Innovation and entrepreneurship skills are more important than ever. In a rapidly changing world, higher education has a vital role to play in developing the creativity, confidence, adaptability and practical skills needed to help individuals and organisations respond to new challenges and opportunities.

Universities take many different approaches to teaching these subjects. Some offer dedicated degrees and programmes in innovation and entrepreneurship, while others embed them within a wide range of disciplines. Whatever the approach, however, teaching innovation and entrepreneurship presents particular challenges. These are subjects that require more than theoretical knowledge. Students need opportunities to experiment, solve real-world problems, develop ideas, learn from failure and turn concepts into practical outcomes.

Too often, courses and modules remain heavily theoretical, providing limited opportunities for students to develop the practical know-how, entrepreneurial mindset and innovative thinking that can make a real difference in the workplace and wider society. The challenge for educators is therefore not simply to teach about innovation and entrepreneurship, but to find engaging and effective ways of enabling students to experience, practise and develop them.

Fortunately, inspiring work is taking place in universities, organisations and other educational settings around the world. Innovative educators are experimenting with new pedagogies, technologies, learning environments and partnerships to transform how innovation and entrepreneurship are taught and experienced.

The 13th Teaching Innovation and Entrepreneurship Excellence Awards celebrate these initiatives and provide an opportunity to share successful approaches with a wider community.

If you are involved in teaching innovation and/or entrepreneurship, we invite you to participate and showcase your new ideas, innovative approaches and teaching practices. Whether your initiative is delivered within a university programme, an individual module, an extracurricular activity or an organisational environment, we want to hear about approaches that are making a difference.

The final round of the competition will be run alongside the 2nd European Conference on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Genoa, Italy on the 23-24 September 2027. A prize of $500USD will be awarded to the winning initiative.

The 2026 winner of Awards was the initiative: Quest for Ethical Ventures: Gamification as a Tool for Engaging Students in Real-World Ethical Challenges in Entrepreneurship

Ben Hobbs, University of Bristol, UK

You can read these case histories and the other finalists in the 2026 Anthology of Case Histories, available from www.academic-bookshop.com

How to Enter

To enter the competition, please submit an abstract of up to 300 words using the online submission form. The abstract should provide a clear overview of the teaching or training initiative you wish to showcase, explaining what you have done, why you developed the initiative and what makes it distinctive or effective.

Following an initial review, selected entrants will be invited to submit a case history of no more than 3,000 words. This case history will form the formal entry for the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Teaching Excellence Awards and will be evaluated by a panel of international adjudicators.

Your case history should be structured around the following headings:

• Introduction and objectives

Describe the teaching or training initiative, the context in which it was developed and the specific objectives you set out to achieve. Emphasise the innovativeness of your initiative

• Infrastructure and resources

Explain the people, systems, technologies, hardware, software and other resources required to develop and deliver the initiative.

• Challenges and solutions

Identify the challenges you encountered, how these emerged and evolved, and the approaches you used to address and overcome them.

• Learner and participant experience

Describe how the initiative was received by learners and other participants, including any feedback or evidence that demonstrates their experience.

• Learning outcomes and evaluation

Explain the learning outcomes achieved and how these were measured, assessed and evaluated. Where possible, provide evidence of the initiative’s impact.

• Future development including scalability and transferability of the initiative

Outline your plans for developing, extending or enhancing the initiative in the future.

The Finalists

All eligible submissions received by the closing date will be considered by the judging panel using a double-blind peer review process. Authors of the top-rated initiatives will be invited to expand their case histories in line with reviewer comments and these case histories will be published in a book (subject to registration and attendance at the conference).

Finalists will be invited to register and attend the conference in Genoa, Italy, on 23–24 September 2027, where they will present their case histories to the judges and conference participants. Being selected as a finalist provides an opportunity not only to showcase your work to an international audience, but also to share your experience and ideas with others involved in innovation and entrepreneurship education.

An award will be presented to the overall winning initiative.

The decision of the judging panel is final.

Please note: All award finalists and presenters are required to attend the physical conference in Genoa, Italy.

Important Dates

Abstract Submission 14 April 2027

Notification of Abstract Acceptance  28 April 2027

Full Case History Submission  07 June 2027

Finalists announced 08 July 2027