Due to numerous requests from students who are in the process of completing members for interdisciplinary teams, as well as the upcoming Christmas and New Year period, the competition organisers have decided to extend the deadline for submitting applications until 11 January 2026 (midnight).
Next, all applications – those already received and those we will receive by 11 January – will be reviewed by the Expert Panel. This means that the finalists will be selected at the end of January, and the mentoring and training phase will begin in February.
The registration link remains the same – we encourage you to apply:
What is the EkSoc StartUP competition? Information in a nutshell:
- Are you a student or doctoral student from the Lodz Voivodeship with an idea for a startup or business? We encourage you to participate in the 6th edition of the EkSoc StartUP competition!
- Create a team of 2 up to 5 dedicated students and/or doctoral students from the Lodz Voivodeship. Submit your business or startup idea by 11 January 2026, and we'll help you develop it and maybe even implement it!
- In the sixth edition, we're focusing on interdisciplinary projects – cooperate with students/doctoral students from other study programmes or universities in Lodz. The more diverse skills in your team, the better!
- Reaching the finals guarantees several months of mentoring, participation in business training, valuable experience, and contacts!
- The winner will be decided by the jury during the competition's Grand Finale, where you will present your business concepts, refined under the guidance of practitioners and experts.
- If you are among the winners of the 6th edition, you will receive financial and non-financial prizes that will help you develop your project after the competition, e.g. a package of professional consulting, accounting and tax services, assistance in writing grant applications, trademark registration and more.
- The 6th edition of the competition is organised by the Faculty of Economics and Sociology of the University of Lodz, together with the Business Council of the Faculty of Economics and Sociology of the University of Lodz, experts and practitioners from leading organisations, as well as the Investor Student Science Club.
- Competition Rules (updated in December) (in Polish)
Schedule of the competition:
All updates about the 6th edition of the competition are published on the competition website and Facebook page. Welcome!
