Defence Linkage
Defence Linkage
- learn how the Finnish defence and security sector operates and what opportunities it offers for commercializing new innovations
- meet and work with key decision-makers, experts, and changemakers from the defence industry
- work with like-minded, ambitious students from a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds
A course by
About the Course
Overview & Eligibility
This course is a unique learning experience with a target class size of 20 students, and is worth 10 ECTS credits. Applications for the course are accepted from all Aalto University and Helsinki University Master's and PhD level students, and students from other universities are welcome to apply.
The course is taught by teachers and guest speakers with years of practical and academic experience in innovation activities and the Finnish defense & security sector.
Outcomes
Understand the sector: Build a clear picture of the Finnish defence and security fields. You'll know its main actors and roles, how procurement works, typical constraints, and current challenges & opportunities.
Get innovation skills: Build general innovation skills and apply them to defence-specific challenges. Be able to provide viable, feasible and valuable solutions for problems and be able to defend the recommended solutions.
Build professional contacts: Get to know companies and other organizations across the defence and security sector, along with their expert representatives. The industry deep-dive combined with frequent expert interactions gives you the vocabulary and confidence to engage with professionals in the future.
Examples of insight the course offers:
- The concept of comprehensive security in the Finnish society
- The role of innovation activities and impact of innovations on the sector
- The ethics and norms related to the military use of technology
- What are recent innovations in land, sea, air, space and cyber military environments
- Utilisation of dual use technologies for military purposes
- The impact of emerging technologies such as AI, autonomous systems and quantum on future warfare
- The contribution of research in technological future foresight
Learning experience
The course runs every Friday from 12:30 to 16:15, from mid-January to the end of April. Attendance is in person and mandatory, with only a couple of absences allowed. The classroom culture is safe, communal, and ambitious — we aim for interactive sessions, and while you can learn by listening, you're encouraged to participate in discussion. Between Fridays, you'll work in teams on innovation challenges and prepare for (and reflect on) the guest lectures. Thanks to the staff's networks, our guests are experienced practitioners and decision-makers from the sector, not just generic company speakers.
Projects & Milestones
The course is organized around weekly lectures led mainly by industry experts, complemented by excursions. Throughout the course, you will also work in teams on three project-based assignments:
- A hackathon at the beginning of the course
- A two-week challenge that allows you to be creative
- A six-week challenge where you solve a problem and innovate for a company
The course culminates in a community event where you present your solution to the six-week challenge to a panel and an audience from industry experts and decision-makers.
The course will be a demanding but rewarding experience!Important dates
Practicalities Summary
- Credits: 10 ECTS Cohort: ~20 students
- Eligibility: Master's & PhD students from Aalto University and the University of Helsinki; students from other universities are welcome to apply
- Schedule: Fridays 12:30-16:15, mid-Jan → end-Apr
- Format: Lectures by staff and guests, reflections, hands-on group-work
- Attendance: mandatory in-person (limited absences allowed)
- Workload: weekly sessions + team work between Fridays
- Application deadline: End of the day November 14th 2025
Apply early - places are limited. If you're proactive, curious about the domain, and motivated by innovation, we want your application
Questions about the course?
Should you have questions about the course, drop us an email to defence-linkage [at] aalto.fi. We are happy to help you with any questions you might have!
Participants are selected
based on the following criteria:
Prior experience and accomplishments
Please submit your study transcripts and CV, more details below.
Motivation
Tell us why you want to take part in the course. Please submit a motivation letter, see below.
Diversity
We want to have a good mix of students from different backgrounds, all sharing an interest in the industry domain.
Your application should consist of the following:
1. Copies of your Bachelor's and Master's transcripts, and a copy of your CV
We ask these documents in order to undestand your academic background well, and we are equally, if not more, interested in what you have done and achieved outside of your studies too. Therefore we ask you to make sure that relevant prior experiences are visible from your CV.
2. A short letter explaining your motivation to attend this course
- What is the unique experience or insight you bring to the course?
- Describe any previous experiences that have inspired you to pursue this course. How did these experiences shape your interest in the field?
- What are your career goals, and how will this course help you achieve them?
Write a motivation letter of max. 250 words that answers the above questions. We are interested to get to know you as a person from your motivation letter (so using ChatGPT to write the letter or parts of it might not be a good idea).
defence-linkage [at] aalto.fi
The Alumni
Backgrounds of the previous participants include
- Accounting
- Industrial Engineering and Management
- Space Science and Technology
- Collaborative and Industrial Design
- Economics
- Machine Learning, Data Science & AI
- European and Nordic Studies
- Environmental Change and Global Sustainability
- International Design Business Management
- Automation and Robotics
- Autonomus Systems
Not on the list? Apply and diversify the alumni network!
The best university course I have been enrolled in. I recommend it to anyone slightly interested in the topic.
Valtteri Pitkänen, Aalto University, Master's Program in Machine Learning, Data Science and AI
Course Staff and Contacts
Aalto University
Jens Schmidt is a strategy professor at Aalto University, currently working as the head of the department of IEM
Tatu is a researcher with the Department of Military Technology at National Defence University. He is currently conducting doctoral research on the application of innovations to land warfare in the context of the reserve army.
Valentin is a student at Aalto University, currently in his first year of the Master's program in Information Networks. He has a strong interest in the societal impacts of emerging technologies.
defence-linkage [at] aalto.fi
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