In this course, students get to know Design Thinking, which is an innovation method that can be applied to solve a broad range of problems from product development to social innovation. The students will engage in collaborative team exercises to learn about and directly apply the five typical design thinking steps – empathize, define, ideate, prototype and test – by solving a real-world challenge.

The goal is to engage in multidisciplinary collaboration to tackle real world problems. Following a design thinking approach, students work in teams to solve a two design challenges. The 1st is virtual and builds upon digital content into customer discovery, problem definition, ideation and prototyping. The 2nd is in collaboration with an external project partner and goes deeper into application.

ETH Week is an innovative one-week course designed to foster critical thinking and creative learning. Students from all departments as well as professors and external experts will work together in interdisciplinary teams. They will develop interventions that could play a role in solving some of our most pressing global challenges. In 2021, ETH Week will focus on the topic of health and well-being.

The goal of this intense one-week course is to bring students from different backgrounds together to make connections between disciplines and to build bridges to society. Supported by student coaches and experts, our student teams will use hands-on Design Thinking methods to address relevant challenges based on the UN sustainable development goals.