Getting to know the students of Summer School
After the application period in the spring, 32 students were admitted to attend the IPR Summer School of 2015. The group consisted of many international students as well as Finnish students from all of the six member universities of the IPR University Center. Since the group included students from ten different countries and with different academic backgrounds and areas of interest, a large part of the IPR Summer School also focused on giving the students a possibility to get to know each other and to form friendships with other students interested in intellectual property.
The week got off to a great start on Sunday with the opening seminar, after which there was time for cocktails, music and networking in the beautiful foyer of Hanken School of Economics. In addition to the Summer School participants, the opening seminar also gathered together both Finnish and international practitioners, which made it possible for the students to not only meet each other but also to get to know people working in the field of IP. Duo Jauza! played live music while the participants enjoyed strawberries, drinks and the sunny Sunday evening.
Wanting to show some traditional Helsinki sights to the international students, a picnic at the Suomenlinna sea fortress had been planned for Monday afternoon to round up the first whole day of the week. Unfortunately, the unpredictable Finnish weather was not on our side, so the picnic had to be moved indoors. Fortunately, this affected neither the good food nor the great company! Later on, as the weather got better, a group of participants still decided to take the ferry out to Suomenlinna to enjoy the beautiful views and to hear a bit about the history of Suomenlinna over some hot cocoas in the evening sun.
On Wednesday, Startup Sauna, the Aalto Entrepreneurship Society Aaltoes and Borenius Attorneys had invited us to their weekly Startup Sauna barbeque party at the Startup Sauna’s co-working space in Otaniemi, Espoo. At the event, Aaltoes presented their Summer of Startups accelerator program and told us a bit more about the work being done at the Startup Sauna. During the evening we also got to enjoy the company of many of the people behind the startups as well as other Finnish students who were also invited to the event. The barbecue party worked perfectly as a way to get to know the concept and people of Startup Sauna in a more relaxed environment, before visiting the Startup Sauna again on Thursday morning for a workshop on IP related matters concerning startups.
On Thursday evening, it was already time for the ending dinner to celebrate the past week. After a whole week of running from seminar to seminar, it was nice to get everybody around the same large table for some great food and interesting discussions. With discussion topics spanning all the way from IPR and studies to hobbies, politics and cultural differences, it was interesting to see how the group was very diverse while still having a lot in common. Realizing that the week was coming to an end, discussions on how to stay in touch and treasure this newly found network of IPR enthusiasts also surfaced quickly. Before we knew it, the dinner was coming to an end, and it was time to enjoy some drinks at a nearby cozy bar before wrapping up the night.
On Friday, sadly it was time to end the week and say goodbye, with some of the participants leaving straight back home and some staying to enjoy the Helsinki Day and one of Finland’s long bright nights.
At the end of the week it was clear that everybody had not only learned much about IPR but also made some new connections and friends from all over the world. Now, the participants do not only share an interest in intellectual property, but also the experience of the IPR Summer School 2015.
We are looking forward to hosting the IPR Summer School again next year!
Noora Arkia
Helena Gunst
