Praia da Barra, Portugal
Student,
join the forces of positive change
Get ready for the most exciting part of your studies
APPLY NOWHow does it work
We work as a future radar for companies, NGOs & public sector organizations, tirelessly collecting insights from different phenomena and younger generation's perspectives. To make it happen, we design and publish case briefs and larger themes open for applications. Cases are launched around the year and for each case there will be an interdisciplinary team (4-6 members) working with the topic for 8 weeks online.
For whom Co-creation projects are targeted
We are inviting all kinds of students: from PhDs to bachelors, from human sciences and arts to engineering and business, and everything between. Globally, our team members represent the following student distribution: PhD 7%, Master's 56%, Bachelor's 37%.
We are looking for people with the right mindset. People with curiosity to understand and find out. People with optimism, believing that different possibilities exist but might not yet have been discovered. People with perseverance, not giving up when facing a dead end and forced to return to the drawing table. People with empathy, having the ability to set aside their own assumptions and genuinely engage with others.
Our Values
Diversity
Curiosity
Action
Openness
Imperfection
Program Structure
Teams follow an 8-week structured process facilitated by regional polytechnics. The process combines elements & tools from design thinking, strategic foresight and systems thinking. Each team will receive weekly goals and determine as a team how to accomplish these goals. In online teams, participants define their own working time which includes at least one joint meeting every week. Participants work 10-15 h/week on average. The teams use virtual collaboration tools for creative co-creation work and a proprietary communication channel, Demola Chat, for project management & communications.
Benefits
In co-creation projects, you will learn crucial skills that are relevant in working life, including interdisciplinary communication and project management skills. Participants will also get familiar with strategic foresight tools and design thinking methodologies. We grant a Creative Foresight Expert Diploma for participants finishing the program.
There are also different additional benefits students are looking for when joining our projects. Here are a few.
Project results ownership (IPR)
Members of the team own the rights to the results they create during these projects. While these results are valuable content to your portfolio, some might also consider entrepreneurial activities later on, and the ownership to the results might come in handy at that point.
Students <3 Demola
Just like you, Demola participants are or have been university students who wanted to have a springboard for their career and work together with fascinating companies. Demola alumni live around the world and share the same Demola experience with pride.
Ahiram Cruz Mártinez
Master’s Degree student in Research and Innovation in Higher Education
Excellent
20/04/2023
“I enjoy connecting with other people who are not from the same area and field, and creating new things. I think Demola is a very great platform and, since I’m interested in education, I think this is a great idea to help students and other people to learn in a different way and to be closer to the work life.”
Aleksandra Akmaikina
Master’s Student in Public and Global Health
Excellent
20/04/2023
“I joined Demola for the third time already, since I enjoy how my personal skills are developing here and I love the feeling of freedom of thoughts, to be able to think, feel and express anything.”
Sofia Kasari
Master’s Student in Sustainable Digitalisation
Excellent
20/04/2023
“I wanted more experience in interdisciplinary project work and real-life, tangible development of solutions with external stakeholders. I also wanted to practice what the design process is like in the real world and how to present novel ideas in an attractive, business- oriented way. And Demola delivered!”
Dário Santos
Master’s Degree Student in Engineering and Technology
Excellent
10/06/2022
“In Demola we focused on creating solutions that can and should be applicable and should happen in real life, concrete and implementable solutions that can have an impact. Those type of solutions that go way beyond than just making a new website or a nice social media page.”
Antti Hyytinen
Master of Business
Excellent
17/04/2023
“If you have successfully completed the Demola project, it is proof of your passion and that your mindset is inevitably customer-oriented. Demola is definitely an experience I can recommend to all students.”