Courses Co-Offered by the Chair of Design Thinking Research and Neurodesign
Thesis and Paper Writing Seminar (2025+)
Instructor: Julia von Thienen
Schedule: Biweekly on Fridays, 3:00 – 5:00 pm CET (first session: May 23, 2025)
Duration: Year-round (across all four academic terms)
Format: Seminar
Modality: Online
Enrolment: Open to research staff, postgraduates (Master/PhD), and advanced Bachelor students writing their thesis
How to Join: Please contact the
instructor to receive invites and updates.
This seminar assists participants during the planning and writing of their thesis or conference papers. It offers hands-on sessions to address various aspects of academic publishing, and provides training in three core subject areas: (i) scientific writing, (ii) peer review processes, and (iii) research methodology.
The domain of scientific writing familiarizes participants with the basic structure of scientific texts, including the quality criteria typically applied across various text sections, such as abstracts, introductions, methods, and more. The seminar also offers strategies for efficient time management during the writing process. It delves into various facets of scientific publication, covering topics such as selecting appropriate journals, understanding the review process, and addressing ethical considerations, particularly in the context of using AI tools. It also provides guidance on formatting literature references and other formalities.
Regular practice sessions are embedded within the course structure, providing participants with opportunities to share sections of their writing, and receive feedback. The presented sections can be (shortened) passages taken from one's thesis or from other emerging paper drafts. Typical modalities of the seminar include live peer-review sessions, where sample’s of everyone’s current writing (such as everyone’s outline and abstract during thesis writing) are read by the seminar participants, who then contribute constructive feedback based on provided review criteria; and subsequently everyone’s feedback is discussed.
The research methodology domain equips participants with basic knowledge, skills and competencies in research methods, tailored to evaluating the impact of digital tools and transformation initiatives they have designed or implemented. The content supports both independent learning and interactive engagement, with materials available for download and live discussion, depending on participant needs. Materials cover:
- Experimental Design: Including randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental approaches.
- Longitudinal Research: Such as time series and repeated measures studies.
- Survey Design: Development of effective survey items and questionnaires.
- Quality Criteria: Concepts and techniques for evaluating research instruments.
- Interviews: Designing, conducting, and analysing interviews.
- UX Research: Methods for assessing user experiences, and interactions with digital systems.
- Data Analysis: Core statistical concepts and techniques.
- Informed Consent and Ethics Review: Templates for drafting informed consent forms and guidance for submitting applications to ethics review boards.
Foundational materials are accessible at any time for download, while live, instructor-led sessions are offered on specific topics based on participant interests and evolving project requirements.
Overall, this biweekly seminar offers an ongoing space to present, discuss, and refine academic writing projects. It is primarily designed for research staff and postgraduates preparing their thesis or conference papers. Advanced Bachelor students working on their final thesis are also welcome. The course runs year-round, across all four academic terms, allowing participants to join at different stages and to benefit from long-term support.
Design Thinking Tea & Project Colloquium (2025+)
Instructors: Julia von Thienen & Steven Ney
Schedule: Biweekly on Fridays, 4:00 – 6:00 pm CET (first session: May 16, 2025)
Duration: Year-round (across all four academic terms)
Format: Colloquium/Workshop
Modality: Flexible
Enrollment: Open to research staff and postgraduates (Master/PhD) working on design thinking projects or related innovation initiatives
How to Join: Please contact the instructors to receive invites and
updates.
This biweekly colloquium provides a collaborative space for hands-on project work and in-depth discussions in a collegial atmosphere. It is designed to support the advancement of ongoing projects at the post-graduate or research group level, particularly those with a focus on design thinking.
Each session begins with a brief update on all members’ current topics, but the main emphasis is a deep dive into the immediate objectives of one or two participants. These individuals present their projects, and the group contributes their minds and hands to move these efforts forward – doing whatever is needed to support progress. Activities may include joint prototyping or testing, problem-solving, data analysis, assembling test batteries, practicing presentations, or addressing other timely challenges – accompanied by good coffee, tea, and snacks.
The colloquium is designed to be fully flexible across digital and analogue contexts. Whether it takes place in real-life settings – such as cafés, retreat environments, or co-working spaces – or leverages exciting digital environments such as Extended Reality spaces, the format encourages inquiry and lively debate. Reflections on how different environments influence community building dynamics and project outcomes are explored as accompanying research questions.
The colloquium is hosted across design-thinking-oriented research groups, organized by Julia von Thienen and Steven Ney as a cross-group initiative of the College for Design Thinking. It aims to support research and complex projects that extend beyond the scope of individual terms or courses.