Cleantech Linkage
Cleantech Linkage
- learn how the cleantech sector works from a commercial perspective, and how to make an impact and get innovations implemented across energy, industry, mobility, new materials and technologies for the built environment
- apply a systems perspective on electrification, decentralisation and digital innovation
- meet and work with decision-makers, experts and changemakers from across cleantech
- solve a real problem for a real cleantech company or organisation, in a team of ambitious students from a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds
About the Course
Overview & Eligibility
Cleantech Linkage is a hands-on look at how the cleantech sector works: how the clean transition is financed, built and scaled across energy, industry, mobility, materials and the built environment.
The course is worth 10 ECTS (pass/fail) and we take around 20 students, which keeps the group small enough that everyone gets to know each other and the teachers. It is aimed at Master's and PhD students from Aalto University, with students from other universities welcome to apply, and the whole course runs in English.
The course is taught by teachers and guest speakers with years of practical and academic experience in innovation activities and across the cleantech field.
Cleantech Linkage is the course previously known as Energy Linkage. The format is similar. The scope now covers the whole cleantech field: energy systems, industrial decarbonisation, mobility, water, materials and the circular economy.
Outcomes
Understand the sector: Build a clear picture of the fast-changing cleantech landscape. You'll know its main actors and roles (utilities, project developers, new platforms, industrial buyers, technology innovators, regulators), how markets and regulation shape decisions, typical constraints (cost, sustainability, reliability, permitting, supply chains), and current challenges & opportunities (electrification, decentralisation, industrial decarbonisation, circularity, adaptation).
Get innovation skills: Build general innovation skills and apply them to real cleantech challenges. Be able to provide relevant, 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 cleantech sector, along with their expert representatives. The sector deep-dive combined with frequent expert interactions gives you the vocabulary and confidence to engage with professionals in the future. Companies participating in this course have recruited several course alumni based on the quality of their project work.
What the course covers
A sample of topics we'll cover:
- The transformation of industrial energy supply towards renewable sources and decentralisation, and the strategies to solve the triangle of cost, sustainability and reliability
- Clean mobility, from charging infrastructure and batteries to sustainable aviation fuels and low-carbon shipping
- New business models and innovation pathways created by the shift to cleaner and more volatile electricity supply
- The changing roles of grid operators, power consumers, project developers, cleantech innovators, bioenergy providers, legacy power producers and power markets in this shift towards decentralisation
- The role of AI and data in running cleaner energy, water and industrial systems
- Circular economy and materials: how waste streams, recycling and low-carbon materials turn into businesses, and where the economics still break
- Water, buildings and food systems, where cleantech meets the infrastructure people use every day
- Carbon removal, climate adaptation and nature technologies, and what makes these young markets work or stall
- How it all comes together in the systemic trends towards localisation, decentralisation and comprehensive electrification
Learning experience
The course runs every Thursday from 14:15 to 18:00, 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 Thursdays, 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.
In previous years, students met people who shared insights from companies including: Neste, Elisa, Kone, Virta, Fortum, Fingrid, Helen, Ilmatar, Ren-Gas, Solnet, Intergrid, Freyr Battery, Smart-Ions, Terrafame, Oxford PV, and Calectra.
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 (pass/fail) Cohort: ~20 students
- Eligibility: Master's & PhD students from Aalto University; students from other universities are welcome to apply
- Schedule: Thursdays 14:15-18:00, 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 Thursdays
- Application deadline: End of the day November 15th 2026
Apply early - places are limited.
Questions about the course?
Should you have questions about the course, drop us an email to cleantech-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 program. 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 sector.
Your application should consist of the following:
1. Copies of your Bachelor's and Master's transcripts, and a copy of your CV
These we ask so we can understand your academic background, 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).
cleantech-linkage [at] aalto.fi
Course Alumni
Backgrounds of the previous participants include:
- Advanced Energy Solutions; Sustainable Energy Systems and Markets
- Energy and Environmental Technology
- Computer, Communication and Information Sciences
- Engineering Physics
- Contemporary Societies
- Marketing
- Automation and Electrical Engineering
- Innovative and Sustainable Energy Engineering
- Agricultural, Environmental and Resource Economics
- Real Estate Economics
Not on the list?
Apply and diversify the alumni network!
There is a certain entrepreneurial spirit that has been once again awoken inside of me. Previously, I would have been rather anxious to explore the path of intra- or entrepreneurship. Today, I have more confidence, some tools and a better intuition. Thank you for a fantastic course!
Stella Keijzer, Agricultural, Environmental and Resource Economics - Cleantech Linkage 2023 Alumni
Course Staff and Contacts
Christian Langen is an Executive-in-Residence at Aalto University and has more than 20 years of leadership experience in renewable energy and cleantech. He supports investors and entrepreneurs in commercialising new technologies and expanding into new markets and customers.
Sonja is a doctoral researcher and teacher on entrepreneurial skills on all degree levels in Aalto. She has a background in large corporates (e.g. Microsoft, Mars) and several startups. She is passionate about art in its various forms.
Poroushat Shahidi is a second-year Master’s student in Advanced Energy Solutions, with a major in Energy Conversion Processes. Her interests include energy markets, renewable energy, energy storage, and data modeling. She is passionate about contributing to the energy transition and using sustainable, data-driven solutions to help build a better future.
cleantech-linkage [at] aalto.fi
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