In this challenge a team of bachelor students Computational Social Science will navigate the complexity of achieving SDG goals, focusing on how different stakeholders perceive the problem and opportunities for digital solutions in diverging ways.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a set of 17 interconnected goals adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030.

Students will combine data they collect via in-depth interviews with stakeholders, existing data from the challenge partner and public sources, and desk research. They will use this data to write a report, emphasising policy-relevant findings and supported by a shareable infographic.

We aim to work on wicked problems together with a variety of partners, both public and private.

✅ Key features of the challenge

• Students per team: 4 or 5 students
• Programme: Bachelor in Computational Social Science
• No. of hours spent per team: 120 hours
• Deliverables: Presentation of major findings; written report (max 3000 words) with a shareable infographic.
• Company time investment: Your time involvement is approximately 10 hours, divided across 8 weeks (e.g., an initial planning meeting, short weekly contact sessions, interviews, final presentation, etc.)

📑 Main deliverable and challenge examples

The main deliverable is a to-the-point advisory report. The report will include a tailored infographic that is suitable for sharing. The desired target audience for the infographic will be decided with the partner; for example, you may choose to share on social media, with your organisation’s internal community, or with policy makers.

Students will also prepare and deliver a presentation of the study’s major findings to the partner, stakeholders, and their peers.

Please feel free to challenge us with your wicked societal challenges!

🏢 Requirement for participating public & private companies  / organisations

• Any company, research lab or community organisation with social/sustainable objectives.
• At least two founders/employees working in the company.
• In business for at least 6 months.

We encourage a wide variety of companies to apply and do not limit ourselves to a specific industry or sector.

💰 Costs

This challenge is free of charge! Your investment in terms of time is:

• Around 10 hours for the contact person over the 8 week period (e.g., joining the kick-off and final presentations, providing information, and answering questions).
• Spending more time is fine, of course.

📨 How to apply

You can submit the challenge directly through the website. Provide a title that summarises the challenge. Subsequently, briefly elaborate on your challenge. See link for a template you could use: https://link.masterchallenge.me/challenge-template or use the challenge generator: https://masterchallenge.me/challenge-generator

🗓 Planning

• Friday September 5th, 13:00-14:00: Introduction to ICAI (icai.ai), Robust (AI for Society) and the REC Impact space (optional for partners)
• Friday September 5th, 14:00-15:00: Partner Pitch Event | Roeterseiland Campus, JK Building, Nieuwe Achtergracht 184
• Early September: Project kick-off meetings with your student groups (online or in person)
• Friday October 31st, 10:00-13:00: Infographic Party where students present their infographics to partners and the CSSci community | Roeterseiland Campus, JK Building, Nieuwe Achtergracht 184

Questions? Do you want to discuss your challenge before submitting one?

Feel free to email Julia Manikalo (j.manikalo2@uva.nl) or contact Suzanne Hansen (s.a.hansen@uva.nl), Head of Partnerships on +31 6 482 72 193