EIC Women Leadership Programme and a participant's account

The EIC Women Leadership Programme, delivered by the European Innovation Council Business Acceleration Services in partnership with the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, is a recurring skills and networking initiative for women innovators in the EIC and EIT communities. It combines weekly training sessions, networking events, one to one business coaching and personal mentoring with the stated aim of improving leadership and entrepreneurial skills among women researchers and founders.

A participant's perspective: Nastassia Knodlseder

Nastassia Knodlseder is a postdoctoral researcher at Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona and lead on the Skin Dev project, funded under EIC Pathfinder. She participated in the WLP fifth cohort which ran in April to June 2024. Her account illustrates how the programme is presented and experienced on the ground by individual beneficiaries.

What Nastassia gained and which challenges were addressed

Nastassia highlighted two persistent challenges in her transition from researcher to team leader. The first was handling difficult conversations and negotiations, and the second was managing work life balance while leading a research team. She singled out training in conflict management, negotiation and time management as particularly valuable. She also emphasised the practical benefit of in person sessions to practice skills in a more familiar environment.

Beyond concrete skills, Nastassia said the programme offered psychological benefits. Meeting peers from diverse backgrounds who face similar obstacles helped reduce the sense of isolation and build confidence. She described the experience as 'enriching' and recommended the programme to other aspiring female leaders.

Programme design, components and practicalities

The WLP combines targeted training modules with networking, mentoring and business coaching. Training sessions are interactive and led by external experts. Mentors are senior entrepreneurs, investors or executives matched to participants. Business coaches focus on company specific strategic and commercial questions. The programme does not provide financial support to participants and travel or accommodation for in person events is to be covered by participants unless otherwise stated.

Who was eligible for the 6th cohort

The 6th cohort was restricted to women who are founders or in C suite positions of organisations that had received support from a set of EIC or EIT instruments. Eligible instruments included EIC Pathfinder, EIC Transition and related Horizon 2020 FET schemes such as FET Open and FET Proactive, EIC Accelerator, SME Instrument, Women TechEU and EIT programmes. For company applicants the organisation had to be at least two years old by the call deadline.

Scale, metrics and wider EIC context

The WLP sits within a broader set of EIC measures to promote women innovators. The EIC reports that in 2024 30 percent of companies supported in the EIC Accelerator were women led, accounting for 42 companies, and that the overall Accelerator portfolio included 134 women led companies or 19 percent of the portfolio. The EIC also reports that 24 percent of Pathfinder projects and 23 percent of Transition projects were coordinated by women.

Programs such as Women TechEU and the European Prize for Women Innovators complement the WLP by providing direct grants and visibility. Women TechEU, run under the European Innovation Ecosystems work programme, offers targeted funding and coaching to female founders in early stage deep tech companies. These linked initiatives are intended to address underrepresentation and to increase the pipeline of women leaders in deep tech.

These headline numbers show growing attention and some progress but they do not by themselves demonstrate causation. Participation in leadership training may improve individual confidence and skills. Whether that translates into higher rates of fundraising, company survival, or long term reduction of structural barriers remains an open question that requires longitudinal evaluation and transparent outcome data.

How to follow up and next cohorts

At the time this story was published the 6th cohort was open for applications with the deadline of 22 August 2024. Future cohorts are announced on the EIC Community platform and through EIC Business Acceleration Services communications. Participants who complete the programme are invited to an alumni group to maintain networks and may receive invitations to alumni gatherings and speaking or pitching opportunities.

A measured view on programmes like the WLP

Leadership programmes targeted at underrepresented groups play a useful role in skills building and network formation. They are not a substitute for systemic change in funding decisions, hiring and promotion practices, or for stronger data on long term outcomes. For policy makers and funders the analytic priority should be to pair these capacity building actions with rigorous evaluation and publicly available metrics that track career and company level outcomes over time. That would help move conversations from illustrative success stories to evidence of whether and how the interventions change trajectories at scale.

For individual applicants the practical calculus is clear. If you are eligible and need structured time to develop negotiation, conflict management and time management skills, and you value peer networks and coaching, participation is likely to be beneficial. Be aware that the programme does not provide direct financial support and plan for travel and time commitments in advance.