Open Innovation

OpenInnovation is Copenhagen's flagship student innovation challenge. Every September it brings more than 120 students, researchers and sustainable-innovation enthusiasts together with innovation experts and key actors in the Danish ecosystem.

In interdisciplinary teams, students take on real-world sustainability challenges set by companies, NGOs and public organisations, and turn them into concepts they pitch to a jury. The challenge is run by DTU Skylab, the University of Copenhagen and Copenhagen Business School, so every edition moves between all three campuses.

Next edition: September 2027. The 2026 edition, themed Global Sustainability, ran from 18 to 24 September.

Join OpenInnovation to

• Address real societal challenges presented by industry and NGO partners.
• Network with students from other universities in a truly interdisciplinary team.
• Collaborate with Danish organisations and companies.
• Build innovation skills through a collaborative open-innovation process.
• Turn an idea into a start-up or a university project.

Who can join

OpenInnovation is free and held in English. It is open to students enrolled in Danish higher education and to alumni who graduated less than a year ago. No specific knowledge is required: curiosity and motivation to work on sustainability in an interdisciplinary team are enough.

By signing up you commit to attending the kick-off, the Innovation Weekend and the finals. Food and drinks are provided throughout.

From past participants

“OpenInnovation opened our eyes to the pain points that future customers could have and that helped us fit our idea to the market.”

Mohammad Filfil, Founder & CTO at Paragit Neurotech, 2018 participant

“I was hired by Velux afterwards, which allowed me to continue working on the project. It was a super fun experience where everyone brought something unique to the table.”

Luna Rye Esbak Ramlyng, 2022 participant