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X-Disciplinary Design Thinking Workshop
An interdisciplinary approach, iteration, user focus, prototyping, testing, an open mindset, and a variety of perspectives: Innovation Week gives graduate students a unique opportunity to be a part of a cross-faculty team at the JKU Linz and at the University of Applied Sciences of Upper Austria to experience how to apply design thinking to come up with hands-on, real-world solutions.
"Design thinking is a way of working, an attitude, a set of methods, a knowledge modality, as well as an iterative innovation process always based on people and their needs, and during which various creativity methods that support divergent and convergent thinking are applied."
Martin J. Eppler, Friederike Hoffmann
If we are to resolve the major social and economic challenges facing us in the future, we need new approaches and - more than ever before - cross-disciplinary collaboration and teamwork. With this in mind and for the second time, the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria is opening Innovation Week to graduate students at the JKU Linz this year! The Impact Lab at the Linz Institute for Transformative Change (LIFT_C) will provide support on behalf of the JKU Linz.
Elective Course
DATE
February 10 - 14, 2025
OPEN TO
Students in Master's degree programs at the JKU
LOCATION
The "Tabakfabrik" in Linz
LANGUAGE
German (individual presentations may be in English)
ACADEMIC CREDIT
The course is worth 2 ECTS credits that can count toward fulfilling autonomous coursework requirements.
COURSE INSTRUCTOR
Patricia Stark
Impact Lab/ LIFT_C
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Sign Up and Apply* Sign up for the course starting now to December 18, 2024.
APPLY NOW , opens an external URL in a new window
*Click on the link above to sign-up (binding) by Wednesday, December 18, 2024. The number of spots in the course is limited. Students will be notified regarding acceptance to the course per e-mail in December.
©Photos (by-cc-nc-sa) eSeL.at - Lorenz Seidler
Innovation Week
Over the course of Innovation Week during the past nine years, students from 13 different academic degree programs at the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria have taken on different challenges. The students spend five days coming up with innovative solutions to address real-world issues. The participating companies, including Keba, OÖ Nachrichten, Rosenbauer, Runtastic, Post, Fronius, Roomle, XXXLutz and Energie AG, have taken advantage of the potential during Innovation Week to create new concepts and approaches in support of future projects. The format returns for its tenth session in February 2025, together with students from JKU Linz.
5 Days – Intriguing Topics – No Shortage of Questions
- When thinking about the topic, where do the real challenges lie?
- What are potential customers thinking? What do they really want?
- How should one approach the challenge?
- What kind of influencing factors determine any potential solution?
- What does a prototypical user actually look like?
- What kind of ideas could be useful to solve the problem?
- What would a prototype look like and how would it be accepted?
- How do we visualize and present our solution to the client?
What's new?
Compared to conventional course approaches at universities, Innovation Week is unique in that it involves interdisciplinary, cross-faculty teams from the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria (Hagenberg, Steyr and Wels) and the JKU Linz. As part of a creative environment supervised by coaches involved in a variety of academic disciplines, over the course of one week, the teams are expected to come up with concrete ideas for companies. We are offering a type of "boot camp" similar to those organized by renowned Anglo-American universities, such as the Stanford D. School. The format facilitates working on innovation projects just like the world's major design agencies.
Location
Innovation Week will take place at the Tabakfabrik in Linz as well as the company partners' offices where the research is being conducted. During Innovation Week, students will have 24/7 access to workspaces at the Tabakfabrik.
Schedule
Day 1 – Get-together / Design Thinking Basics / Team Building
Day 2 – Research & Empathize / company interviews
Day 3 – Research & Insight / Problem Statement
Day 4 – Ideation / Prototyping
Day 5 – Prototype Testing / Final Conception / Final Presentation to Company Partners / Social Event
(subject to change)
Target Group
The Innovation Week is open to Master's degree students in all majors at the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria and the JKU Linz. The interdisciplinary approach is an important factor!
Language
Please note that activities during Innovation Week will take place mainly in German. Not everything will be translated into English. There will, however, be opportunities to communicate in English as part of the respective working group. If you are unsure whether or not your level of German is sufficient in order to successfully take part during Innovation Week, before signing up, please contact us by sending an e-mail to: patricia.stark@jku.at to clarify the situation in advance.
Academic Credit
Students participating in Innovation Week will receive a certificate of participation. This certificate can then be used to transfer the approved ECTS credits (2 ECTS credits) toward the student's degree program at the JKU Linz.
Important Information about Registration and Taking Part.
APPLICATION
- As we can only accept a limited number of students, prospective participants must apply to attend this course using the registration link (and not through KUSSS)..
- Your application constitutes a binding agreement to attend the course. If you are unable to attend, please inform us immediately.
- The application deadline is: December 18, 2024
- You will be notified of your acceptance into the course by e-mail during December 2024. The course instructor will allocate you to the corresponding KUSSS course.
REQUIREMENTS IN ORDER TO BE ELIGIBLE TO TAKE PART
- You must be actively enrolled in a Master's degree program at the Johannes Kepler University.
- The course will take place on-site. Attendance during all of the course days is mandatory in order to successfully complete the course. When submitting your application, you agree to these terms and conditions.
