OpenInnoTrain 2024 Tallinn Summer School!
The fifth and final OpenInnoTrain Summer School was hosted at TalTech Innovation and Business Centre Mektory, Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia, from 3 – 7 June 2024.
Over 40 participants and 8 mentors from across 13 countries used our set of canvases to work on creating an impact mindset through the entire research journey. It is never too early to think about impact in your research! Participants also heard and learnt from expert local and international guest speakers, including:
- Kersti Kaljulaid, former President of Estonia, concluding with a fireside chat with OpenInnoTrain Chief Investigator, Professor Anne-Laure Mention (Director, Global Business Innovation Enabling Impact Platform, RMIT University) to talk about research and innovation in tackling grand challenges, the ingredients making Estonia a unique environment for unicorns to flourish, insights on how to have a global influence while making a local impact, as well as the criticality of genuine equality;
- Outi Vanharanta from the Finnish Research Impact Foundation shared insights around engagement practices in research for impact from the perspective of industry-academic collaboration;
- Emeritus Professor Sally Davenport MNZM shared insights on how early-career researchers in New Zealand build impact through presence in local communities. As Sally said: “Human relationships always outlast the timeline of any research project. Thousands of human connections and genuine collaboration can enable impact.” That is something that characterizes the OpenInnoTrain project, as its strong research and innovation team created the conditions to continue growing the ‘seeds of impact’ at scale;
- Mari Avarmaa, Dean of the School of Business and Governance, Tallinn University of Technology who spoke about TalTech and the broader Estonian Innovation ecosystem. Did you know that 10 unicorns have originated from Estonia?
The OpenInnoTrain Summer School program has thus far, trained over 150 participants, from 38 countries across all continents!
OpenInnoTrain 2024 Tallinn Summer School offered an excellent opportunity for participants to develop skills for creating impact and to design their own research impact journey. Participants learned how to identify and contextualize the impact of their research, engage with stakeholders, track impact outputs, and communicate real-world impact. The Summer School provided a great place to build new connections and explore future collaborations.
Participants were able to also plan their visit to Tallinn to include both the Summer School and the ISPIM Conference that took place the following week in Tallinn. This brought a fantastic opportunity to join both events and maximize the networking component of their trip to Tallinn!
Participants could obtain 2 ECTS from the University of Vaasa upon completion of a short assignment after the event.
Summer School Mentors
On the first day of the 5-day program, participants were allocated into diverse groups/teams (diversity around discipline, experience etc.) of approx. 4-5 people.
One Group Mentor was allocated to each of the groups/teams to help them understand the OpenInnoTrain canvases and guide them throughout the course of the week during the workshop sessions.
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Location
TalTech (Tallinn, Estonia) – TalTech Mektory Building (Address: Raja 15, Tallinn).
Cost
Free of charge
Program
