EUDIS Defence Hackathon: Open call for local organisers for the 4th edition 

The European Defence Innovation Scheme (EUDIS), under the European Defence Fund (EDF), has opened the call for Local Organisers for the 4th edition of the EUDIS Defence Hackathon, taking place simultaneously across eight locations in Europe on 26- 28 March 2026. The initiative aims to accelerate innovation that strengthens Europe’s defence readiness and supports the development of cutting-edge dual-use solutions. 

Since its launch, the EUDIS Defence Hackathon has become one of the EU’s flagship instruments for fostering defence innovation. Across its first three editions, it delivered 24 hackathons and brought together more than 1,200 participants from the EU, Norway and Ukraine, contributing to Europe’s rapidly expanding “New Defence” ecosystem of deep-tech innovators, applied researchers and defence end-users. 

As former Commissioner Thierry Breton highlighted, “Innovation is essential to Europe’s defence readiness. Through EUDIS, we are building the bridge between our vibrant civil deep-tech ecosystem and concrete defence needs, while empowering communities across Europe to contribute directly to our collective security and to Ukraine.” 

Theme for the Spring 2026 Edition

The Spring 2026 edition will focus on Defending Airspace, a theme central to Europe’s current security landscape. Full details on the theme, specific challenges and application requirements for Local Organisers are available on the EUDIS website. 

Why Become a Local Organiser?

Local Organisers will play a key role in shaping Europe’s defence innovation landscape. Hosting a hackathon enables institutions to: 

• Strengthen national and European visibility in defence innovation. 

• Connect regional innovation ecosystems with operational defence needs. 

• Facilitate collaboration between innovators, researchers, entrepreneurs, defence users and scaleups. 

• Support the EU objective of bridging civil deep-tech capabilities with defence applications. 

• Contribute to solutions with real deployment and dual-use potential. 

• Provide winning teams with access to the EUDIS Mentoring Programme to help advance technical, commercial and defence maturity. 

• Receive substantial  financial support from the European Commission to implement the event. 

By taking part, institutions contribute directly to the EU’s strategic priorities and help build Europe’s future defence innovation ecosystem.

Information Session

An online information session will be held for organisations interested in applying.
Date: 12 January 2026
Registration link: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/a1ceb7cf-d170-4760-bcc0-1cc030ea74f6@ef7a6a1f-5022-49f9-b604-23fe0429a191
Deadline for applications: 25 January 2026

Organisations from all EU Member States and Norway are invited to apply and join this Europe-wide initiative advancing new defence solutions, talent development and industrial competitiveness. For more information, please visit the EUDIS website or contact: contact@eudis-hackathon.eu. 

The EUDIS Hackathon is organised by a consortium led by Civitta together with Tehnopol, CARSA and Cecoforma.