This workshop offers a fun and interactive way to learn about working in interdisciplinary teams by tackling a real-world problem: poverty. Participants will join diverse groups to design a research project aimed at applying digital technologies to reduce poverty. The challenge is complex—poverty connects to issues like education, healthcare, and economic systems—so it requires collaboration across fields and perspectives.

The session kicks off with a scenario briefing, setting the stage for teamwork. Each participant takes on a specific role, like researcher, social worker, economist, educator, healthcare expert, private sector representative, digital technology expert, or community advocate. These roles bring unique skills and ideas to the table. Teams will work together to create a one-year pilot project proposal, complete with clear goals, a creative approach, a € 500,000 budget plan, and strategies to overcome challenges.

The workshop is designed to help you:

• Understand why interdisciplinary research is useful for tackling complex problems.
• Practice working with people from different fields and viewpoints.
• Balance competing priorities and stretch a limited budget.
• Come up with solutions that are creative, fair, and practical.

This is a hands-on experience, so expect lots of active participation. During team discussions, you’ll dive into questions like:

• How do you make sure everyone’s expertise is included and valued?
• How do you decide where to spend money when everything feels urgent?
• How can you keep the community at the center of your plans?

About the Host: Dr. Judith Kamalski heads up the team at Brightlands Institute for Smart Society (BISS). She focuses on strengthening BISS’ interdisciplinarity and on connecting with external stakeholders across academia, business and government. She is always on the look-out for new opportunities or exciting developments to increase BISS’ societal impact. She is an engaging public speaker, on a broad range of topics such as AI in Poverty and Debt, leadership of diverse teams, or use of data and analytics. Judith combines over a decade of experience in a commercial setting with solid knowledge of academia. She holds a master in Corporate Communication and a master in French Literature and Linguistics from Radboud University and a PhD in psycholinguistics from Utrecht University.