The 1,000+ Project Week creates a valuable bridge between science and business: for five days, students at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) work intensively with small and medium-sized enterprises. This is not an internship or a research project in the traditional sense, but the solution of real business challenges.
The great added value of the 1,000+ Project Week is that the student teams are put together on an interdisciplinary basis, according to the needs of the individual companies. It is working hand in hand with the industry experts using the challenge-based learning approach.

The students bring fresh perspectives, gain deep insights into the corporate culture and learn about the requirements and opportunities of SMEs as future employers.
In January 2025, TUM Master's students from all TUM schools and many different nations once again took part. This time, even TUM Asia was represented. They formed 40 interdisciplinary teams that worked in 35 companies from Ottobrunn to Berlin and in industries such as IT, automotive, medical technology, security, banking, insurance, construction, consulting, chemical industry, mobility, among others.
During the intensive project week, the students worked on real entrepreneurial tasks, which they successfully mastered from the initial concept idea to the final presentation. The challenge was to develop creative, practical solutions within the short timeframe.

The feedback from the participating companies is extremely positive:
"By participating in the 1,000+ project week, we wanted to intensify our contact with committed and talented students and deepen our relationship with TUM. Another aim was to promote the recruitment process for new employees. Thanks to 1,000+, we were also able to gain new impetus and perspectives for our project work."
"The 1,000+ project week is an excellent example of how companies and TUM can work together to promote exchange and develop forward-looking solutions with innovative, talented young people."
"This forward-thinking program illustrates how academic excellence and business practice can merge to create breakthrough solutions. The fresh perspectives and inspiring ideas have enriched our own thinking."

And the feedback from the students is also excellent.
Michael sums up his experience succinctly: "The collaboration was great. Everyone was so helpful and open. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give the initiative a 12!"
Aparna wrote: 'Thank you to the 1,000+ Project Week for this incredible opportunity to grow, innovate and contribute to a sustainable future!'
And Mohammadreza is even taking part for the second time this year to get to know the German job market better: "It was a valuable learning opportunity and a great chance to work with people from different professional disciplines and perspectives."

The students benefit from the unique opportunity to solve challenging problems in interdisciplinary teams and gain valuable insights into the corporate culture. At the same time, the companies use the 1,000+ project week as an ideal platform for their employer branding. This paves the way for long-term successful cooperation between TUM and German SMEs.
Be part of this innovative TUM format and use 1,000+ to discover outstanding young talent and inspire them for your company. Would you like to find out more?

Here you can find more information about TUM:
TUM is once again a University of Excellence and thus the only technical university to have held the title continuously since 2006. The distinction is awarded as part of the Excellence Strategy of the German federal and state governments to provide strategic international support for top-level German research.

With this funding, we are implementing the future concept TUM Agenda 2030, expanding the technology-oriented humanities and social sciences and restructuring the existing internal structure in an innovation-oriented way: Seven schools linked by integrative research institutes are taking the place of closely-knit disciplinary faculties. In the spirit of a knowledge exchange center, we support talent in all its diversity, at all levels and across disciplinary boundaries.

Authors: Nina Santner, Project Manager / Ilona Falk, Project Manager
E-mail: n.santner@tum.de / ilona.falk@tum.de