Competitions and Tenders

Current competitions and tenders

Make it better - AWO's Social Hackathon

Together with colleges and universities, Arbeiterwohlfahrt (AWO) is organising an interdisciplinary online hackathon for students nationwide. From 23 to 25 November 2023, interdisciplinary teams will develop solutions for welfare challenges in the digital world in the interest of vulnerable target groups. Registrations are open until 31 October 2023. More>> (German)

38th Poster Competition "Out of Crisis Mode"

The German Student Union is launching its 38th poster competition for the winter semester 2023/24. The German student union is inviting students to enter its 38th poster competition for the winter semester 2023/24. Students of graphic design, communication design and visual communication have the opportunity to submit a poster on the theme "Get out of crisis mode" and win prizes totaling 10,000 euros. Applications can be submitted until November 5, 2023. More>>

Annual scholarships and sponsorship awards

In the following, we list links to tenders for grants and scholarships that are awarded at least once a year.

NRW Sports Foundation Scholarship

Through the new NRW Sports Foundation Scholarship, the NRW Sports Foundation supports German national team athletes. The scholarship holders receive a monthly grant of 300 euros over two semesters and can thus better concentrate on their studies and sports career. More>>

IZNE Sustainability Certificate

The Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg awards the Sustainability Certificate to students of all faculties who go beyond the courses required in their curriculum to deal with the topics of sustainable development and social responsibility, or who engage in these areas on a voluntary basis. The certificate is awarded by the International Centre for Sustainable Development (IZNE) and the Institute for Social Innovation (ISI). More >>

BAI Science Award

The Bundesverband Alternative Investments e.V. (BAI) has been promoting scientific work in the field of alternative investments with its Science Award since 2010. The tender is intended to encourage (young) female scientists and academics to deal with alternative investment topics in depth. More>>

University Innovation Challenge

The University Innovation Challenge awards prizes to innovative university research projects and start-ups from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The prerequisite is that the business idea is still in university research or was developed by a start-up with a university background. More>>

Start-up competition - Digital innovations

With its start-up competition, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) rewards ideas for innovative start-ups based on digital technologies. Two rounds of the competition are held each year, starting on 2 January and 1 July. All that is required to apply is a sketch of an idea, which will be treated strictly confidentially. More>> (German)

Prize for best final theses with gender relevance

Every year, the Equal Opportunities Commission of the H-BRS awards prizes for the best final theses with gender relevance. The best Bachelor's thesis and the best Master's thesis are each awarded 1000 euros. Students from all faculties can take part. More>>

Fachbereichstag Computer Science

The Department Day for Computer Science honours outstanding final theses (Bachelor's, Diplom and Master's) in the fields of Computer Science, Media Informatics, Medical Informatics, Computer Engineering and Business Informatics with prize money. The prize money for the Bachelor's and Diploma/Master's categories is 1000 euros each. Work that can be assigned to other areas of computer science is also welcome. More>> (German)

The Photonics Academy

Promoting young talent: eventful practical week for students

The Photonics Academy offers selected MINT students a week of fascinating insights into the high-tech photonics industry with all its facets - from research to application. It is part of Photonik Campus Deutschland - the joint initiative for young talent by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the German photonics industry and the industry associations VDMA, ZVEI and SPECTARIS. More>>

Roman Herzog Research Award Social Market Economy

Every year, the Roman Herzog Institute awards the Roman Herzog Research Prize for the Social Market Economy, worth a total of 35000 euros. The prize is awarded to three young academics from all disciplines whose dissertations or post-doctoral theses deal with the further development of the Social Market Economy and questions of regulatory policy for the future. The deadline for applications is 31 December. More>>

Sponsorship Award of the Heinrich Blanc Foundation

The Heinrich Blanc Foundation's sponsorship award honours outstanding bachelor's or master's theses that make a contribution to strengthening small and medium-sized businesses through innovative product ideas, production concepts, marketing concepts or entrepreneurial strategies. More>>

Digitalisation University Forum: Call for Students

The Higher Education Forum on Digitisation is looking for committed and innovative students. For this purpose, it has launched the initiative #DigitaleChangeMaker and offers students the opportunity to think about education in a new, creative and innovative way and to actively participate in an exciting community of experts from different backgrounds. More>>

Germany 4.0

Germany 4.0 is a nationwide innovation competition in cooperation with numerous actors from business, politics and society, which calls on students, researchers, young professionals and founders to develop new ideas and solutions for the digital future of Germany. On the basis of eight use cases from the cooperation partners, the aim is to solve real problems and challenges from a wide range of areas and to develop new innovations for added value for society. More>>