The Technical University of Munich (TUM) has already brought together young talent and their potential future employers twice as part of the “1.000+” project week. Now the application phase for the third edition, which will take place in April 2026, is starting. The aim of the TUM-wide project week is to familiarize master’s students with the day-to-day work of a medium-sized company and give companies access to TUM talent and their network. To this end, students spend a week in the company and solve a real task defined by the company. At the end of the week, the students will introduce their solution to the company in a final presentation.

TUM Campus Heilbronn has been involved since the beginning

Master’s students from many different nations, from all TUM schools and even from TUM Asia, were represented. They formed 40 interdisciplinary teams, which were based at 35 companies from Unterföhring to Leipzig in sectors such as IT, automotive, medtech, security, banking, insurance, construction, consulting and mobility.TUM Campus Heilbronn has also been involved in “1.000+” since the beginning – and with it a steadily growing number of companies from the Heilbronn region. This year, Bachert & Partner Unternehmensberatung, Bechtle, Blanc & Fischer Corporate Services, Blanco, Münzing Chemie, and Schwarz IT took part and hosted a total of 17 students. Further industry partners are highly welcome.

For all students and companies, the application phase for the next “1.000+” week from April 20 to 24, 2026, is now open. Anyone interested in participating can apply at https://1000plus.cit.tum.de until the end of November.

The most important information at a glance

• Up to five TUM talents will visit as a team the company (April 20 to 24, 2026) to become familiar with everyday work. The long-term goal is to place 1,000 TUM talents in 200 companies. On request, multiple teams can visit the same industry partner.
• The company leads the project week and supports the team in solving a real, already solved business problem in order to minimize the effort for the industry. The team learns about the business processes through interviews, workshops, role-plays, etc. and develops a solution. This allows the company and the students to get to know each other.
• The team presents the results to the company, which in turn presents its own solution to the real-world problem. In the discussion, all participants can reflect on the reasons behind the industry solution.
• The “1.000+” teams will present their posters at a joint TUM event in June 2026. Company partners are invited to learn more about TUM and its bodies and to network.

How companies and students benefit

• The interdisciplinary teams are put together according to the companies‘ requirements.
• TUM talents learn to assess their interests and skills even better.
• TUM talents will serve as ambassadors and bring their experiences with the company back to TUM.
• Companies gain access to TUM and its talents.
• Companies can actively recruit TUM talents.

Consistently positive feedback

1,000+ is not a research project week. TUM talents are given the opportunity to get to know hidden champions. At the same time, companies with limited personnel budgets gain access to young professionals whom they can get to know much better in a week than in a recruiting situation. This way, both sides benefit. “Challenge-based learning in interdisciplinary teams on site serves as a career preparation measure as well as a marketing tool for companies," describes Prof Oliver Hayden, the initiator of the project.

The feedback from participating students and companies has also been overwhelmingly positive. “The two TUM students have provided us with a good infrastructure that we can now expand and actually use,” says business consultant Inna Wallbaum, who helped supervise the project at Schwarz IT. And Natalie Schürmann, a master’s student at the TUM School of Natural Sciences who interned at Münzing Chemie, says: “This program was an incredible opportunity to gain exclusive insight into a chemical company, without disrupting your busy University schedule or committing to a six-month internship. I didn’t only learn technical facts about the chemical industry, but I also developed essential soft skills, like working effectively in a team, communicating clearly, and leading productive discussions.”

Find out more about “1.000+” at https://1000plus.cit.tum.de and in our info video. For any questions about the project week, feel free to contact TUM at 1000plus@cit.tum.de.