Capstone Project TLS Profile

Course goals

After fulfilling this profile, the student is able to address an unmet societal need and to provide a feasible and sustainable solution by building bridges towards relevant disciplines and stakeholders.

The learning outcomes of the profile are listed below. Both the capstone project, the workshops and trainings, and the assessment are aligned to supervise the student in achieving these learning outcomes by the end of this profile.

In the context of translational science, you will be able to:

• Identify a life science related societal need and translate it into a well-defined problem definition revealing the root cause.
• Recognise and integrate the needs and intentions from stakeholders and other disciplines that are related to the unmet societal need and solutions.
• Design a feasible solution that alleviates or satisfies the identified societal need and take the entrepreneurial perspective into account.
• Execute a pilot (e.g. prototype) in the field and incorporate the outcomes into a final design or solution.

In the context of communication with stakeholders, you can:

• Listen carefully, establish trust, and communicate transparently.
• Show interview skills.
• Convey results clearly using a communication product.
• Present ideas and results clearly and convincingly, you are aware of the level of knowledge of the target audience, and you can patiently explain disciplinary knowledge to others (laymen) without using disciplinary jargon.

In the context of boundary crossing, you:

• Can analyse the problem from the standpoint of each interested discipline and stakeholder and identify their commonalities and differences.
• Can implement the perspectives of peers, stakeholders, and other disciplines that are related to the unmet societal need and the proposed solution.
• Are aware of your own insights, values, and assumptions.
• Are open and curious towards perspectives other than your own, even when they collide with your own views.
• Refrain from stereotyping.

In the context of collaboration, you can:

• Share knowledge and feelings with a team and convey respect for others.
• Listen in an open minded and non-judgmental way.
• Be flexible and compromise when necessary to move the team forward.
• Participate actively in a team and be held accountable.
• Provide constructive feedback and accept feedback from others.

In the context of reflection, you can:

• Openly discuss your own behaviour and skills, explicitly using the feedback you have received.
• Relate your behaviour to 1) theory (Gibbs reflective cycle), 2) previous experiences, 3) underlying assumptions or values.
• Show a willingness to learn and set your own concrete learning objectives linked to your reflections.
• Handle ambiguity in a resilient manner.

Content

Period: The complete TLS profile, including the capstone project, takes place in periode 3 and 4.

Profile coordinator:
For more information please contact: Sanne ter Meulen

Profile description:
More information can be found on the Profile page on the Students' site here.

Registration:
Application for the Profile takes place via a separate form. The details of the application procedure is detailed on the Students' site here.