One year. One mission. One team.
Dream Teams are full-year, high-impact student teams focused on solving urgent societal challenges. As a Dream Team member, you work in a multidisciplinary group of 8 to 14 bachelor’s and master’s students from across the VU. Together, you build knowledge, develop solutions, and learn how to turn ambition into action.
Each team focuses on a fixed theme for one academic year and hands over to a new group the following year. This ensures continuity, momentum, and long-term impact.
The Dream Teams play an important role in connecting education, research, and entrepreneurship.
Looking for more than just a degree?
Do you want to get more out of your student life than just lectures and exams? Would you like to collaborate with students from other study programmes, develop yourself, and contribute to solutions for societal challenges? Discover what happens when talent, fun, ambition, and impact come together. You do not just grow academically—you develop personally, professionally, and entrepreneurially. You build “A Broader Mind.”
Whether you study law, medicine, psychology, AI, business administration, earth sciences, or history: if you get excited about the topics of any of the Dream Teams and you enjoy working with other motivated students, you are welcome.
During your participation, you develop skills that are highly valuable for your future, such as:
* Working in multidisciplinary teams
* Project management
* Entrepreneurship
* Pitching and presenting
* Connecting with companies and societal organisations
* Leadership and innovation
* Conducting research and creating impact
Employers today look beyond just a diploma. It is precisely the experiences you gain alongside your studies that show how you collaborate, take initiative, and demonstrate social engagement. A Dream Team gives you the opportunity to stand out and discover where your talents lie.
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The Dream Teams
Each team works on a unique challenge tied to real-world problems and guided by expert researchers:
PULSE Racing
Pulse Racing is committed to enhancing the mobility of people with spinal cord injuries by raising awareness of the possibilities of Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES). The team has presented at international conferences, supported a rehabilitation centre in Brazil, and saw one of their compete in a global Cybathlon event alongside elite para-athletes and robotics teams and set a world record during Wings for Life – the first ever participant to do so using FES technology. In September, they will once again attempt to set a world record in Italy. They have also established a fund to expand their presence at more events.
Burning Lowlands
How can we balance nature conservation, agriculture, recreation, and biodiversity while protecting society from devastating wildfires? Burning Lowlands studies wildfire risks and the role of technology in risk communication. The team presented their research this year and last at EGU in Vienna to thousands of international researchers and worked with partners on developing AI-supported wildfire risk maps. This year, they developed a card game to raise awareness, which will of course be continued in the next avcademic year.
VU Vital
Dream Team VU Vital aims to determine whether it is possible to make 100 VU/Zuidas employees “one year younger” within half a year. Biological age is used as the key metric and motivation tool. Participants receive physical and mental fitness check-ups based on lifestyle advice, rejuvenating exercise activities, and are offered nutrition workshops. The team will research how participants can best be guided using an app and personal contact. What is the most effective way of communicating? What are valid and reliable tests? What interventions and lifestyle advice are effective? Which types of exercise are motivating?
Food Choices
Help the VU community become more conscious of food waste and inspire better habits through design, data and behaviour change. Team Food Chioces makes food waste visible and actively tackles it. The team rescued more than 50 kilograms of surplus food at VU and ensured it reached students who could use it. In addition, they built a community of over 500 students and staff who share leftover food via a dedicated WhatsApp group. And this year they are conducting research on the “Schijf van Vijf” (the Dutch guidelines for healthy eating) in the VU canteen.
Rise Team (VU-UT Dream Team)
The VU-UT Rise Team is a joint initiative between Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and the University of Twente. The team's goal is bold and unprecedented: to achieve the world’s first landing of a biofuel-powered rocket. Literally. RISE, a collaboration within the VU–UT Alliance, works on sustainable space technology. Last year, the team achieved a world first by successfully landing a rocket powered by biofuel (still on earth that is).
MIND
Stress under extreme conditions can reduce performance and, in severe cases, lead to PTSD. That is why it is important to measure stress, recovery, and performance changes. This (new) Dream Team studies wearable stress-measurement systems during simulated activities in extreme conditions. It examines physiological stress signals, subjective stress experience, and performance.
What you gain
Real impact
Work on meaningful, research-based problems with societal relevance
Interdisciplinary collaboration
Partner with students from different year levels and academic disciplines
Professional skills
Build your CV with experience in teamwork, stakeholder engagement, and innovation
Academic recognition
Earn extracurricular ECTS (or curricular, depending on your study program)
Training and coaching
Join a structured skills program covering team dynamics, priority-setting, and personal leadership
VU Demonstrator Lab support
Access lab space, community events, and practical guidance throughout the year
A strong network
Connect with researchers, experts, and potential partners
Friendships
Collaborate closely and grow with a committed team of peers
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Who supports you
Academic ambassadors – VU researchers who offer deep knowledge and professional connections
DLAB team – Hands-on support and integration into the broader startup and innovation ecosystem
Peer teams – Shared sessions, visibility, and inspiration from other Dream Teams
