Students from the UvA Bachelor in Computational Social Science will investigate effective ways to create positive impact in areas such as climate change, surveillance, health, mobility, and beyond. Working alongside a range of public and private partners, they will tackle complex “wicked problems”. As part of the challenge, the students will design and deliver a website aimed at inspiring and supporting behavioral change among its visitors.

To achieve this, they will combine desk research, focus groups, and experiments with prototyping and web design. Throughout the process, they will explore how different stakeholders perceive pressing societal issues, and identify opportunities for innovative digital solutions. Previous projects have focused on topics such as promoting Nature-based Solutions or other relevant social or environmental issues.

✅ Key features of the challenge

• Students per team: 4 or 5 students
• Programme: Bachelor in Computational Social Science
• No. of hours spent per team: approximately 200 hours
• Deliverables: Website and written report (max 3000 words).
• Company time investment: Your time involvement is 16 - 18 hours in total, divided across 18 weeks. This entails an initial planning meeting, short weekly status update sessions (~15 minutes, student-led), a mid-project review meeting, and a final presentation.

📑 Main deliverable and challenge examples

The final deliverables include:

• A website
• A written report, investing divergent stakeholder perspectives and emphasizing effective opportunities for digital interventions

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

The student teams can work on challenges such as, but not limited to, the following;

Climate change:

• Renewable energy
• Circular economies
• Sustainable Amsterdam
• Water

Health: 

• Prevention strategies
• Adoption of AI 
• Inclusive Health 

Surveillance:

• Social media and corporate surveillance
• Physical surveillance of public spaces
• Government surveillance

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

🏢 Requirements for participating public & private companies  / organizations

• Any company or community organization with social/sustainable objectives.
• At least two founders/employees currently working at the company.
• In business for at least 6 months.

We encourage a wide variety of companies to apply, as we 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 1 hour per week (18 weeks total) for the contact person (e.g., joining the kick-off and final presentations, providing information, and answering questions).
• Spending more time is appreciated, of course.

📨 How to apply

Provide a title that summarizes the challenge. Briefly elaborate on your challenge (max 150 words). Click here for a template you could use.

🗓 Planning

• Tuesday, February 3: Partner Pitches (14:00-17:00)  | Location: JK Building, 3rd floor, Roeterseiland campus, Nieuwe Achtergracht 184, Amsterdam
• Friday, February 6: Students will be matched with the projects. Matches are shared with the teams and companies, and initial weekly meetings are scheduled on Tuesdays or Thursdays.
• Week of March 30: The students will organize a meeting with their partners for a dedicated feedback moment.
• Tuesday, June 2: Prototype Party ( 14:00-17:00): Students will present their prototype to our partner network and community. Be there to celebrate the website creations! | Location: JK Building, 3rd floor, Roeterseiland campus, Nieuwe Achtergracht 184, Amsterdam

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

Feel free to call us 👉 +31 6 482 72 193 or email Suzanne Hansen (s.a.hansen@uva.nl) or Emma Rose-Blacher (e.blacher@uva.nl)