Students of all disciplines can now apply for the winter semester 2020/21 at the HPI School of Design Thinking. As in the summer semester, both the Basic Track and the Global Design Thinking Week will take place in a virtual format.

The Covid-19 pandemic also affects our programs in the winter semester 2020/21. The Corona crisis has fundamentally changed the program schedule and the form of collaboration between our students and staff. Therefore, both the Design Thinking Basic Track in the winter semester 2020/21 and the Global Design Thinking Week in September 2020 will take place in a virtual format.

Design Thinking in the virtual space

Since March our team has been continuously developing an exciting virtual program for our students in the Basic Track, Advanced Track and Global Design Thinking Week. This includes a project portfolio with project partner organizations from society and business who are willing to join us in gaining new experiences in virtual collaboration.

The virtual Design Thinking Basic Track program is the first part of the one-year academic Design Thinking training offered at the Hasso Plattner Institute. Participants learn the innovation method and mindset in one semester.

The program takes place online two days a week and consists of live inputs from our program and coaching team as well as virtual teamwork in the digital space. As usual, all teams are accompanied by experienced Design Thinking coaches, in live sessions and beyond. We use digital tools such as the virtual whiteboard "Miro", the messenger "Slack" and the video conferencing platform "Zoom".

Together with their project partners, Basic Track students conduct user research, develop creative ideas and build human-centered prototypes. Even in the virtual space, our program team creates an open culture of experimentation, which promotes creative self-confidence.

A physical presence in Potsdam is not necessary for participation in the Basic Track in the winter semester 2020/21. All dates will take place online.

Apply online now

Interested students and graduates can apply for the Basic Track program via our online platform until 14 August 2020.

Please submit the following documents with your application:

- Curriculum vitae

- Certificate of matriculation

- T-Profile

We are looking for team players and "T-Shaped People" who want to make a difference

So-called "T-shaped people" are, on the one hand, experts in a specific academic field (represented by the vertical part of the letter "T"). In addition to their academic education, they also possess numerous complementary skills and interests and a broad general knowledge (represented by the horizontal part of the "T").

At the HPI School of Design Thinking, many "T-shaped people" come together: Here you can collaborate across disciplinary boundaries and use your skills creatively with others to develop innovative solutions to complex problems.

How and in what form you want to design your "T-Profile", whether as text, image, diagram or photo, is entirely up to you.

You can find more information and important data for the Basic Track application on our website.

Global Design Thinking Week in September 2020

Due to the current circumstances in connection with Covid-19, our Global Design Thinking Week "Designing for Global Impact" will also take place in a virtual/blended format. The normally five-day workshop will now take place over three and a half weeks from September 7 to 13, 2020.

This format follows our experiential and problem-based learning principles while working with an organization and project partner. Furthermore, with this version of the course we would like to give more international students the opportunity to participate in the program.

Interested students can apply for the Global Design Thinking Week on our online platform until 14 August 2020.