Using students for smart collaborations during the crisis

The initiative to link companies to students in this crisis had already been started before, in Deventer, by Saxion, Aventus and several supporting partners. The cooperation has been developed further with various knowledge institutions in Twente, with Novel-T SMART as the central entrance.

Not only companies and students are facing challenges due to the current crisis, but students are also affected. Many students have not yet found graduation projects, practical assignments or internships. It is an important part of various studies to put knowledge into practice. That is why knowledge institutions are calling on companies and institutions to present their problems and innovations to students through this initiative. It is and will remain, important to get students to work together with the business community, especially at a time like this one. This can be done via smartdoordecrisis.nl (get through the crisis smartly). 

Companies and institutions that would like to solve a problem or see an opportunity to innovate can contact the SMART Match Team. This team contains contact persons from all four knowledge institutions and from Novel-T SMART itself. This team refines the question and decides when and by which students this question should be tackled, and how. The solution can take various forms: an internship, a team assignment or even by mixing students from these knowledge institutions, who will then work together on an assignment. The SMART Match Team recruits the students through their study programs. 

Several assignments have already been received at the platform, from existing contacts. For example, the Lebuïnus church in Deventer has submitted an assignment for virtual tours. FC Twente and Heracles have asked to work out scenarios concerning playing matches in the coming months. Ondernemershuis Deventer has also formulated questions about new working methods and business models.

The SMART because of the crisis initiative was created in collaboration with the four knowledge institutions and various partners: Ondernemend Twente, VNO NCW, Rabobank Enschede-Haaksbergen, DEP, Ondernemen 055 and De Persgroep.

You can find various vacancies for graduation internships and other internship assignments on the job site of twente.com.