Open Call: Looking to advance your skills this summer? Join the EIC Summer School 2025 and deepen your expertise in Cybersecurity

The EIC Summer School returns on 23–24 June 2025 with a new edition focused on Cybersecurity Awareness Strategies for Innovators. Organised by the EIC Community Programme in collaboration with ENISA (European Union Agency for Cybersecurity), this year’s training will take place in person at ENISA’s headquarters in Athens, Greece. Beneficiaries of EIC Pathfinder, Transition, and Accelerator will gain essential tools and knowledge to safeguard their innovations. Registration closes on 6 May 2025 — secure your spot! 

Following several EIC School editions in which we explored a range of valuable topics, this year we’re turning our attention to a topic we consider especially timely and crucial for EIC beneficiaries: Cybersecurity. 

In a digital-first world, EIC beneficiaries face growing cyber threats that can jeopardize innovation, data, and reputation. As your technologies become more advanced, so do the risks. Attending a cybersecurity course equips you with essential tools to identify vulnerabilities, strengthen resilience, and comply with EU regulations — all critical for securing partnerships, funding, and long-term success. Don’t leave your innovation exposed — protect it with the right knowledge and strategy. 

Securing cyberspace is a complex challenge due to various threats, including software attacks, intellectual property theft, identity theft, equipment or data theft, sabotage, and information extortion. Effective cybersecurity involves implementing technologies, processes, and controls to safeguard systems, organizations, and individuals against unauthorized access and malicious activity. 

Apply by application by 6 May to enhance the opportunity to secure your spot!  

Register now 

Important: The selected participants will receive a confirmation via email by 13 May.  

 
As the event will be held in person, it will be sufficient to register only once to attend both the training days. Please note that we ask participants to register only if they are able to attend both days. 

DAY 1:   From insight to impact: designing effective awareness programmes and campaigns. 

Monday, 23 June 2025, afternoon (14:00 – 18:00) 

In this session we will: 

• Building custom awareness programmes for internal use within an organisation.  

• Creating targeted awareness campaigns for external stakeholders.  

• Giving instructions on selecting the appropriate tools and channels to effectively reach the target audience.  

• Developing Key Performance Indicators to evaluate the effectiveness of a programme or campaign.  

• Sharing a guide for the development of a communication strategy, crucial for achieving awareness objectives.  

• Doing an awareness raising quiz to test comprehension and retention of key information.  

• Enjoying an awareness raising game provided in different versions and styles, along with a guide on how to play. 

   

DAY 2:  Inside EU cybersecurity: frameworks, challenges, tools | Meet EIC innovators in Cybersecurity. 

Tuesday, 24 June 2025, morning (08:30 – 13:00)  

In this session we will: 

• Going through EU Cybersecurity framework. 

• Reporting on the state of cybersecurity in the European Union. 

• Meeting EIC-funded beneficiaries working on innovative solutions in the areas of Cybersecurity. 
   

You can find here the more details about the event

Who can apply?  

All EIC-backed innovators are welcome to apply, namely EIC Awardees from the EIC Accelerator, EIC Transition and EIC Pathfinder funding schemes. 

Before you apply, read this: 

We do not consider as the target audience for this EIC Summer School EIC beneficiaries who are already experts in cybersecurity or who already work in the sector. We recommend the participation of individuals, who are involved in IT or in managing the security of your data. 

To ensure a high-quality and interactive learning experience, participation is limited to a maximum of 40 EIC attendees. It is mandatory to attend both days of the event.  

The EIC will provide each participant with a €200 voucher as reimbursement for expenses related to attending and preparing for the training. 

The EIC Summer School will not be recorded. One beneficiary per EIC-funded project may attend (N.B: there is the possibility to delegate in case of inability to attend, provided that notification is given by 9 June ). 

The selected participants will receive a confirmation via email by 13 May.  

About ENISA 

The European Union Agency for Cybersecurity, ENISA, is the Union’s agency dedicated to achieving a high common level of cybersecurity across Europe. Established in 2004 and strengthened by the EU Cybersecurity Act, the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity contributes to EU cyber policy, enhances the trustworthiness of ICT products, services and processes with cybersecurity certification schemes, cooperates with Member States and EU bodies, and helps Europe prepare for the cyber challenges of tomorrow. Through knowledge sharing, capacity building and awareness raising, the Agency works together with its key stakeholders to strengthen trust in the connected economy, to boost resilience of the Union’s infrastructure, and, ultimately, to keep Europe’s society and citizens digitally secure. 
 

Curious about the trainers?  

Here’s a preview of some of the speakers who will be presenting during the training:  

• Christina Skouloudi: she serves as a Cybersecurity Officer at ENISA. With a background in Computer Science and a Master's in Digital Systems Security, she has been advancing cybersecurity initiatives across the EU since joining ENISA in 2014, focusing on incident reporting, security emerging technologies and supply chain, capacity building, and cybersecurity education. During the past years, she has: Led Team Europe to consecutive first-place victories in the International Cybersecurity Challenge, managing recruitment, training, and strategic development of top cybersecurity talent; Developed and executed comprehensive table-top exercises and trainings for Member States and National Competent Authorities; Created specialized CTF challenges for european competitions, demonstrating technical expertise in multiple security domains. Currently, her efforts concentrate in promoting cybersecurity awareness across Europe through various coordinated activities and campaigns, such as the AR-in-a-Box. 

• Alexandros Zacharis: currently pursuing a PHD, brings over a decade of frontline experience in cybersecurity across European institutions. At ENISA, he leads initiatives on cyber resilience and risk management, and has designed large-scale cyber exercises like CYBER EUROPE. He’s trained CSIRT teams across Europe, tackled threats to satellite infrastructure at the European GNSS Agency, and previously led security operations for GRNET-CERT. His research blends, software exploitation with AI and cyber defense, and his talks—from DEFCON to BLACKHAT ASIA —explore the evolving edge of digital threats. 
   

Do you have any questions? 

For questions and support regarding this event, please don’t hesitate to contact us through the contact form (please choose “EIC Summer School 2025” as the category). 
 

About the EIC Community Programme 

The EIC Community Programme, an EIC Business Acceleration Service, aims to gather EIC Community members in a space where they can share their experiences, providing access to peer-learning workshops and tailor-made training activities. Within this scope, the EIC Community Programme has several initiatives, such as: EIC Winter and Summer Schools; EIC Community Talks and EIC Welcome and Coordinators Days.