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The JKU COMMUNITY CALL

THE FUTURE WE WANT

The JKU Community Call is an invitation to work together and actively pursue a more desirable future. This includes contemplating a future we want to live in as a society, and who will be involved in creating it.

The Impact Lab at the Linz Institute for Transformative Change (LIFT_C) intends to support Communities of Practice at the JKU in meeting current technological challenges. Communities of practice are informal networks, associations and/or initiatives - such as groups of people who have a common concern, purpose, interest or passion - for something they do and who learn from each other by regularly sharing ideas and creating new solutions to problems together.

We aim to empower these communities across the JKU and raise their public profile. This call is intended to provide concrete support to address and solve technological challenges in the areas of social welfare, medicine, and in education. First, we are looking for community challenges and subsequently, JKU students are invited to apply for a fellowship in order to address and solve these challenges.

THE CALL AT A GLANCE

WHO CAN APPLY

JKU Students

TIMELINE

Step 1: Call for Challenges by Feb. 14, 2024
Step 2: Call for Fellows by March 11, 2024 (submit Fellow nominations by March 15)

IMPLEMENTATION PERIOD

April/ May 2024

FUNDING

Funding will be provided to support 5 to max. 10 challenges of up to 4 fellows each

CONTACT

patricia.stark@jku.at

THE CHALLENGE SELECTION CRITERIA.

Is the proposed technological challenge in the fields of social welfare or medicine?

Can solving the challenge improve, or contribute to a better understanding, of these areas?

Can the challenge be realistically resolved in the given time period?
Are there concrete intermediate stages and planned milestones to gauge progress?

How does the challenge support and strengthen a community of practice (initiative, association, network...) at the JKU?

SUBMISSIONS.

To support a more target-oriented submission process, the application procedure consists of two stages:

 

Step #1: CALL FOR CHALLENGES (Closed)
by February 14, 2024
 

Submit challenges by no later than February 14, 2024. Following a review by the LBG Open Innovation in Science Center and LIFT_C, applicants will be notified of a decision by the OIS Impact Lab via a rapid response procedure by the end of February at the latest.

A challenge application must include the following content: 

  • the challenge and its objective(s) 
  • its contribution to the community
  • the fellow's required skill set
  • the time frame and feasibility
  • A video: Introduce the community and the challenge. Duration: max. 1-2 minutes
  • A team photo

Please note: Submit only a maximum of 2 challenges per community/association/initiative! The applicant must be actively enrolled at the JKU. Funding is not available for institutions or corporations (such as JKU institutes, the Austrian Student Union, etc.).

­
Step #2: CALL FOR FELLOWS
February 28 to March 11, 2024 

The challenges selected by means of the rapid response process will be posted here on February 28, 2024, and the application period for future fellows will open. Interested fellows (actively enrolled JKU students) can apply for a challenge by March 11, 2024. The communities also have the opportunity to nominate fellows. The fellows can be selected by the communities themselves.
 

The timeframe to address and solve the challenges is between April & May, 2024.

FUNDING.

The call invites teams of up to 4 students to work together to address the specific Communities of Practice Challenges. All of the submitting communities and fellows will be mentored in terms of support in methodology.

Each challenge is funded by a fellowship for 1 to 4 Fellows over a two-month period. Funding is provided in the form of employment at LIFT_C (20 hrs/week, a salary of EUR 1,299.60 per month), thereby allowing the fellows to focus on the respective challenges in-depth.

 

COURSES AND CLOSING EVENTS.

The fellowship includes a course (3 ECTS credits) and keeping a reflective diary. During the course, experts provide students with hands-on support, focusing on teaching future-oriented skills in the field of open, social innovation.

To top it off, all of the participating communities and fellows will be invited to attend a final event on June 5, 2024, to present findings from the challenges as well as reflect on these findings together. The concluding session serves as a space to informally share the acquired "future skills", honor the fellows' individual contributions, and strengthen dialogue between all of the participants and across the board.

 

THE COMMUNITIES ALSO EXPECT ...

The Impact Lab provides applicants with a range of support and consultation services, such as assisting in specifying challenges, narrowing questions, and/or drawing up timelines.

Throughout the duration of the project, selected applicants have access to individual and joint mentoring sessions by a broad network of experts at LIFT_C as well as other experts who have needs-based expertise.

One of the call's key objectives is to network with different communities by offering a wide range of support in different formats.

Throughout the program, we assist the communities with public relations work to showcase their activities. We also provide a platform designed to give the communities and fellows additional public visibility.

  • [Translate to Englisch:] LBG OIS Center
  • [Translate to Englisch:] THE FUTURE WE WANT
  • [Translate to Englisch:] LIFT_C
THE COMMUNITIES WE WANT

STILL HAVE QUESTIONS?

Then contact us!
[Translate to Englisch:] Profilbild Patricia Stark