Become a partner of our Innovation Challenge – and help drive forward the transformation of healthcare & food systems with us.
Collaborate on Innovation Challenges in Health & Food with ZHAW
Innovation in health and food systems requires bold thinking, real-world relevance, and cross-sector collaboration. At the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), our Innovation Challenges offer organisations the opportunity to co-create impactful solutions with interdisciplinary student teams—combining academic insight with entrepreneurial drive.
What Are ZHAW Innovation Challenges?
ZHAW’s Innovation Challenges are two-month applied innovation sprints in which teams of students tackle real-life challenges submitted by partner organisations in the health or food sector. Guided by coaches and supported by expert input, students develop evidence-based, entrepreneurial solutions with the potential to be implemented in practice.
Trending topics like AI, sustainability, and impact orientation are core to the course content and reflected in the student teams' work.
Explore our sector-specific programmes:
Your Role as a Partner
You bring a relevant challenge from your organisation—anything from service delivery, prevention, or nutrition to health tech or sustainable food systems. Our student teams then co-develop solution concepts aligned with your practical needs and strategic goals.
Most of our partners are SMEs and corporates who want to explore new ideas, connect with young talent, and advance their innovation agenda.
What You Gain
- Fresh, entrepreneurial solutions with real implementation potential
- New perspectives on key challenges in your industry
- Connections to talent, experts, and fellow innovators
- Visibility at our final Pitch & Innovation Day, where teams present their concepts to an audience of partners, experts, and peers
- A meaningful contribution to applied innovation and education in Switzerland
Proven Results
The 2024 Pioneer Innovation Challenge showed what’s possible: partner organisations walked away with high-quality, actionable concepts developed by ambitious student teams—many of which are now being further explored or implemented.
Bring Your Challenge – Let’s Build Solutions With Impact
Are you an organisation in the health or food sector with a real-world challenge to solve? Let’s turn it into an opportunity—for innovation, impact, and entrepreneurial growth.
Partner
