The world’s fastest-charging electric racing car, safe hydrogen batteries, light sculptures, game development studios, reusable rockets, and modular houses are just a few examples of innovations developed by student teams from Brabant. The province of Noord-Brabant supports these teams with a subsidy fund of 2.8 million euros. This initiative stems from the efforts of students from Brabant, who developed a new platform to support other students and their innovations throughout the province: BOOST (de Brabantse Ondersteunende Organisatie Studententeams).
With this subsidy fund, students from Brabant can apply for financial support for the next five years. The fund offers two types of grants to help student teams realize their innovative ideas: the Innovation Grant (up to 40,000 euros for large projects) and the Kickstarter Grant (up to 1,500 euros for early-stage initiatives). This way, BOOST and the province support initiatives addressing social and technological challenges and positively impacting the region.
Provincial administrator Martijn van Gruijthuijsen: "In Brabant, we come up with smart solutions for today’s and tomorrow’s challenges. Our universities, colleges, and mbo institutions are the breeding ground for talent with innovative solutions. We can use that brainpower and bravado of students; as a province, we are happy to push that. I can’t wait to see what great ideas our Brabant talent will come up with."
Student teams at mbo, hbo and university
Student teams from Brabant work voluntarily on various projects that contribute to social and technological progress. These projects regularly lead to leading start-ups. To ensure that every student in Brabant has the opportunity to set up their team or participate in existing teams, BOOST collaborates with ten educational institutions in Brabant: TU/e, Tilburg University, HAS Green Academy, Breda University of Applied Sciences, Avans University of Applied Sciences, Fontys University of Applied Sciences, Summa College, SintLucas, Design Academy Eindhoven and Ter AA.The goal is to create one large ecosystem of student teams in Brabant, at mbo, hbo, and wo level for the more than 150,000 students within the province. "BOOST is the Brabant-wide development agency for student teams," says Nick Hol, chairman of BOOST. "With this platform, we create opportunities for young talents to develop and contribute to the future of Brabant."
In addition to supporting the fund and coordinating between educational institutions, BOOST offers an online platform with information, events, news, and vacancies for and about student teams. Future plans include a public knowledge base, scholarships, shared cars for the teams, and Brabant-wide marketing to increase the visibility of the teams among all 150,000 students in Brabant.