From 15–17 October 2026, the EU-funded EUDIS Defense Hackathon will take place in Linköping, alongside simultaneous hackathons in seven other European cities. The hack wants to gather young innovators across Europe, ranging from PhD students to entrepreneurs leading startups and scaleups. Through hands-on problem-solving, participants are part of addressing Europe’s societal and defense challenges.
Fifty participants will have the opportunity to take part in 2.5 intensive days of innovation, receiving coaching from experts from industry, academia, and the business community. The hackathon brings together perspectives and expertise to develop solutions to real-world challenges and demonstrates how collaboration between industry, academia, and innovation organizations can accelerate the development of new solutions.
The theme of this year’s hackathon is Autonomy on the Battlefield, focusing on autonomous systems capable of navigating without GPS or other GNSS signals, as well as the coordination of autonomous swarms. Winning teams will earn a place in the EUDIS mentorship programme, which includes 40 hours of expert coaching and the opportunity to further develop their ideas.
The EUDIS Defense Hackathon welcomes both those who already have a clear idea of how to solve these challenges and those who are simply curious to explore what might be possible. The most important qualities are curiosity, a collaborative mindset, and a willingness to develop new solutions.
The hackathon is organized by Linköping Science Park in collaboration with Norrköping Science Park, Defense Hub Sweden, LEAD, Linköping University, and Saab.
Time to apply
Application deadline: 15 September 2026
Date: 15-17 October 2026
Location: Linköping, Sweden
More information about EUDIS Hackathon
All local European organizers of EUDIS Defense Hackathon, autumn 2026:
- Austria
- Cyprus
- Ireland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Norway
- Portugal
- Sweden
