SPIN
…is a ecosystem at TalTech where we teach not only to solve problems, but also to find the right ones.
For companies
Bring your challenge to TalTech. Discover new ideas, research partners, and future talent. Working together with students and researchers, you can develop practical solutions to real-world problems.
For students
Learn through real-world projects. Help solve challenges presented by companies, develop your entrepreneurial skills, and take your idea to the next level.
For lecturers
Enrich learning with real-world challenges. Create courses in collaboration with companies and other partners, giving students the opportunity to solve real-world problems.
SPIN helps
SPIN brings real-world challenges from businesses, the public sector, and society into teaching and learning at TalTech. Students, lecturers, and partners work together to understand the problem, test different solutions, and apply their knowledge in practice.
The aim is not simply to find one correct answer. What matters is learning how to work with complex problems, combine knowledge from different fields, and create solutions that may have an impact beyond the course itself.
to apply knowledge in practice
to connect companies with TalTech
Companies and public-sector organisations bring real needs and challenges into the learning process. Students and lecturers contribute fresh perspectives, knowledge, and ideas for solutions.
to develop entrepreneurial skills
Working on challenges develops problem-solving, creativity, teamwork, self-management, and the ability to test and present ideas.
to turn ideas into new solutions
An idea developed during a course can evolve into a prototype, student project, research collaboration, new service, or business.
to create new opportunities for collaboration
Shared challenges bring together people from different fields, organisations, and countries, laying the foundation for long-term international collaboration.
Programmes and opportunities
Challenge Impact Lab: Autonomous Solutions (UTT0150)
The course addresses the understanding and solving of complex and ambiguous challenges of external companies and organizations, focusing on systems thinking and the creation of a holistic overview. Students practice clearly framing problems, integrating different perspectives, and making well‑reasoned choices under conditions of limited information. The course supports the development of analytical thinking, argumentation skills, and self‑reflection within an interdisciplinary collaborative environment.
Challenge Impact Lab: Smart City and Sustainable Solutions (UTT0160)
The course focuses on challenge‑based learning in interdisciplinary student teams, working in collaboration with both technology companies and (societal) organisations. Learners develop products, services, or systems by combining design and engineering solutions with the creation of new business models. Learning activities take place through workshops, group work, independent study, and both personal and team development, where students take responsibility for directing their own learning process.
Challenge Impact Lab: AI Practical Solutions (UTT0170)
The course focuses on designing and developing artificial intelligence–based solutions for real‑world challenges faced by companies and organisations, integrating disciplinary knowledge with data‑driven analysis. As part of team‑based work, students develop and test prototypes, assessing their technical performance, usability, ethical and business implications, as well as their impact on stakeholders and the environment. The course supports interdisciplinary collaboration and develops the ability to present solutions clearly, coherently, and in an evidence‑based manner.
Students apply the knowledge gained during their studies to solving real-world problems and gain experience that cannot be acquired through traditional classroom learning alone.