Topic outline

  • General

    Learn how to create real-world impact from your research! 

    If you are like most researchers, you are motivated by the thought that your research will make a real difference not only inside academia but out in the world. You want your research to have value, to benefit the world somehow. But what does it mean in practice? How is impact achieved without sacrificing academic integrity? 


    Course Content

    During the course, you will learn the essentials of creating impact from research. You will discover various ways in which research can have impact, learn key skills to help you identify and communicate the value of your research and engage with stakeholders, and become aware of key resources in the surrounding ecosystem for your support. 

    The course is composed of three one-day sessions, each dedicated to a topic. The pedagogy is experiential, hands-on learning which exposes participants (as far as possible) to opportunities to creating impact from research. Each session mixes lectures, discussions, workshops, teamwork and guided exercises to make sure the participants apply the lessons to their own research. 

    Please check the course syllabus for more information on the course content.


    Learning Objectives

    During this course, you will learn the essentials of creating impact from research. You will learn: 

    • What & why: Deepen your understanding of research impact and its importance 
    • How: Learn to better identify the potential impact of your research 
    • How: Learn to better identify the beneficiaries, end-users, and stakeholders of your research 
    • How: Learn to engage the beneficiaries, end-users, and stakeholders of your research for impact and research quality 
    • How: Learn to communicate effectively the potential impact of your research to non-expert audiences 
    • How: Discover various pathways to research impact and resources in the surrounding ecosystem for your support 


    Course Program & Trainers

    Please find the detailed course program in the Program Schedule. All sessions will organized online during June 2021.

    Below are experts who will join us in the sessions:
    • Petro Poutanen, CEO, Finnish Research Impact Foundation
    • Reetta Kettunen, Secretary General, Committee for Public Information 
    • Tarek Omran, Co-Founder, Science Pitchers
    • Heikki Holopainen, Vice President at European Federation of Education Employers, Chief Policy Adviser at Finnish Education Employers
    • Lauri Järvilehto, Professor of Practice at Aalto University, Co-Director at Aalto Ventures Program 
    • Janne Raula, Innovation Advisor, Aalto University 

    Workload & Course Grading

    For 2 ECTS, the course workload is 55 hours. The course will be graded as pass/fail. Requirements for passing grade are:

    • Attendance
    • Completed exercises (beneficiary, end-user, and stakeholder interviews)
    • Completed impact statement of your research
    • Completed communication action (social media post, popular article, presentation) for creating impact from participant's research


    Course Registration

    The course is open to all doctoral students and researchers with a doctoral degree working in Finnish universities and have selected a research topic to work on and have written a research plan for it. 

    Participation in the course is limited. The priority order for student selection is: 

    1. Aalto’s doctoral students and researchers* 
    2. Other Finnish university doctoral students and researchers** 
    3. Other Finnish research institution researchers** 
    *Register through Weboodi. 
    **Register through registration form.

    Navigating on Mycourses

    (For enrolled participants)

    You are currently browsing the homepage of the course. Please find the information you need using the right panel of the site. Materials and information on each session are available in the session folders.


    Contact Information

    Our course teachers:

    • Ilja Riekki, ilja.riekki@aalto.fi, Aalto Ventures Program
    • Teea Mäkelä, teea.v.makela@aalto.fi, Aalto Ventures Program

    For questions regarding the course content, please contact our course teachers. For questions regarding practicality and other issues, please contact our course assistant, My Nguyen (my.2.nguyen@aalto.fi).