It is not an easy task to describe what a think tank really is. Most people have a more or less vague idea what a think tank does, but unless you are part of one, it is hard to imagine what a normal Tuesday in the life of a thinktanker might look like. And even if you are part of one, you most likely don’t know how somebody in the same position as you in another think tank interprets their role – unless you visit a great event like the OTT School for Thinktankers.
As a member of the Student Network for Open Science (NOS), one of the three student-led think tanks participating in OTT’s Building for the Future programme 2026, I had the great pleasure of attending their School for Thinktankers in Barcelona. Five great days packed with interesting sessions, workshops, and exchange with professional thinktankers. Now I have a better idea of what a normal Tuesday in the lives of more than thirty thinktankers might look like, based on very inspiring discussions about daily work and pressing policy issues.
Especially in a student think tank, it is sometimes hard to tell if you are heading in the right direction or not. Thus, the school’s comprehensive curriculum, paired with the input of the other participants, was extremely helpful in identifying new directions and ideas for the future of NOS.
A good strategy is not optional
One of my main questions going into the school was how to measure the impact of a think tank. Whilst this question remains one of the most complicated for think tanks to answer on any level, all discussions about it led to an even more important question: what impact do we want to have?
For a student think tank, this could range from giving students the opportunity to explore their talents in the field of think tanks, educating peers on specific topics, and shifting policy debates at the highest level. During the school, I learned about different approaches used by professional think tanks to constantly reevaluate their mission and refit their strategy to their goals. Combined with the sessions on communication, fundraising, strategic thinking and innovative leadership, and finance and operations, I feel well prepared, together with my peers, to take on the challenge of creating a continuous strategy process and fulfilling our mission in the best way possible.
You don’t have to reinvent the wheel
The second half of the school year was especially valuable for me in learning about best practices used by successful think tanks to produce outputs relevant to all their stakeholders and how to transport their message effectively. This ranged from finding the right research questions to creating an impactful website to creating the right identity and culture for and within your think tank.
It was also very interesting to hear how AI can improve productivity and how we can use well-crafted future scenarios to stay ahead of the curve – important tools for producing relevant work.
International perspectives
During the whole week, it was very inspirational to talk to so many thinktankers from various regions of the world. Hearing different perspectives on moral questions and learning about the realities of working environments made the discussions much more interesting and led to many insightful takes on the tasks at hand.
I’m also incredibly happy for the opportunity to connect with so many fascinating people. For example, NOS is currently planning an event about the lack of diversity in the scientific world, and I had the opportunity to get to know a researcher from Kenia who works on empowering female African researchers and who is very happy to join our event, providing a valuable African perspective that is too often neglected.
What’s next…
I’m very happy that I can now apply all those new learnings to help further develop and improve our student think tank. All the input will help us shape a more concise mission, and I’m looking forward to passing on the learnings to my peers to sustain knowledge within our organisation.