CREATIV’ Week 2025: everything you need to know about the entrepreneurial journey

Launched in 2020 by France’s Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Space, CREATIV’ was designed to encourage students to embrace entrepreneurship. The week is coordinated by Pépite France, whose mission is to foster entrepreneurial mindsets and support young project leaders as they develop their start-ups. As the network puts it, all that remains is to join the “entrepreneurial adventure” and “experience a week defined by creativity and collaboration”.

Hundreds of inventive and creative events

CREATIV’ offers students from universities and grandes écoles the opportunity to discover and experiment with entrepreneurship through talks, testimonials and workshops led by Pépite hubs and local associations across the country.

The programme — available in full via the search engine on the dedicated website — is rich and diverse. Among the standout initiatives:

• Film-and-debate evenings organised by the eight Île-de-France Pépite hubs, including an inspirational session centred on the film Ose toujours;
• A multidisciplinary one-day challenge in Nantes, organised by Pépite Pays de la Loire, allowing students to “sample” the creation of an entrepreneurial project;
• The exhibitionTisser ensemble, hosted at Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, raising awareness of social and solidarity-based entrepreneurship;
• Co-development sessions in Poitiers, enabling dialogue with student-entrepreneurs about their ventures;
• The “Passerelle Pro” fair in Saint-Étienne, offering students the chance to meet business leaders and discuss their professional journeys;
• A collaborative workshop at Université Sorbonne Paris Nord built around the “Esprit d’Entreprendre” fresco, introducing participants to the key stages of launching a project;
• A 90-minute “speedrun” hackathon at Sciences Po Bordeaux, challenging students to design and refine a business idea using artificial intelligence tools;
• A webinar in Lille titled “Impact Entrepreneurship”, focused on turning personal values into concrete initiatives;
• An entrepreneurship café in Nice, bringing together business leaders and members of the Pépite network;
• An immersive escape game in Lille designed to help students structure a project while learning through play;
• Intensive workshops in Strasbourg run by Pépite Etena — “Validate your market and your target audience” — guiding participants through the early stages of testing a business idea.

A masterclass for doctoral candidates

Within the framework of CREATIV’, “Innopreneurs by Réseau CURIE”, supported by the Ministry of Higher Education and Research, is offering an exclusive masterclass for doctoral candidates and early-career researchers.

Created in 2015 by the Réseau CURIE, the Innopreneurs programme promotes innovation and entrepreneurship stemming from public research, equipping researchers, PhD candidates and postdoctoral fellows with the fundamentals of launching an innovative start-up.

The new online session, scheduled for 19 November, aims to explain how to transform academic research into innovative entrepreneurial projects. Led by experts from Réseau CURIE and Pépite France, the masterclass is billed as a springboard for entrepreneurial ambition.

Three key themes will structure the session:

• understanding the fundamentals of building an innovative company;
• identifying the specific features of start-ups emerging from public research;

mapping the key stakeholders who can support entrepreneurial projects.