After three weekends of trains and travel, weekdays in Porto had one focus: the European Innovation Academy.
I treated EIA like a full-time class with clear deliverables. The schedule was three weeks, Monday to Friday, 10:00 to 18:00, with weekends open for travel and most teams working on their own from 18:00 to 20:00. That predictability made it easy to plan meals, laundry, and team check-ins.
On the transcript side, the program counts for 6 ECTS through the University of Porto, which the University of Alabama recognizes as 3 credits. There is also a short online pre-week, then three on-site weeks in Porto. That mix kept the on-site days focused on execution instead of warm-up theory.
Daily workload landed in the 8 to 10 hour range, not including whatever your team adds after dinner. You get a steady rotation of keynotes in the morning, mentor sessions in the afternoon, and a specific deliverable to finish by night. The structure is tight, but the routine helps.
My classmates were from a wide range of majors and more than 60 nationalities, with an enrollment size of over 400. That mix paid off when we needed customer interviews in other languages or quick checks on market norms outside the U.S.
The content is split by week. Week 1 is problem discovery, customer validation, and first prototypes. Week 2 is product design, go-to-market work, and a Startup Expo to test solutions with real feedback. Week 3 covers IP basics, business models, fundraising, and pitch prep, ending with a judged final pitch for the top teams. If you like checklists, this is your zone.
Mentors include people with backgrounds at companies like Google and Microsoft. The sessions are short, so having crisp questions ready saves time and gets better advice. We kept shared notes, locked roles early, and treated every afternoon like a mini-sprint.
Bottom line, academics in Porto looked less like midterms and more like deliverables. Same learning goals, different format. If you are a student who wants structured days, real team pressure, and a clean finish line, I would definitely recommend this program. It is demanding, but the credits, the network, and the entrepreneurship knowledge you receive make it an incredible use of three weeks.
