What it is about

The ‘Sustainable Food Systems’ Summer School aims to address current and future sustainability challenges of the food system. Participants will take on a production, consumption, and socio-economic angle to tackle issues such as environmental footprint, biodiversity, and food waste. The Entrepreneurship Summer School encourages citizens - university students, PhD/Post-Doc candidates, young professionals, from interdisciplinary backgrounds - to create, evaluate, and implement their ideas for a sustainable food system.


Participants will be split up into interdisciplinary teams and learn methodological skills in ideation, business creation, and product development to create idea concepts. Furthermore participants will be able to make informed decisions about their future career as either an entrepreneur, researcher or intrapreneur in the food industry. Promising MVPs will have the chance to get support in the EIT Food Accelerator Network.


Apply now to be part of this unique experience in fall 2019!




Your key benefits

The EIT Food Summer School takes an entrepreneurial approach to tackle future challenges. Learn how to analyze complex problems within our food system and move from a problem to a business idea. Use this chance to connect with people as passionate as you about food and entrepreneurship.




Ideate

Team up with students and professionals from diverse backgrounds and identify the most pressing pain points of Europe’s food system.

Prototype

Apply the Design Sprint methodology and develop minimum viable products to test your idea.

Impact

Take an entrepreneurial approach to tackling current issues of Europe’s food systems to maximize the impact of your ideas.


Costs covered

To open up the summer school independent of the financial situation of students, there will be no participation fee charged. Additionally, accommodation during the summer school and the transfer from Haifa to Munich will be provided for all participants.

However, participants are responsible to organize and cover the journey to Haifa and departure from Munich and all costs for food on their own.

Who we are

The ‘Sustainable Food Systems’ Summer School is a project of EIT Food, a European Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC), which was set up to transform our food ecosystem. By connecting consumers with businesses, start-ups, researchers and students from around Europe, EIT Food supports innovative and economically sustainable initiatives which improve our health, our access to quality food, and our environment.


The summer school is jointly organized by the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Israel Institute of Technology (Technion).





Technion

The Israel Institute of Technology (Technion) is Israel’s primary technological university and the largest center of applied research in Israel. Established in 1912, Technion is the oldest university in the country and is ranked 42nd in the world in engineering and technology and among the 75 leading universities in life sciences, mathematics and chemistry. The Department of Biotechnology and Food Engineering is the only university in Israel providing a degree in food engineering. For its activity Technion closely collaborates with the city of Haifa.

Technical University of Munich (TUM)

Technical University of Munich (TUM) is a research university in Bavaria, Germany. TUM is ranked 4th overall in Reuters 2017 European Most Innovative University ranking. Its institute, the Center for Digital Technology and Management (CDTM), is one of the leading institutions in Entrepreneurship Education in Germany. For this activity TUM closely collaborates with the city of Munich.

Timeline

Save the dates!

  • The City of Haifa, Israel

    Workshop week at the Department of Biotechnology and Food Engineering (Technion) in Haifa, Israel

    September 1st - September 8th, 2019

    During the week in Haifa you will gain insights from industry experts about the challenges and potentials of Europe’s food industry. Together with your team you will deep-dive into one area and identify the most pressing problems.

  • The City of Munich, Germany

    Workshop week at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in Munich, Germany

    September 8th - September 13th, 2019

    During the week in Munich each team will take the most relevant identified problem and develop a business idea to solve it. The ideated products will be evaluated in terms of their commercial potential as well as their potential to solve the problem. The week will culminate in a structured pitch in front of a panel of entrepreneurs and industry partners.

  • Shape the
    Future
    of Food!

Program

A detailed program will be added at a later stage.

Week 1

September 1st - September 8th, 2019 in Haifa, Israel

Please arrive in Haifa latest in the evening of Sunday, September 1st.


Start: The official course program starts on Monday, September 2nd at 09:00 a.m.

Weekend: The official program of the first will finish on Friday, September 6th around 12:00 p.m. (noon). There is no program scheduled before the joint departure to Munich on Sunday.

Transfer: On Sunday, September 8th the entire course will jointly travel to the Airport and fly from there to Munich.

Week 2

September 8th - September 13th, 2019 in Munich, Germany


Arrival: We will jointly go from the Airport to the Hostel.

Start: The course program will continue on Monday, September 9th at 9:00 a.m.

Finish: The course will finish with pitches in front of a jury on Friday, September 13th in the evening. The hostels are booked until Saturday, September 14th so you can enjoy the evening afterwards.

Registration

Applications are accepted from May 1st 2019 to June 1st 2019. We will inform you until end of June whether you were accepted.

Applications need to be submitted via the EIT Food's application portal. Let is know in a in a short video (2-3 min) why you want to join the summer school and fill out the contact form.


Before applying, please make sure to read the terms and conditions in the FAQ section.



Apply Now

FAQ

Everything you need to know.

The EIT Food Summer School will accept 30 students in total. Applications can be submitted from May 1st 2019 until June 1st 2019. You will be notified latest on June 30st about your admission status.

The registration will open on May 1st and a link to the application portal will be added to this website. If you would like to get notified, please fill out the form above.

All undergraduate, graduate, PhD students, early-stage researchers, and young professionals aged at least 18 years of age are welcome to apply for the EIT Food Summer School. There is no precondition concerning your study background.

We will select students to take part in the EIT Food Summer School based on the following principles:


  • You demonstrate open mindedness and an entrepreneurial spirit
  • You show that you are a team player and interested in working in an interdisciplinary and international setting
  • You are motivated to work on the challenges of Europe’s future food system
  • You have a strong academic track record and, ideally, support community initiatives on a volunteer basis.
  • You show a strong proficiency in English.

The EIT Food Summer School does not charge a tuition fee. Additionally, accommodation for both weeks and the transfer between Israel and Germany will be provided.


Travel costs: You will need to provide your own transportation to Haifa, Israel and from Munich, Germany. Please try to take the environment into consideration when booking your travel and choose a train ride over a flight, if possible.

The workshops will take place in Haifa and Munich. The first week will be held at the Technion in Haifa, from September 1st - September 8th, 2019. The second week will take place in Munich at the Center for Digital Technology and Management from September 9th - 13th, 2019.

All participants will receive a certificate at the end of the EIT Food Summer School.

  1. To apply for the EIT Food Summer School, you must be at least 18 years of age, when submitting your application and an undergraduate, graduate or PhD student.
  2. By applying, you agree to be available to travel to and from Haifa and Munich within 12 hours before the start of the EIT Food Summer School. If you need to make other arrangements, these need to be approved beforehand by the EIT Food Summer School organizers.
  3. During the program, the following costs are covered for all participants:
    • Accommodation in shared rooms for 6 nights in Haifa during the workshop week.
    • Accommodation in shared rooms for 6 nights in Munich during the workshop week.
    • Transportation between Haifa and Munich.
    • You are responsible for covering any additionally occurring costs that are not mentioned here (e.g. any activity engaged in during free-time, etc.).
  4. You are expected to attend and participate in all program activities organized by the EIT Food Summer School team during the program period.
  5. In order to guarantee fluid and cooperative communication among the teams and other stakeholders, you agree to the distribution of relevant professional data from your CV/LinkedIn to other parties involved in the project (such as corporate partners, other participants, coaches, etc.). This information will be handled in accordance with German data protection procedures.
  6. You are asked to treat any non-public knowledge you gain about the other involved parties (e.g. speakers or corporate partners) with confidentiality. This commitment shall continue following the end of the program.
  7. As part of our project marketing, you acknowledge that the EIT Food Summer School has the right to use all promotional materials, including but not limited to photographs, videos and testimonials made during the workshop weeks for future communication activities.
  8. The EIT Food Summer School is not responsible for:
    • The safety of the participants during events and activities throughout the program and final presentation.
    • Damage to the property of a participant or damage caused by a participant to the property of the EIT Food Summer School organizers and third parties.
    • Other damages, losses, liability or injury arising out of or in any way connected with the EIT Summer Summer School program.
  9. Should you accept a place in the EIT Food Summer School and fail thereafter to attend and fully participate in the activities up to and including the final presentation, you agree to be responsible for any upcoming costs. This excludes cases of force majeure or illness, which will be reviewed by the EIT Food Summer School management on a case-by-case basis.

If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us via eit@cdtm.de.