Selected participants advance to Phase Two of the 6th European Defence Challenge
The first phase of the 6th edition of the European Defence Challenge (2025–2026) has officially concluded, marking another important milestone in this initiative aimed at engaging young talent in Europe’s aerospace and defence ecosystem. This year’s edition attracted 99 registered participants from students across Europe.
Following a thorough evaluation process, the board of experts has now selected the most promising submissions to advance to the second phase of the competition.
The theme of this edition, “From STEM to strategy: Empowering young minds to shape Europe’s aerospace & defence future,” challenges participants to explore how education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics can help build Europe’s future capabilities in aerospace and defence.
Shortlisted participants are now invited to expand their initial proposals into full 10-page papers, further developing their concepts through deeper technological, strategic, economic, ethical, and societal analysis.
The deadline for submitting the extended proposals is 24 March 2026.
The European Defence Challenge is an open competition designed to connect students with industry, research, and policy communities while encouraging innovative thinking on real-world defence and aerospace challenges. Since its launch, it has engaged hundreds of students from universities across Europe, helping to inspire the next generation of professionals in the sector.
It was established under the ASSETs+ project (2020–2023) and is now continued under the coordination of Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini, which also hosts this edition together with Rzeszów University.
