Die Anmeldung beginnt erst am 02.10.2026 um 08:00 Uhr. Sie endet am 23.10.2026 um 23:59 Uhr

Most PhD programs equip students with in-depth theoretical and methodological knowledge to better grasp “how the world currently is” (system knowledge) and “how it ought to be” (target knowledge) on a topic under investigation. However, most PhD students typically lack an understanding of transformation knowledge to also be able to act as change agents and implement their knowledge in transforming the state of the word towards a desirable future, i.e. have societal impact. To address this gap in our current PhD education at Leuphana University, the course will embark on a transformative learning experience that teaches the co-creation of solution-oriented knowledge together with different stakeholders.
On the one hand, the course will bring diverse audiences and perspective together, offering valuable insights on impact (co-)creation. On the other hand, the course offers participants a safe learning environment to experiment with solution-oriented knowledge translation.

The course is split into 3 parts. First, there is an introductory session at Leuphana, preparing the ground for the main part: we embark on a 1-week field trip to interesting places in Europe (Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki) so that students can learn from engaging with best-practice examples and have a first embodied experience of co-creating impact.
Each participant needs to develop a short workshop/session tied to their own skills and knowledge, to be presented during this journey. Finally, we have a final event where student present their “impact stories and/or artefacts”.
This pedagogical design promotes students (1) gaining a deeper understanding on different types of knowledge and their relevance in societal transformation; (2) reflecting on the authority of science in transformative processes; and (3) learning to (co-)create societal impact in their own research.

At the end of the course, students will…
• know how to analytically and discursively approach the topic of co-creating impactful research (‘thematic deconstruction’)
• have experienced the joint generation of impact (‘interdisciplinary construction’)
• know how their own competencies and knowledge can be used for creating societal impact (‘transformative knowledge’)
• sharpened their ability and be more motivated to develop concrete solutions to real-world problems ('entrepreneurial mindset’)
• have learnt to translate one’s own research to diverse audiences (‘interdisciplinary competencies’)

Further information on teaching evaluation: https://www.leuphana.de/en/teaching/quality-management/evaluation/course-evaluation.html