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The Teaching Factories Competition 2025 is calling on Bachelor’s, Master’s and Vocational Education and Training (VET) students to team up, tackle real manufacturing problems and co-create solutions with leading European companies. It’s more than a competition — it’s an opportunity to build skills, network and make an impact.

Who can apply

To be eligible for the call the Solver Teams should meet the following criteria.

Higher education students:

• Must consist of 4 to 6 members. Teams are encouraged to prioritise diverse representation by actively involving individuals from underrepresented backgrounds, including but not limited to women, ethnic minorities, and people with disabilities.
• Must be students officially enrolled in a Bachelor’s or Master’s programme at the end of the application phase in a Higher Education Institution in one of the Member States (including overseas countries and territories, (OCTs)) or .  
• Must be students in at least their second year of a Bachelor’s degree or enrolled in a Master’s studies.
• Should include members from at least two different disciplines, such as informatics, engineering, business or natural and technological sciences.
• Participants who graduate and/or unenroll during the competition phase are expected to stay in the competition until the end of it. 

What are the challenges 

There are 15 challenges provided by 8 Manufacturing companies. Please see the short list of all the challenges below. For further information on the challenges and on the challenge prover companies . 

• CHALLENGE 1 - Selection and adaptation of a flame retardant for the manufacture of non-woven hemp building insulation as an ecological and natural alternative to mineral wool
• CHALLENGE 2 - Selection of flame retardants for nonwoven fabrics made of synthetic fiber
• CHALLENGE 3 - Conducting a study on the life cycle and carbon footprint of nonwoven hemp building insulation
• CHALLENGE 4 - Automated Wool Felting System: Enhancing Traditional Craftsmanship with Controlled Manufacturing Processes
• CHALLENGE 5 - Development of a Universal Packaging Machine for HighDensity Scrubs
• CHALLENGE 6 - AI-Powered Smart Weighing & Tracking System for ErrorFree Cosmetic Manufacturing
• CHALLENGE 7 - Humanoid Robot Walking Development - Implementing Autonomous Walking
• CHALLENGE 8 - Robotics for Controlled Agriculture Systems
• CHALLENGE 9 - Transforming Agriculture with Advanced AI
• CHALLENGE 10 - Smart Manufacturing for Autonomous Greenhouses
• CHALLENGE 11 - Optical Target ReID for drone
• CHALLENGE 12 - AI for Optimizing Energy Consumption in Industrial Production
• CHALLENGE 13 - Low-Cost BMS Lite for Industrial SMEs
• CHALLENGE 14 - Modular PCB for Stability & Longevity
• CHALLENGE 15 - Is CLEAN AIR’s Sustainable natural resource management challenge

Important dates

Application phase for the first cohort of Solver Teams:

• Info Sessions: Do you have any questions? Join us online!
  • For students: 26 March 2025, 12:00-13:00 CET –
  • For students: 9 April 2025, 12:00-13:00 CET –
• Call closing: 15 April 2025, 17:00 CET
• Evaluation of applications: 23-29 April 2025
• Communication of results: 30 April 2025
• Feedback time (acceptance/rejection): by 7 May 2025
• Kick-off event: 9 May 2025
• Submission of solutions by Solver Teams: 3 July 2025
• Online pitching session: 10 July 2025
• Communication of results: 14 July 2025