ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

The NEU-415 Creative Scientific Thinking (5 credits) will encourage the participants to integrate information across subject areas, question their assumptions, and imagine new viewpoints and possibilities. The goal is to promote collaborative and creative scientific thinking. The open-minded search of new ideas is followed by analytical thinking. The students are also given the possibility to carry out NEU-416 Creative Scientific Project (2-5 credits) on their own innovative idea and utilising their particular interests.

The activity takes place online and course completion requires attandance of two semesters (possible to start either in September or January). In one study year we provide 6 cases: 3 in the autumn and another 3 in spring. Each case is comprised of four steps: 1) Trigger material is digested individually and preliminary thoughts that come up are submitted to Moodle platform. The trigger questions train for creative thinking and do not have one predicted solution. 2) We ponder the challenging trigger question as groups in Zoom, let our minds make free associations and imagine different possibilities; WHAT IF? We share our ideas as mind maps in Moodle. 3) In a following mind map exhibition in Zoom, the solutions of all groups are discussed with invited experts. We receive and give constructive feedback, make syntheses and refine them together. 4) Inspired by the solutions of other groups, we re-evaluate and improve our mind maps. Along with the cases, we encourage participants to initiate creative projects that could, in the long run, generate novel science or entrepreneurship (promoted further for example by Helsinki Think Company). In addition to the 6 full thematic cases, we have two special sessions: Helsinki Think Company session in January, and Spring closing session in May.

The activity is organized by University of Helsinki, Master’s Programme in Neuroscience, in collaboration with the Master’s Programme in Genetics and Molecular Biosciences. The events are coordinated by Drs Leonardo Almeida-Souza, Reijo Käkelä, Elina Roine and Eva Ruusuvuori, and arranged with several session facilitators and expert panelists.