Workshop: Learn how creative thinking can transform your research

Improve your chances of transformative research breakthroughs by joining this hands-on workshop addressing creativity in experimental research.

Sign up before 7 September 2021

The systematic use of creative thinking can be particularly helpful in the generation of new ideas, hypotheses and experimental designs, as well as in the communication of research. Everyone has the potential to develop their creativity and use this to learn how to pose more daring research questions. This will increase the likelihood of transformative research breakthroughs.

This 2-day workshop consists of a mix of small lectures and exercises that train your creativity and teaches you methods and provides you with well-supported tools for creative thinking. The workshop will focus on getting a firsthand experience with creative thinking in relation to your own scientific work. There will also be time for reflecting upon how creative thinking can be implemented in the research process and collaborations. After the workshop you will have access to both analogue and digital training exercises to continue your training individually, in pairs or in teams.

The exercises are inspired by creative approaches like Synectic (Creative methodology that stimulates thought processes using analogies, by George M. Prince), TRIZ (theory of inventive problem solving by Genrich Altshuller), Lateral Thinking (Creative Thinking Technique by Edward De. Bono) and CPS (Creative Problem Solving, by Alex Osborn and Sid Parnes),which are all designed to make you more open-minded and insightful. When you implement this creative practice in your existing methodology, it enhances the likelihood that you discover something new and transformative in your research.

Learning goals

  • To get a firsthand experience with creative thinking and realise the impact it can have on your normal thinking process
  • To understand that the way we think determines what we can be aware of and how we interpret our results
  • To understand why and how creative thinking influence knowledge production in research
  • To be able to think more flexibly and original, while doing research
  • To understand how you can integrate creative thinking in your existing research method – both in theory and in practice 

Teacher: Søren Hansen is an external lecturer at Aalborg University and has more than 15 years of experience on researching and teaching how to enhance creativity in research. Through his research in creativity, Søren Hansen has developed a systematic process to develop a personal creative approach to knowledge generation.

Language: English

Time: 7 October: 9:00-20:00 (including dinner) and 8 October: 9:00-17:00

Venue: Panum Faculty Club