Review: TUM Science Hackathon 2025
“Going New Ways” – 42 Hours Full of Ideas, Teamwork and Innovation
From June 20 to 22, 2025, the TUM Science Hackathon 2025 took place at the Audimax of the Technical University of Munich, organized by the scholarship holders of TUM: Junge Akademie.
More than 150 students and doctoral candidates from Munich, Germany, and all over Europe took on six real-world challenges from the fields of science, industry, and culture. For the first time, teams from European partner universities also joined the event, including TU Eindhoven, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), TU Darmstadt, and the University of Budapest.
The topics ranged from artificial intelligence and robotics to remote sensing — and even a cultural challenge by the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra.
The Six Challenges at a Glance:
- Conflict Simulation Lab – AI-driven Conflict Resolution by PIXIDA group
- AI-Powered Document Processing for SAP Integration by BECONEX GmbH
- Global Humanitarian Demining by TUM Venture Labs Aerospace
- Privacy-Preserving Federated Learning with TEE & SMC by the TUM Chair of Network Architectures and Services
- Visualizing the 4D of Earth Observation by the TUM Chair of Network Architectures and Services
- Cultural Challenge the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra
Following the preliminary rounds, six finalist teams advanced to the grand finale:
The Finalist Teams 2025:
BMSL, Epoch, Plangers, Papercut, Rocket-boyz, Dreamline Inc.
A special highlight:
The three best teams in the final were awarded prize money:
1️⃣ 1st Prize (€1,000): BMSL (Munich Philharmonic Orchestra)
2️⃣ 2nd Prize (€500): Epoch – including a team member from TU Darmstadt (Pixida)
3️⃣ 3rd Prize (€300): Plangers – an international team from the University of Budapest (Beconex)
This means the prize money not only stayed in Munich, but also went to international teams — a strong signal for the pan-European networking fostered by this Hackathon.
We sincerely thank all participants for their dedication and enthusiasm, as well as our Challenge Collaborators for their exciting challenges and dedicated support:
- Pixida Group
- BECONEX GmbH
- TUM Venture Labs Aerospace
- Chair of Network Architectures and Services at TUM
- Professorship of Remote Sensing and Cartography at TUM
- Munich Philharmonic Orchestra
Special thanks go to the Taskforce CAP of TUM: Junge Akademie for organizing this successful event: Joshua Fehn, Tim Knothe, Samuel Friese, Oliver Meixner, Christian Nix, Nikola Staykov, Julius Mankau (all #class24) & Gentian Ballgjini, Pia Mütsch, Mario Rodriguez Cervantes, Sebastian A. Strobl, Niklas Vart & Jasper Veil (newbies of #class25).
👉 More insights and photos can be found here:
ja.tum.de/ja/events/sciencehack/
🔬 About the TUM Science Hackathon 2025
The TUM Science Hackathon is a unique 3-day event where interdisciplinary student teams solve real-world challenges from industry and research. Hosted in Munich, the Sciencehack blends rapid innovation, academic excellence, and entrepreneurial spirit. Participants prototype, collaborate, and pitch their ideas to experts – all under this year’s theme: Going New Ways.
Whether you're into AI, cybersecurity, data science, or building the next big tech breakthrough – this is your chance to make an impact, meet brilliant minds, and explore what's possible.
📆 Timeline – TUM Science Hackathon 2025
📝 Until June 8
Application deadline – register solo or as a team
📣 June 12
Orientation Event – get all info, meet partners, and find your team
🤝 June 13–19
Matching Phase – teams are assigned to challenges based on skills & interests
🚀 June 20–22
Hackathon Weekend – prototype, collaborate, and pitch to the jury!
This year's challenges:
🧠 Challenge: AI-Powered Document Processing for SAP Integration
Brought to you by: BECONEX GmbH
Manual document sorting is slow, error-prone, and outdated. In this challenge, you’ll develop an AI-driven prototype that can split batches of scanned delivery notes into individual documents—and smartly match each one to the correct SAP goods receipt entry.
The solution must run locally, use open-source tools, and deliver precise, explainable results in JSON format. It's your chance to combine cutting-edge AI, prompt engineering, and document intelligence to tackle a real business pain point—backed by one of Germany’s leading SAP partners.
💡 A unique opportunity to build something that could directly shape industry practice—and potentially become part of a professional career track with BECONEX.
📅 Full challenge details will be revealed during the Orientation Event on June 12.
🤖 Challenge: Conflict Simulation Lab – AI-driven Conflict Resolution
Brought to you by: Pixida Group
Can AI simulate and respond to human conflicts in a realistic and adaptive way? This challenge invites you to design a functional MVP of an AI-based conflict simulator that goes beyond scripted responses and models nuanced human dynamics. Students will develop a character-driven, interactive system that adapts in real time to user decisions, simulating escalation, de-escalation, or neutral paths.
Your goal: Create an immersive experience using configurable AI roles, realistic traits, and varying conflict patterns. Explore how different personalities and response styles can lead to meaningful mediation outcomes—and reflect on ethical risks, unintended behaviors, and fairness in AI.
This is a unique chance to explore how responsible technology can support conflict resolution, training, and communication in both personal and professional settings.
📅 Note: Full challenge details will be revealed at the Orientation Event on June 12.
🔎 Challenge: Visualizing the 4th Dimension of Earth Observation
🚀 Organized by the Professorship of Remote Sensing Applications & Chair of Cartography, TUM
How can we make complex 4D Earth observation data accessible to non-experts? This challenge invites you to build an interactive web platform that visualizes 3D geospatial changes over time—helping decision-makers better understand climate dynamics, natural hazards, and human impact.
🔍 Scenario: Use real-world data from a protected area to identify changes, present trends, and support clear communication for land management.
🧠 Skills: Programming (Python, JS/TS), web development, and data visualization.
🛠️ Support: Dataset, mentoring, and tool guidance provided.
ℹ️ Full challenge details will be revealed during the orientation event on June 12.
🌍 Challenge: Global Humanitarian Demining Challenge
This time a more serious topic…
Brought to you by: TUM Venture Labs Aerospace
How can we accelerate and scale up demining to restore safety and livelihoods in war-affected regions?
Ukraine is currently facing one of the largest mine contamination crises in history. Traditional demining methods are slow, dangerous, and insufficient. This challenge calls on you to help develop high-impact, scalable tech-driven solutions—combining AI, robotics, and autonomous systems—to safely reclaim contaminated land.
💡 This work not only supports Ukraine, but has the potential to aid all conflict-affected regions around the world.
👩💻 Your mission:
Design breakthrough concepts to revolutionize humanitarian demining—enabling faster clearance, safer farming, and long-term recovery.
📅 Note: Full challenge details will be revealed during the Orientation Event on June 12.
🧠 Challenge: Privacy-Preserving Federated Learning with TEE & SMC
Brought to you by: Chair of Network Architectures and Services @ TUM
How can we train AI models across distributed datasets without compromising privacy? In this challenge, you'll explore Federated Learning secured through Trusted Execution Environments (TEE) and Secure Multi-Party Computation (SMC).
You’ll get access to real infrastructure—including a TEE setup and an SMC-based machine learning framework developed at the chair. From federated image classification to custom privacy-aware applications, it's up to you to define a use case and build a prototype that pushes the boundaries of secure AI.
💡 Combine cryptographic engineering with applied machine learning and help shape the next generation of confidential computing.
📅 Full challenge details will be revealed during the Orientation Event on June 12.