TUM Think Tank
Where today's societal challenges meet tomorrow's technological excellence.
Amnesty International, Greenpeace, The Sunrise Movement - they all stand for change and progress and began... That's right: as student initiatives. But even the big ideas can easily get lost in the shuffle when raising funds requires pages of applications, networking turns into cold calling, and the elevator pitch brings beads of sweat to the forehead. This is where the Public Policy Impact Programme (PPIP for short) comes into play.
Our stated goal? Free organizations up so that they can implement their visions without restrictions. We're here to guide them along the way and help their student initiative realize the potential it had from the start. We offer networking support, mentoring, access to workspaces and venues, and financial support. Welcome to the Public Policy Impact Programme - support for student initiatives that aim for public impact.
After funding just two initiatives in the first round of the PPIP, there will be five in 2023/2024! Our second cohort is working on climate protection, quantum technologies, educational justice and international organisations. In other words, a broad spectrum. And we also have everything from newly founded organizations to non-profit organizations. The second cohort of the PPIP is extremely diverse, so it's worth looking at the websites of all the organizations or perhaps getting involved yourself.
Responsible Technology Hub - The revolutionaries
The Responsible Technology Hub (RTH) was already part of the first cohort of the PPIP and has remained with us. The RTH sees it as its mission to promote an intergenerational exchange that raises the voices of young people and enables representatives from industry, science, politics and the public to network and jointly shape a responsible technological future. To this end, they run various projects such as TikTalks (workshops against radicalisation on Tik Tok), Tech4Impact (making tech more understandable and accessible for everyone), Social Media and Teens (how does social media influence teens and what would the ideal social network for teens look like?), AIACTion (building a tool to help implement the EU AI Act) and soon their own hackathon.
100 Voices One Planet - The Storytellers
How does climate change affect the lives of each and every one of us? This is the subject of 100 Voices - One Planet. For years, the group has been collecting the voices of the people who are most affected by climate change and whose voices are unfortunately too rarely heard. Through the moving stories of individual people, they try to create empathy for the often abstract topic of climate change. They have already been able to collect 90 video testimonials and bring them together in an exhibition that is currently on display on the MS Wissenschaft and will hopefully soon be on show at TUM.
Sailsetters - The fighters for justice
Educational justice: that is the vision of the Sailsetters. A Germany in which all children have access to school and social education that enables them to lead a self-determined life. To make this a reality one day, the Sailsetters volunteer to support organisations that share their vision (for example: Lichtblick Hasenbergl, Gesellschaft macht Schule, STARTSTARK and the Adlgundenheim educational support centre) and promote political discourse on the topic of educational justice. Each Sailsetter can participate flexibly in the various projects for 20 hours over the course of the semester.
Model United Nations TUM - The debaters
Model United Nations TUM (MUNTUM) not only teaches its members how to conduct a proper debate, but also provides them with in-depth knowledge about international organisations. Every Wednesday evening, the members meet to re-enact a debate in an international organisation, be it the UN General Assembly or NATO; each member takes on the position of a country and learns how to represent it on the world stage. This involves topics such as terrorism, new technologies or migration. At regular intervals, the members are also allowed to visit the embassies and consulates in Munich and put their questions to the staff there.
PushQuantum - The visionaries
Quantum technologies? While probably very few people even know what quantum technologies are, PushQuantum not only tries to impart knowledge about them (with university courses, internships, workshops and visits to companies), but also deals with their impact on our future lives. What do quanta have to do with energy policy? How should quantum technologies be regulated? The members of PushQuantum deal with these questions on a regular basis. In addition, the organisation naturally also offers an excellent network for future careers.
Conact
TUM Think Tank
Munich School for Politics and Public Policy
Richard-Wagner-Str. 1 | 80333 Munich (Germany)
With the PPIP, the Munich School of Politics and Public Policy (HfP) through the TUM Think Tank aims to strengthen its mission in the field of public engagement as well as to achieve a closer integration of research, teaching and science communication. The initiative is (partially) funded by student grants to improve teaching.
TL;DR
Our Public Policy Impact Programme offers public outreach and much more. We support student initiatives with a political mission to reach their goals – by proving funding, facilitities and network opportunities. Get to know our second cohort!