VU course | Interdisciplinary Community Service Learning (ICSL): Addressing Challenges Through Transdisciplinary Research.

We are delighted to inform you about the Aurorized course - Interdisciplinary Community Service Learning (ICSL): Addressing Challenges Through Transdisciplinary Research. Your consideration of this opportunity is greatly appreciated.

The course will start in February and ends in June 2024. We are inviting interested Master students in your programme/department to join this course. The course is aimed for the MA students from any discipline working on a thesis/internship/research report/project-work related to any of the four thematic categories that also relate to four thematic areas: 1. Energy Transitions; 2. Food System Transformation; 3. Inclusive and Resilient Societies; 4. Mental Health and wellbeing.

The course provides students with the opportunity to work on their own graduation projects, while at the same time work in a transdisciplinary team with students from other master programs and other countries working on a similar topic and involving local communities. This course runs parallel to Master internships and provides an opportunity for students to collaborate across different disciplines in their Internship theme/topic. It aims to maximize the internship experience of students by engaging them in interdisciplinary and international collaborative ventures that are geared toward solving complex societal problems. The course also helps students build a professional network, develop soft skills relevant for professional development, and be better prepared for a successful career after graduation. At the end, the students present their findings in dialogue with the citizens at the science with society festival. The course will also engage the supervisors in co-creation activities and reflections. 

This year, the course will be even better and bigger - marking the first year of the new Aurora2030 project. We aim to have students representing all Aurora Universities and other allied/partner Universities from Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and Americas (possibly from Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, Philippines, Kenya, Brazil). The VU vision is to form a mini-interdisciplinary consortium or working group of students working on different aspects of the four thematic areas - where they can learn from each other and respective disciplines and build a professional network.

For more information, you can contact the course coordinator: Dr. Eduardo Urias (eduardo.munizpereiraurias(ELIMINAR)@vu.nl). 

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