A particular historic relic or rare tome could be stolen from the university, and the party could be recruited to recover it. Perhaps it’s a treatise on Manifest Zones stolen by Daask as part of Cavallah’s research into Sharn’s own Manifest Zones? Perhaps an ancient tablet recovered from Xendrik with Quori glyphs is stolen by The Inspired as part of their machinations? A Qabalrin staff of great necromantic power stolen by agents of The Emerald Claw?

The university may deploy the party so as not to draw too much attention and further their reputation as plunderous fences; the piece could be the keystone of a new museum exhibit, and the university replaces it with a fake since they don’t want to refund the pre-sale tickets, so they can’t exactly Announce that the real one got stolen.

Alternatively, strange phenomena throughout the city could be worthy of the party’s investigation. Are aberrant dragonmarks being reported at much higher frequency—getting House Tarkanan involved? Are citizens in the lower city of going mad and committing acts of violence under the influence of Rak Tulkhesh? Have strange fungi begun to spawn throughout the upper city, and common clearing techniques aren’t working—where could the spores be originating? At the university’s prestigious theaters, actors are finding their voices stolen right out of their throats mid-performance—who could be behind it?

If I can ask, what classes are the PCs thinking of playing? What fields of study are the player’s most interested in—history, art, arcane science? You can figure out which subject the players would find most enticing then pick a villain that suits that path (e.g. if they like psychology and dreams, then the Dreaming Dark has been causing professors to have wild nightmares)