The Urban Land Institute (ULI) and Hines, the global real estate investor, developer and manager, have announced that entries are now open for the 2025 edition of the ULI Hines Student Competition – Europe.

The sixth annual competition, which calls for teams from European universities and business schools to put their combined skills, real estate knowledge, and ingenuity to the test in a challenging exercise in responsible land use, has a 14 February 2025 application deadline.

Students are invited to form diverse multidisciplinary teams of four, with finalists set to work on a practical development case study before presenting their solutions to a jury of industry leaders. The task will test their understanding of the core elements that impact decisions around responsible land-use and sustainable development, including real estate finance, investment, development, as well as social and environmental issues.

Full details of the case study will be revealed during the in-person competition final held at Hines’ European headquarters, ‘Grainhouse’ in Covent Garden, London over 3rd and 4th April 2025.  The evening of the first day will feature a networking drinks reception, a tour of the case study site and a guest speaker, with the competition undertaken over the second day when the winners will also be announced.

To enter the initial stage of the ULI Hines Student Competition – Europe, a short application video must be submitted to introduce each team, who then respond to three qualifying questions including a focus on an inspirational building, development, or urban project, an idea for an adaptive reuse project based on an existing building, and innovative ideas to revitalise spaces. CVs of each team member must also be included.

Intercollegiate teams and teams with members from different countries or academic courses are also welcome to apply. Each submission will be reviewed by representatives from the ULI, Hines and other senior industry professionals.

All finalists will receive:

• Generous support for travel and 2 nights free accommodation to attend the in-person final;
• Practical CV experience through an immersive case study challenge during the competition;
• Networking opportunities with senior industry leaders, expert mentors, and peers from other  universities;
• Exclusive access to a complimentary networking reception at Grainhouse;
• A one-year ULI membership, providing access to research, events, webinars, education, mentorship programmes, and connections with a global community of real estate and land use professionals;
• Discounted rate to attend the ULI Europe Conference (16-19 June 2025, London);
• Membership of the exclusive LinkedIn Student Competition Cohort group including finalists from the APAC and Americas regions too.

In addition to the above, each member of the winning team will also receive:

• A fast-track opportunity into the prestigious Hines internship programme,;
• An exclusive, guided tour of a live development project, and a chance to participate in project meetings in Hines’ European Headquarters in London;
• Complimentary access to in-person opportunities within ULI programmes, tailored to your location via ULI National Councils;
• A complementary delegate pass to ULI Europe’s flagship Annual Conference.

Previous winners have included ESSEC Business School, France, who  have won twice, most recently  in 2024, as well as the University of Manchester (UK), The London Business School (UK), and Politecnico di Milano (Italy). Past challenges have tasked the teams with delivering solutions to rebalance the urban mix of an historic district of London’s West End, upgrade and future proof a social housing project in Berlin, redevelopment of a former dairy factory in Madrid, and delivering a vision for the office of the future in Amsterdam.

Lars Huber, CEO of Hines Europe, said: “We are thrilled to be hosting the sixth instalment of the ULI Hines Student Competition at Grainhouse in April 2025. The competition has grown to provide a truly unique platform for the next generation of real estate leaders to put their skills, creativity and innovative thinking against some of the real estate sector’s biggest challenges.”

Lisette van Doorn, CEO of ULI Europe, said: “Once again, we’re calling on tomorrow’s real estate leaders to step into the spotlight and work together in teams to demonstrate their creativity and ingenuity in problem solving. Now in its sixth year, it is truly established as a unique, multi-disciplinary competition for student teams from across Europe, requiring participants to think creatively and holistically and to closely collaborate, to successfully incorporate all urban development aspects, including the design, development, investment and operational perspectives.”

“We’re very proud that many of the students that participated in previous editions have entered the industry. We need the next generation to help resolve some of the biggest challenges faced in society, such as climate change, and unlock the opportunities that arise such as from digitalisation and AI. We’re pleased to open applications for the 2025 competition, and we’re anticipating a lot of interest from university and business school students across Europe. Thank you once again to Hines for their longstanding partnership in this prestigious annual competition.”

Details of how to apply for the 2025 ULI Hines Student Competition – Europe are available at https://europe.uli.org/programmes/awards-and-competitions/ulihinesstudentcompetition/

Individuals are welcome to apply as there may be opportunities to form intercollegiate teams.

-Ends-

Notes to editors

For further information, please contact:

Tony Nokling, Director, Communications, EMEA at ULI Europe: [email protected]
Louis Clark, Senior Director, Corporate Communications – Europe, Hines: [email protected]

Background to original ULI Hines Student Competition

The ULI Hines Student Competition – Europe is affiliated with a U.S. version, which was established in 2002.
Long-time ULI leader Gerald D. Hines, founder of the Hines real estate organisation, created the competition with a generous endowment after he received the ULI Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development in 2002.

About the Urban Land Institute

The Urban Land Institute is a non-profit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to shape the future of the built environment for transformative impact in communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the institute has over 48,000 members worldwide representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines.
In Europe ULI has almost 5,500 members across 15 National Council country networks.
For more information on ULI, please visit https://europe.uli.org, follow us on Twitter or follow our LinkedIn page.

About Hines

Hines is a leading global real estate investor, developer and manager. We own and operate €86.9 billion1 of assets across property types and on behalf of a diverse group of institutional and private wealth clients. Every day, our 5,000 employees in 31 countries draw on our 67-year history to build the world forward by investing in, developing, and managing some of the world’s best real estate. To learn more, visit www.hines.com and follow @Hines on social media.

¹Includes both the global Hines organization and RIA AUM as of June 30, 2024.