'We knew we were in good hands' – Custom Programs hosted students from South Korea in customised study program

As a part of the course offering, Aalto University Summer School offers Custom Programs – customised study programs that fit the needs of students from any university around the world. The programs are always designed in collaboration with the visiting university and academic professionals at Aalto University and are offered at any time of the year with relevant content, faculty and learning methods.

In January 2022, a group of 20 engineering students from Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) travelled from South Korea to Finland to spend two weeks at Aalto University and get to know the Finnish culture and winter while attending classes and workshops. Lectures covered topics like 5G, machine learning, AI, business modelling and big data.

The main objective of the course is not only to study disrupting themes within today’s technology and business landscape and to experience Aalto University. Custom Programs also allows the students to get familiar with the Finnish culture and explore some of the things that (perhaps) makes Finland the happiest country in the world – clean, untouched nature, world-class design, the amount of (or lack of) snow in January and authentic Scandinavian culinary culture. The students also got to hear more about Finnish organisations by representatives from Nordic’s largest artificial intelligence company Silo.AI and Saldo, a Finnish-founded fintech company. 

‘Staff at Aalto University delivered top-notch communication and support to the International Program collaboration with UNIST. It was fantastic to work with them – right from the first meeting, we felt certain that Aalto University has ample experience in proposing, coordinating, and managing short-term international programs. We knew we were in good hands.’, says DaYon Shim from Center of International Affairs at UNIST.

‘Even if holding and planning the program during the pandemic must have been a challenge, Aalto University staff provided us with precise, updated Finnish guidelines for the students and always put our students’ safety at top priority. They also continued to coordinate the best program available for our students. We could not have been more pleased to work with Aalto University and are excited for future collabroation opportunities.’, Shim continues.

Challenge-based learning deepens the learning experience

Alongside the lectures, the students formed groups and worked around challenges from the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), around which they conducted their innovation project. The challenge-based approach allows the students to immediately practice the lectures' knowledge to deepen the learning experience. 

During the project, the students understand the essentials of sustainable entrepreneurship,  identify the target audience, explore potential solutions to the critical problems identified and learn how to leverage connections and build a support network for their project plan. The students are encouraged to explore out-of-the-box thinking and incorporate a multidisciplinary approach to the project combining design, business and technology elements in the project deliverable.

‘I would highly recommend this program to other students, particularly those who want to refresh themselves through new experiences and want to participate in lectures by professors that are not available at their home university. This is also the perfect program for anyone who wants to visit Northern Europe and experience the Nordic culture.’, says Jinsu Son, an engineering student and participant in the program.

Is your university interested in sending students to Aalto University? We organise customised international programs to fit the needs of your students during all semesters.