Thematic Interdisciplinary Challenge (TIC)

About TIC

Lights and wheelsToday’s world faces a lot of complex societal problems. These problems demand the input of multiple academic disciplines. Therefore, in the TIC course, students and lifelong learners will be challenged and trained to become interdisciplinary and innovative problem solvers that contribute to solutions for real-world and complex societal problems.

The Thematic Interdisciplinary Challenge (TIC) was a 7.5 ECTs elective course for year-3 Bachelor students, Master students and lifelong learners from different disciplines. The course promoted interdisciplinary and cross-level collaboration while solving real-world challenges within the strategic themes of Utrecht University.

The course offered a mix of (guest) lectures, interviews, workshops and discussions. In interdisciplinary groups of 4-5 students and lifelong learners, theoretical knowledge was applied in order to solve real-world challenges. You can find the program of the course here.

One line of workshops focussed on different stages from defining to solving the problem. The solution could be a prototype, a video, a symposium, a policy document, etc. Another line of workshops was directed towards (inter)personal and professional development. The course format created a space to use curiosity, enthusiasm, and creativity to come up with innovative ideas that contribute to the needs of today’s society.

There were four Thematic Interdisciplinary Challenges (TICs):

All challenges are interdisciplinary and welcomed students and lifelong learners from all backgrounds. Participants were asked to choose two Thematic Interdisciplinary Challenges of their preference.