We welcome applications from any individual, 18 years or older with strong intrinsic motivation.  You can apply only individually (not as a team), as working in a diverse and interdisciplinary team is our recipe for success at the CCC.

The program is aimed at change-makers and innovators and is therefore open to anyone who would like to contribute to solving a meaningful real-world challenge from one of our corporate partners. Hence, we consider everyone, from students to experienced professionals.

We focus on your motivation. If you can clearly show what drives you to be part of the cohort, you have a good chance of being selected. If your application does not make the cut, we would be happy about your application for the next batch. In case your application made the cut, but the cohort was full, you will be added to the waiting list, and we’ll inform you as early as possible if you can move up and join the program.

The goal is to enable you to act entrepreneurially by tackling a real challenge from a company. At the core of the program are the Design Thinking approach and Lean Startup processes which you will be taught while working with your corporate partner at eye level. This means collaborating within and beyond your team, using innovative tools through each stage of the process.

You won’t be alone on this journey, as every team is supported by a dedicated coach and a corporate expert over the full 14 weeks and more.

The workshops focus on Design Thinking including what it is, what belongs to its toolbox, and how and when to apply which tool. Each session combines input with direct application to your challenge, so you learn by doing.

You’ll explore how to uncover the conscious and unconscious needs of potential customers and validate them using the right methods. From there, you’ll ideate, test, and iterate solutions for ideas and prototypes. Beyond solving the given challenge, the workshops equip you with the mindset and tools to creatively approach future problems.

You’ll spend an average of 8 hours per week over the 14 weeks of the program.
This includes the mandatory cohort and coaching sessions, plus a few hours on your own or with your team to complete some tasks and submit them.

All of the cohort sessions in the timeline (unless explicitly mentioned otherwise) are mandatory, as well as the weekly coaching sessions. The cohort sessions take place either on Thursday evenings or on Saturdays. For the coaching sessions, you should align with your team and coach for the day and time that suit you best.
In addition, we have some extra cohort-building sessions such as game nights and networking evenings that are offered for you to have a fully rounded experience during the run of CCC.

English. As such, we can ensure a communicative and productive environment. We expect all participants to speak and write basic English – not perfectly, but you should be comfortable expressing yourself and your thoughts.

Design Thinking is a user-centered problem-solving approach that helps you deeply understand a problem before developing a solution. It is the core approach we use throughout the program, guiding your progress from exploration to validation.

The program is split into two main phases. In the first phase, you’ll focus on understanding the challenge, identifying the real problem, and defining the right problem statement.

The second phase, starting in week 7, is when you can start creating and testing your solution idea. It’s important to follow the process step by step and to stay aligned with your coach and team during each phase. The goal is to have a semi-validated prototype at the end of the 14-week program.

No, the focus of the program is on solving the real challenges provided by our corporate partners. While you’ll build valuable skills that can later support your own entrepreneurial projects, CCC is about teamwork, innovation, and impact within a specific challenge context.

If you’re eager to work on your own idea, we recommend applying to one of our other Campus Founders programs after completing CCC.

For all HHN students: The Corporate Campus Challenge is part of the Studium Generale. Therefore, if you choose Corporate Campus Challenge you will receive ECTS from HHN.
For all HUGS students: The Corporate Campus is part of the elective study program. The students need to register with the University to receive the ECTS.
For all TUM students: The Corporate Campus Challenge is part of the elective study program. All BMT, BMDS, and MiM students will receive ECTS for their participation.
For all Uni Viadrina students: The Corporate Campus is part of the elective study program. The students need to fill in the official application form and also register with the University to receive the ECTS.
But if you are only an “ECTS-hunter” – looking for the most fun way to get ECTS – this is not the right program for you.

After CCC, you and your team can decide how to move forward. You may want to keep working with your corporate partner to refine and implement your solution.
If your team prefers to continue independently and possibly turn the idea into a startup, you can apply for one of our advanced programs like AI Start or the Campus Founders Incubator.

In addition, you can also hand over the rights to the solution idea to the corporate partner, in those cases where you have a convincing solution idea, but you and your team cannot keep working on it.

For those of you who really enjoyed the program and would love to shape the next batch and its cohort, we openly invite you to apply to become part of the CCC Alumni Group, which comprises of our top performers. Being one involves spreading encouraging words about the program to potential applicants, taking part in special events, and getting a chance to shadow coach during the next batch.