Capstones

Capstones are student consultancy projects in which teams of four to six Master’s students works on topics chosen and supervised by an EIB Group staff. Below is a list of all capstones undertaken by the EIB Group.

    • First EIB capstone with The Hague University of Applied Sciences

      How has the “EU Restructuring Directive” of 2019 been transposed into national law in eight EU countries and how it compares to UK national law? This was the topic of the first EIB capstone project carried out with students from the International and European Law programme at The Hague University of Applied Sciences in 2022-2023.

    • Private equity investment in Sub-Saharan Africa

      To strengthen private equity (PE) investment in sub-Saharan Africa it is necessary to create a PE support fund, to facilitate knowledge sharing, to set up PE education programme and to support its regional expansion according to the findings of the second capstone project carried out by Masters’ students of Esade (Barcelona, Spain) presented in June 2023.

    • German regional rail transport: between hope and failure

      Results of the first capstone project carried out by Master’s students from TU Dresden on “German regional rail transport: between hope and failure” were presented in April 2023.

    • The increase in energy prices has mixed impact on SMEs

      The unprecedented rise in energy prices due to the war in Ukraine has had a large but heterogenous effect on European SMEs according to a capstone project on ” The impact of energy prices on SME investment and profitability” led by LSE Masters students coordinated by the European Investment fund (EIF) and presented at the EIB in March 2023.

    • When AI helps predict markets moves

      How to help the EIB have more accurate market expectations using Text mining and Machine Learning? This was the topic of the first capstone research project with Esade Barcelona students under the mentorship of the Financial Risk Department of the EIB.

    • How to build a European Greentech Ecosystem

      Supporting Greentech clusters and building a more conducive investment environment are the policy measures needed to develop Greentech in the EU according to a capstone project led by LSE Masters students coordinated by the European Investment fund (EIF) and presented at the EIB on 24 March 2022.

    • How to measure successful digital transformation investments?

      When it comes to digitization of the economy, Europe is lagging behind the USA and China. As the EU’s bank, the EIB needs to steer digital transformation investments towards where it makes the greatest impact. SciencesPo MPA  students offer solutions in a 2021 capstone project: ”How to measure successful Digital Transformation investments in a simplified manner”.

    • How to make a volunteering programme successful

      Management support, a matching gifts programme and a network of coordinators are the key pillars of a successful volunteering corporate programme according to Sciences Po Masters students in the framework of a capstone project.

    • Estimating the future needs of European SMEs

      How to estimate the future financing needs of European SMEs was the question asked by the EIF to LSE Master’s students in the framework of a capstone project, the results of which were presented to the EIB Group in March 2021.

    • Financial Instruments: an innovative way to use European Funds

      Master’s students from Bocconi University analyse how Financial Instruments support  investments (loans, guarantees, equity and other risk-bearing mechanisms) and identify how to increase their efficiency and effectiveness.