Participant profile: Dipanwita Biswas and Floating Genes

Dipanwita Biswas completed the WLP fourth cohort and shared how the programme influenced her professional practice. She is Chief Scientific Officer at Floating Genes where the team is developing methods to improve the sensitivity of cell free cancer DNA detection in liquid biopsy. Dipanwita holds a PhD in molecular biology and leads work to move a proof of concept through product development and commercialization.

What Dipanwita learned from the WLP

Dipanwita says the WLP helped her develop several non-technical skills that are essential for translating lab work into a viable product. She highlighted leadership courses that emphasised adaptability, conflict management sessions and a negotiation lecture that she had not previously encountered. In her account the programme prompted self-reflection on emotional intelligence and altered how she approaches team dynamics and co-founder relationships.

Dipanwita singled out courses by Gerasimos Kouvaras, an executive trainer affiliated with the World Human Forum and a WLP trainer for cohort 4. She said the sessions prompted practical changes to how she communicates, negotiates and resolves conflicts within her company. She also stressed that meeting peers across Europe and exchanging practical solutions was powerful and motivating.

Structure and services of the Women Leadership Programme

The EIC WLP is delivered in partnership with the European Institute of Innovation and Technology and targets two broad candidate groups. One stream is for experienced entrepreneurial leaders such as founders and C-suite executives. The other is for researchers who want to commercialise their work and develop leadership capacity. Each cohort features weekly two hour training sessions during business hours, individual mentoring, business coaching and dedicated networking events.

The WLP also produces a SheEIC podcast series featuring alumnae and experts. Alumni are invited to a LinkedIn group and alumni gatherings to keep networks active. The EIC frames the programme as part of a broader strategy to increase the presence of women in research and scaling startups across Europe.

Programme timing and next cohorts

EIC context and headline gender figures

The EIC presents the WLP alongside other targeted initiatives such as Women TechEU and the European Prize for Women Innovators. The EIC reports incremental progress in female representation across its instruments but the overall picture remains far from parity. The figures below are the EIC’s reported numbers as referenced in programme materials.

What to make of the reported impact

Participant testimony like Dipanwita’s is valuable for qualitative insight into how training changes behaviour. Her account suggests the WLP can accelerate development of soft skills that are often decisive for turning lab work into commercial products. The programme’s mix of negotiation, leadership and conflict management training directly addresses common pain points for scientist-entrepreneurs.

At the same time there are limits to what training alone can achieve. Structural barriers remain including access to follow-on funding, investor bias, and uneven support across EU regions. The EIC publishes headline percentages that indicate progress but does not, in this story, provide longitudinal outcome measures such as follow-on funding amounts, company survival rates, or promotion trajectories for alumnae. Those metrics are important to substantiate claims about lasting impact.

Points worth monitoring

Policymakers and observers should watch for evidence that the WLP combines short term skill building with measurable company outcomes. Useful indicators include whether alumni secure increased investor interest, if women-led teams scale more quickly, and whether cohorts expand participation from widening countries. Equally important is transparency on how mentorship and coaching quality is evaluated.

Practical takeaways for applicants and ecosystem actors

For women researchers and entrepreneurs the WLP can offer targeted, practical training and access to peers and mentors. Applicants should view such programmes as one element of a broader strategy that includes rigorous technical validation, investor readiness work and sustained networking. For funders and policymakers the priority is to link training to longer term, measurable outcomes and to ensure programmes are accessible to participants across the EU, including those in less developed ecosystems.

Dipanwita’s testimony is a useful snapshot of what an individual participant can gain from the EIC WLP. The programme addresses genuine needs in the deep tech ecosystem. The next step for the EIC is to be equally explicit about how it measures longer term success and how these cohorts contribute to narrowing the gender gap in innovation at scale.