Joint Interdisciplinary Project (JIP)

Admission requirements

See below under 'remarks'.

Description

The aim of the Joint Interdisciplinary Project is to prepare students to contribute to solving impactful technological challenges. The projects not only demand good engineering working knowledge but also experience with interdisciplinary and systems theory, and both knowledge and mindsets of innovation and entrepreneurial behavior. The project brief is provided by renowned companies like Airbus, Arcadis, etc. Teams of interdisciplinary student teams guided by a company coach and offered academic and industry expertise, are invited to realise an innovative problem solution to a complex problem and contributing to the sustainable development goals.

JIP consists of three sets of activities:
1. The project which takes place at a company. Students are responsible for the project work (collaboration, integration of different perspectives, the content quality of their work). They plan their activities via a scrum method, are challenged to realise field trips, consult with experts and realise the necessary research work. The team keeps a Scrum log, run a blog for interaction with the outside world and every team member keeps a personal development log.
2. Meeting Professionals – lectures and workshops about specialised topics, by academic staff or senior professionals from the companies involved.
3. Plenary meetings and design reviews for all the teams, company coaches and academic staff. At the meetings the students present their intermediate resp. final outcomes and plans, and are provided with feedback.

Course objectives

1. Cognitive abilities attributable to interdisciplinary learning

• Demonstrate the ability to engage in perspective-taking;

• Develop structural knowledge pertaining to the problem;

• Integrate knowledge and modes of thinking drawn from two or more disciplines;

• Produce an interdisciplinary understanding of complex problem or intellectual question.

2. Scientific and intellectual development

• Capable to analyze scientific and societal consequences (economic, social, cultural, environmental) of the innovation;

3. Research and design capabilities

• Demonstrate engineering skills: technical skills, interpreting results, creativity, usability for company/institute;

• Demonstrate that they are capable to independently apply relevant theory and/or knowledge to research and/or design;

4. Collaboration and communication in an interdisciplinary team

• Demonstrate behavioral competences and skills: taking initiative, responsibility, showing communication skills, independency, collaboration and the ability to respect different disciplines and adapt to different cultures);

• Show ability to write a technical report: structured/consistent, language proficient, with correct use of literature/references, use of figures/tables/equations, and has a concise format (30 pages);

• Present work performed in a structured way through an oral presentation to their peers and customer.

5. Self-adjustment and reflection capabilities

• Plan and control the project efficiently considering resources and methodology;

• Being able to reflect on personal functioning in an evaluation report: reflect on personal objectives, indicate personal strengths/weaknesses. Indicate future personal improvement, drawing conclusions for future career.

Cognitive abilities attributable to interdisciplinary learning;

• The ability to integrate (scientific and practical technological)knowledge from different disciplines to solve complex problems
  Scientific and intellectual development

• The capacity to evaluate the ethical, scientific and societal consequences of the proposed innovation
  Research and design capabilities

• The ability to create reasonable and relevant research or design , according to the academic standards of the involved disciplines
  Collaboration and communication in an interdisciplinary team

• Demonstrate behavioural competences and skills relevant for teamwork and effective communication with different stakeholders
  Self-adjustment and reflection capabilities

• To carry out regular reflections on professional and personal development and being able to improve upon those reflections

• Understand contemporary and societal issues in their work.

Timetable

Mode of instruction

Full-time project work in an interdisciplinary team of about five students. The project work is interspersed with some just in time seminars and workshops about specialized subjects, methods or practical situations that play an essential role in interdisciplinary project work.

Assessment method

The assessment criteria pertain to the process, product and presentation and are assessed at an individual and team level, during 3 review sessions at three levels of accomplishment (each review assesses at a different level):

• Interdisciplinary work

• Scientific reasoning and ethical mindset

• Innovation process

• Presentation and communication

Academic staff, supported by the input from company coaches, grade the students during the Problem Statement, the Midterm and the Final Review.
The final group mark for JIP is differentiated per person and is based on:

• The team presentations - 30%

• The Problem definition, progress report and final report – 30%

• The individual contribution to the team – 20%

• The final individual reflection report – 5%

• The Blog – 5%

Project Outcomes (product, model, system) are presented at:
1. Problem Statement Review
2. Midterm meeting
3. Final Review
4. Symposium presentation

Remarks

This is a course organised by TU Delft, for admission requirements and course information please see https://studiegids.tudelft.nl/a101_displayCourse.do?course_id=64240.

For detailed information and enrollment see: Brightspace course Opleiding Biologie.