Program Overview

21st Century Training in Transdisciplinary Skills

Programme in a nutshell

21st Century Training in Transdisciplinary Skills is a one-year course that allows doctoral researchers to investigate complex societal challenges through the use of transdisciplinary methods and tools. As a researcher, you will be co-creating transdisciplinary knowledge and action with students from different disciplines and in interplay with external actors, valuating non-academic perspectives and engaging in eye-opener experiences with a critical approach.

Selection & Admission

All (2nd, 3rd) Bachelor, Master, and PhD students qualify for TDI. Student teams are purposely interdisciplinary.

Engage in transdisciplinary co-creation

With the support of coaches and a series of method workshops, TDI combined with stakeholder encounters, teams learn to create solution pathways for addressing complex societal challenges.

Applying Transdisciplinary Methods in your PhD

If your doctoral research project addresses a wicked problem, you can submit it as a challenge to the transdisciplinary research incubator and facilitate a team of students and stakeholders along the knowledge co-creation process.

21st Century TD Skills Training - Everything you need to know

• Sept. 23, 18:00-19:00: Info session
• Oct. 4, 9:00-14:00: Kick-off 1st semester
• Oct-Dec (in the evening): Methodological workshops and weekly team sessions
• Dec. 11, 18:00-20:00: Pot luck wrap-up
• Feb 12, 18:00-20:00: Kick-off 2nd semester
• Feb-May: Weekly team sessions
• May 12: Poster symposium

Testimonials

"It was an enriching experience to learn the art of solving a real-world problem, starting from recognizing the issue, to formulating the problem statement, to identifying different players/contributors, and finally realizing that we had just scratched the surface of the problem. Yes, that is right. I had a precious cognizance of accepting that wicked problems (or some problems in life in general) might not be fully solvable, and understanding even a small part of the problem must be appreciated while not getting disappointed upon not finding a solution right away. I learnt the art of patience and not jumping to conclusions based on the observations of the problem from a single perspective, especially in a world of entangled vested interests and functions.
As a bonus, TDI provided an amazing platform to meet like-minded people, and I made some really good friends. We together went through the learning procedure to listen and acknowledge each other’s opinions while finding a common ground for decision-making. All in all, solving problems in a team with diverse perspectives, although not always easy, yet certainly made the whole process more complete and gratifying.
Anwesha Maharana, Ph.D researcher.
KU Leuven, Belgium - Hacking consumerism challenge.

“I owe a lot to the Transdisciplinary Insights Programme: not only was I able to work with a great team of students of different backgrounds, have one-on-one coaching with professors and important stakeholders who shared their knowledge with us, also was I able to freely brainstorm and invent solutions to a wicked problem, which is a rare opportunity during our university education, but above all, this extracurricular activity showed to be a significant added value to be selected for a PhD in a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action. Here, I will be able to use my experience that I gained during the TDI programme and expand it. There is a reason why it is called ‘Institute of the “Future”.
**Enisa Smlatic
Vaccine hesitancy challenge **

Last update: Sep 11, 2025