Jessie and Prakhar won Societal Challenge 2023: ‘The practical experience you gain here is extremely valuable’

Character 4 min. Swaans Communicatie

The second edition of the Societal Challenge of the Tilburg School of Humanities and Digital Sciences took place in early March. In two days, students in multidisciplinary teams dream up solutions to social issues of organizations in the field. The team consisting of Jessie Berns (23), Prakhar Tiwari (18), Ameya Mali (20), and Sander Maas (24) won the challenge. We spoke to Jessie and Prakhar.

Prior to the Societal Challenge, the organization presents three social issues. The students are given only two days to study one of the issues, define the problem, come up with a solution together with their team members, and present the result to the jury. In this process, they are guided by professionals in the field.

“Yes, it’s quite intensive,” Jessie laughs. “And in those two days, you also need to get acquainted with your team. We were all strangers to each other.” Jessie is taking the Master’s of Communication and Information Sciences, Prakhar from India and Ameya from Oman are Bachelor’s students of Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence, and Sander from Germany is taking the Bachelor’s of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

The experience you gain here is extremely valuable

Student Jessie Berns

Valuable practical experience

Challenge-based learning is central. This means that the students take up existing challenges in the field and gain relevant practical experience in the process. For Jessie, that was the main motivation to take part: “One of the aspects that I miss in my academic studies is the practical side of things: applying your knowledge in practice, contact with the business world. The experience you gain here is extremely valuable.”

The winning idea

Jessie, Prakhar, Ameya, and Sander got their teeth into in a problem submitted by BrabantNEXT, one of the organizations participating in the challenge. BrabantNEXT helps the provincial organization to develop skills that lead to innovative solutions. But how do you provide insight into that innovation and measure it?

The team came up with a plan: the people involved in the BrabantNEXT innovation projects are asked to answer open questions about a project that they have just finished. The answers are analysed by an AI tool and projected onto a dashboard, divided into pillars like sustainability and connection. That dashboard can then be translated every quarter into a management or audience report with concrete results.

The jury was very positive about this plan, in particular about the elaboration of the solution and its feasibility. All four of the students won a € 25 dinner voucher for a restaurant in Tilburg.

You do not only learn what it is like to work for a large organization in the field, but also what it is like to work on a team

Student Prakhar Tiwari

Professional and personal development

The project taught Prakhar a lot, he says. “You do not only learn what it is like to work for a large organization in the field, but also what it is like to work on a team. Everyone within our team had a different background, in different disciplines. That sometimes led to heated discussions. But combining various ideas ultimately brought us to one optimal solution. That was very instructive.”

Jessie agrees. “During such a challenge, you learn to truly work together. It is quite interesting to see what roles people adopt in a team. I have noticed that I am a natural connection maker and have also developed in that area in this short time. Moreover, because everyone came from a different background, I learned that they think differently and look at things from a fresh perspective.”

You learn how to join forces to get to the best solutions, and that is a valuable skill that will come in very useful in your future career

Student Jessie Berns

Social contribution

Jessie and Prakhar look back on the challenge with satisfaction. Prakhar: “It was important to me to contribute to society via this challenge. The challenge was also quite a fun way to learn what is happening in our field. Those two days were a very steep learning curve; it goes far beyond the information in your textbooks. I can only recommend other students to participate as well.”

Jessie concurs: “You learn how to join forces to get to the best solutions, and that is a valuable skill that will come in very useful in your future career. That our idea was chosen as the winner is a bonus. BrabantNEXT has even asked us whether we want to implement our idea. That is such a compliment. I am very proud of the four of us, that we have achieved this together!”