Challenges and Funken. Our calls for pioneers with worldchanging ideas

We need pioneering teams for whom speed is everything. Teams that make tomorrow’s chip development as effortless as today’s software engineering. Apply by November 30, 2026.

We need technological breakthroughs to unlock the next S-curve of multi-purpose robotics made in Europe. Applications are open until October 22.

We need breakthrough innovations to unlock Europe's fragmented health data for AI and to prove its value through concrete medical applications. Apply by October 16, 2026.

We need breakthrough innovations to redefine the limits of quantum sensing. The application deadline is September 6, 2026.

We need breakthrough innovations that combine quantum sensing with existing data sources to turn precision into real insights. The application deadline is September 6, 2026.

We need breakthrough innovations to unlock the potential of microgravity for drug development and biomanufacturing. We need bold approaches and the will to put them into orbit.

We are looking for breakthroughs in continuous hormone monitoring in women's health through next-generation biosensors.

We are looking for the leap to the next S-curve of artificial intelligence. Disruptive approaches with the potential to fundamentally surpass the capabilities of today's systems.

A fully autonomous system is to be developed, capable of neutralizing small and micro UAVs of up to 25 kg and 200 km/h autonomously, precisely, and non-destructively in real time.

Within a few months visionary concepts are to be developed in the Funke that will serve as the foundation for a European Frontier AI Lab in the future.

We are looking for innovative processes to recover critical metals from complex waste streams such as electronic waste, batteries, or electronic components. During the Challenge, an integrated prototype system is to be developed.

We are looking for a fully autonomous system that can detect, classify, and neutralize small and micro UAVs in real time – without weapons, external communication, or human intervention.

The dream of fully autonomous flight is not yet a reality. What is missing are robust systems that can safely navigate complex environments without GNSS or human intervention.

The focus is on developing solutions that enable efficient model training on heterogeneous Hardware, from high-performance GPUs to CPUs of different types and manufacturers.

The prototype to be developed must demonstrate how deepfakes images can be reliably detected and authenticated. It can be AI-supported and should be able to continuously adapt to new deepfake techniques.

Pioneering solutions are needed to shape digital identity in Germany. The aim of the Funke is to develop and test technical solutions for future German EUDI wallets in the form of prototypes.

The aim was to develop a system that can master various challenging obstacles and tasks completely autonomously. Other autonomous systems, e.g. on the ground, could be used as support.

In the Challenge the feasibility of a novel approach to tissue engineering for first-in-human transplantation was to be demonstrated.

The teams are challenged to develop an end-to-end prototype that processes various carbonaceous waste streams into new products as a continuous bioproduction process.

The goal of the Challenge was to develop fundamentally new computing concepts in theory and gradually transfer them into practice. The approaches had to achieve high leverage in application.

The Challenge teams are asked to identify breakthrough technological approaches that enable long-term, efficient, and cost-effective energy storage.

In the Challenge, the teams developed a solution that removes CO₂ from the atmosphere in the long term, is scalable and can be implemented in an economic business model.