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Researchers rarely work alone. You're facilitating the moment you guide a project meeting, run a business workshop or coach a student team, and doing it well keeps the work moving. Six hands-on sessions pair theory with practice shared by teams of professionals who use these methods daily. Carry these approaches straight into your meetings, project courses and interdisciplinary work.

Who it's for and how to register

This course is one of several Doc+ pilots, this one focused on facilitation — open to doctoral researchers, postdocs, and Aalto faculty alike. The field keeps shifting, with teams now working across hybrid settings, disciplines, and even alongside AI as a new kind of participant. Wherever you're at in your career, this is a chance to sharpen a skill that keeps changing shape.

Doctoral researchers will earn 1 ECTS credit.  Postdocs, other Aalto faculty and all participants receive a Certificate of Completion for their academic portfolio.

• Doctoral researchers register in SISU
• Postdocs and other Aalto faculty register by emailing to sonja.hilavuo@aalto.fi 

When and where

Six Thursday mornings, 9:15–12:30, from 3 September to 8 October 2026. Sessions move across different locations on Aalto campus, so you experience facilitation in a variety of real settings, not just one room.

Here is what you'll get - updated course session outline

1. Facilitation — a skill you'll carry anywhere

   This opening session introduces the shift from expert to enabler, and gives you tools for understanding what different audiences actually need. Led by Satu Rekonen, organizational change scholar, and Leni Grünbaum, leadership coach and consultant.

2. Turning facilitation into media choices

   This practical session shows how to engage audiences of different sizes and run panels, interviews and podcasts. The focus is both technical and pedagogical: choosing a setup that fits the purpose and using media to serve the session, not distract from it. Brought to you by Kalle Kataila, Aalto's Digital specialist.

3. Giving virtual meetings a shape

   This session shows how to keep a remote or hybrid group active, using creativity methods and digital tools that make virtual sessions fun and productive. Hosted by Simo Lahdenne, teacher specialising in creativity and project education in Aalto.

4. Building on what's already on the table

   Metaphor-rich objects help groups discover what they actually mean, not just what they say, blending theory and hands-on practice to turn disagreement into shared understanding fast. This exploration is led by Robin Gustafsson, Associate Professor of Strategic Management, drawing on a facilitation venture he founded.

5. Gamestorming: structuring creativity through play

   This session explores the role of games in various facilitation situations, turning open-ended problems into focused, productive group work. Guided by Meri Kuikka, doctoral researcher and teacher at Aalto Design Factory.

6. Science, arts and business — directing without controlling

   This closing session looks at how teams under pressure, from film sets to research labs, stay creative without one person forcing the outcome. It explores how cultural differences, the use of space and conflict shape group dynamics, and what that means for facilitating across disciplines. Steered by Hanna Maylett, Associate Professor of Film Directing.

The team delivering the course

• Hanna Maylett — Associate Professor of Film Directing, whose research on shared artistic leadership explores the craft of leading collaboration without dictating to it.
• Robin Gustafsson — Associate Professor of Strategic Management and startup co-founder, using visual strategy techniques that get a group building, not just talking.
• Satu Rekonen — organizational transformation scholar who has introduced and scaled teamwork development methods across Aalto, bringing practical tools for coaching interdisciplinary teams.
• Leni Grünbaum — a team developer and coach, whose work on collective leadership and group dynamics fosters presence: reading a room's energy and turning it into shared action.
• Kalle Kataila — specialist at Aalto Digital, bringing practical, technical, and pedagogical know-how in running panels, interviews, and podcasts through Aalto's Teaching Studio.
• Simo Lahdenne — teacher specializing in creativity and project education at Aalto, turning remote and hybrid sessions into active, genuinely productive group work.
• Meri Kuikka — doctoral researcher and teacher at Aalto Design Factory, exploring how structured games bring shape to open-ended, ambiguous group problems.
• Sonja Hilavuo — seasoned executive and teaching professional with a background spanning Mars, Nokia, Microsoft, VTT, and startups, sharing insight from international, multi-stakeholder facilitation.

More doctoral career courses coming!

Built from ideas raised by doctoral researchers and scientists working in industry projects, and brought to life through the Doc+ Initiative, more courses are on the making co-created within the Doc+ Initiative together with all six Aalto schools. Registration will open later for:

TU-L1030 Design a Meaningful Doctoral Career, 1 ECTS

Reflect on who you are as a professional and how you want to shape your future working live. Learn to analyze your strengths, values, motivations, and transferable skills to articulate a doctoral-level professional identity. Offered in the spring term 2027.

TU-L1040 Making Research Matter, 1 ECTS

An online course where doctoral experts share real-life perspectives on turning research expertise into impact beyond academia. Course participants will formulate a personal action plan for increasing the relevance, application, or visibility of their research or expertise. Offered in the spring term 2027.

ABL-E2618 Negotiation for Shared Success, 3 ECTS

The course introduces contemporary negotiation theory and practice through real-world cases and hands-on exercises drawn from everyday, startup, corporate, and multicultural contexts. The course treats negotiation as a core career skill, relevant across disciplines and professions, from science and law to leadership, partnerships, customer work, and internal collaboration. The course is open for both Master's and doctoral students. Offered in the autumn term 2026.