Designathon Ai in transdisciplinary research

Introduction

Emerging Technologies & Social Change: Harness the Power of AI and Citizen Science:
Join the Designathon!

This course is open to all early career PhD candidates and postdocs afffiliated with EGSH and the Convergence.

ECTS: 2.5 
Number of sessions: 2
Hours per session: 8 and 4

Curious about how your research can make a real-world impact beyond academia? Wondering how your skills connect with others in tackling today’s big challenges?

Join our Design-a-thon and be part of shaping the future of AI-assisted health research, in collaboration with the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI). This hands-on, transdisciplinary event invites you to explore how AI, human expertise, and citizen science can come together to drive meaningful innovation. 

Discover what happens when emerging technologies meet community-driven insight - and use your own research skills to make a difference where it truly matters.

Session 1: design-a-thon
In this hands-on workshop, you’ll work together with researchers, AI experts, and industry partners to design the Cell Lab - a hub where players, patients, pathologists, and scientists unite to map human cells and advance cancer research. Moreover, a hub that visibly increases the learning capacity on all fronts: from algorithms, to doctors and researchers, to patients and players. In short, it makes impact and learning go hand in hand, with the goal to make immunotherapy available and known to as many patients as possible.

(Lunch is included for this session).

Session 2: amplifying the Social Impact of Your Research
This session focuses on enhancing the social impact of your academic work. What difference can your research make in the world? What values and tangible outcomes would you like it to foster? How can you identify or create opportunities for your work to extend beyond academia—into policy, art, medicine, community engagement, education, politics, public discourse, technological innovation, or everyday practices?

Together, we’ll explore the skills you need to develop and the actionable steps you can take to realize this vision. By mapping your research context and crafting a plan for meaningful impact, you will not only hone transdisciplinary collaboration skills but also create a concrete strategy to translate your work into real-world change.