How can we encourage students not only to acquire knowledge in the lecture hall, but also to start thinking like researchers, innovators, or future entrepreneurs? How can we create an environment where a young person is not afraid to experiment, make mistakes, and develop their ideas? These are the questions that Elizabete Universa, Head of the Student Business Incubator and Manager of the Student Innovation Grant Project at the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies (LBTU), thinks about every day. She herself is currently a doctoral student and knows the academic environment well from a student’s perspective. In her view, the starting point of innovation in a university setting is often not just funding or infrastructure, but the moment when a young person believes in their idea and enters an environment capable of developing that potential.
Elizabete works daily with students, mentors, and industry partners, helping new ideas grow into real projects and prototypes, while continuing her own academic journey. She earned a bachelor’s degree in healthcare from Rīga Stradiņš University, later a master’s degree in nutrition science in a joint study programme implemented by the University of Latvia, Rīga Stradiņš University, and the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, and is now pursuing doctoral studies.
She says that her own desire to learn continuously, develop, and not fear intensive work was largely shaped by her family. That is why working with students and innovation naturally aligns with her own conviction - that to grow and achieve results, a person must stay in motion, seek new opportunities, and develop continuously.
“Science disciplines thinking and gives it depth. It teaches you to analyse, see patterns, and look beyond the surface,” Elizabete says. In her view, science helps young people develop the ability to think broadly, ask questions, and not stop at the first answer. Speaking about her professional daily work in the innovation environment, she compares it to composing a symphonic piece - one must be able to bring together people, ideas, emotions, science, and entrepreneurship into a single rhythm so that many different parts form a harmonious and meaningful result.
The Student Innovation Grant Programme and the LBTU Student Business Incubator create an ecosystem where young people can develop their ideas from the initial concept to practical solutions. The programme involves both students and doctoral candidates, and in some activities also school pupils. It covers various fields — from bioeconomy and biomedicine to information technologies, smart technologies, and sustainable development. The Student Innovation Grant Programme offers both small grants of up to 2,200 euros and large grants of up to 9,200 euros.
Elizabete emphasises that many students enter the incubator at the very earliest stage of their idea, often without a business plan or a team. That is why the incubator’s task is not only to provide the necessary practical resources, but also to help young people develop their thinking, collaborate in teams, present their ideas, and recognise their potential. Students have access to innovation and entrepreneurship training, mentor support, cooperation with industry partners, and the opportunity to receive grants for idea development.
“Often the most significant transformation does not happen in the project itself, but in the person. The greatest satisfaction is seeing how students who initially doubted themselves or their idea, by the end of the programme confidently present prototypes, justify their solutions, and are able to inspire others,” Elizabete says.
If a student does not yet have a business idea, the incubator’s Idea Bank also helps. Entrepreneurs and industry representatives participate by offering students practical challenges to create new solutions for real sector problems - for example, more efficient work processes, digital tools, or more sustainable products. This gives students the opportunity to work with real industry needs while developing innovation and entrepreneurship skills.
Recently, LBTU concluded the first cycle of the Student Innovation Grant Programme. Its culmination was “Demo Day 2026”, where 14 student teams presented their developed prototypes, innovative solutions, and the entrepreneurship skills they had gained during the programme. Students presented ideas in various fields — from sports technologies and the digitalisation of veterinary medicine to sustainable food and bioeconomy solutions.
Among the highest‑rated teams were “R.A.J.A. Prime”, which developed a real‑time athlete tracking system prototype to improve competition safety and visualisation; “TE-D Nature Lab” with a sustainable drink tablet made from Baltic plants and berries; and “VetVeseliba.lv”, which created a centralised digital platform integrating data from veterinary clinics, laboratories, and pharmacies.
Elizabete believes that such events often become students’ first serious experience in the innovation and entrepreneurship environment - an opportunity not only to present their idea to an audience, but also to meet industry representatives, entrepreneurs, investors, and potential partners. She notes that this helps students understand much more clearly how ideas born in the academic environment can be transformed into practical solutions with real applications.
For some teams, participation in Demo Day also became the next step into the broader innovation ecosystem, as the award‑winning teams gained the opportunity to present their ideas at the “Deep Tech Atelier 2026” conference, where investors, entrepreneurs, and representatives of other universities could learn about student solutions.
Elizabete is convinced: Latvia has no shortage of talented and driven young people- the key is to create an environment where they dare to try, develop their ideas, and find their direction. She believes that this is exactly the kind of environment the Student Innovation Grant Programme and the LBTU Student Business Incubator currently offer to emerging innovators, and therefore encourages young people not to be afraid to get involved - even if at first they have only an interest or an idea that is not yet fully formed. “Every meaningful journey begins with a first step - even before the whole horizon is visible,” she encourages.
The Student Innovation Grant Programme continues, and applications for the next cycle are already open! If you have an idea, an interest in innovation, or simply a desire to try something new - this is the right moment to begin. Join events, workshops, and other activities, meet people with similar enthusiasm, and move your idea from concept to implementation. Perhaps your idea will be the next one to move from a sketch and a conversation to the Demo Day stage. Start with the first step - the rest can follow.
The Student Innovation Grant Programme is implemented with the support of European Union funds.
This story was created with the support of EU funds.
