CHARM-EU Associate Partner Richter Organized its First Ideathon

Logo of the Richter Ideathon with colorful text bubbles
Thu 17/11/2022 - 14:20

CHARM-EU associate partner Gedeon Richter has organised an ideathon where students coming from different Hungarian universities could test their creativity in small teams. ELTE students and mentors participating were among the winning teams. 

The company Gedeon Richter – an associate partner of CHARM-EU – has organised its first idea competition to mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of its founder, a pioneer of the modern Hungarian pharmaceutical industry. The aim of the 3-day event was to create a forum where creative young people with a wide range of skills from different universities and academic disciplines can meet and work together on an identified societal problem. 

"During the ideathon, the teams detected real societal needs and looked for concrete solutions. The participants came from very different disciplines and backgrounds, but it was this diversity that gave the beauty and effectiveness of the work. We were pleased to see that the students also demonstrated their digital literacy – a general requirement of the 21st century – when presenting their project ideas"

Zsuzsa Beke, Head of Communications at Gedeon Richter

The issue raised by Richter was related to social health care and the development of health-centred and health-conscious lifestyles. Having Zsuzsa Beke, Head of Communications at Gedeon Richter, Judit Polgár, International Chess Grandmaster and Imre Gonda, Head of the Legal and Intellectual Property Protection Department as its members, the jury of the competition was looking for practical and preventive solutions. 

Students of CHARM-EU partner Eötvös Loránd University were among the winning and special prize-winning teams, while Ágnes Kis-Tóth, ELTE's Master Educator was the mentor of the winning team named AboutMe. Their solution included a digital programme aiming to support the mental health of young people.  

The aims and activities of the first Richter Ideathon align well with CHARM-EU core values and educational principles as they build on the power of transdisciplinarity, innovation and social responsibility while helping students to improve their creativity and capacity to work in a team and propose solutions for real societal issues in a challenge-driven environment. If you are interested in the learning experience CHARM-EU provides for students, take a look at our innovative Master’s programme Global Challenges for Sustainability.  

Sources: GedeonRichter.hu, ELTE.hu & Weborvos.hu