Open Call | Summer School 2026: Innovation, Tech & Culture

The Summer School: Innovation, Tech & Culture is back for its third consecutive year, seeking to bridge the fields of Culture and Digital Arts with Technology, Artificial Intelligence, and Entrepreneurship.

July 1–13, 2026, Athens Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation (ACE), Athens University of Economics and Business

Candidates who wish to apply must create a personal account at the Onassis Directory through the below link, and they can fill in the application and upload the required supporting documents gradually until the submission deadline.

For another year, the program is dedicated to the concept of “Worldbuilding”—a methodology that fuels innovation and fosters novel entrepreneurial models.

The emphasis shifts from the project or the end product to the narratives that frame and sustain them. By building immersive worlds around the products, the participants bypass the mere materiality of the objects and forge integrated experiences around and beyond them. Products move into the limelight of a world that is interactively framed with the audience, which, far from being the final recipient, becomes an integral part of the process and co-shapes the experience.

This year’s program aims to challenge traditional product design and promotion practices by harnessing new technologies, art thinking, and innovative design.

2026 Summer School is a platform for all visionary professionals eager to materialize their innovative concepts and build the worlds they aspire to by designing projects, products, spaces, experiences, and interactive campaigns that spark conversations, create active audiences and consumers, and engage audiences in the full story around the product.

• Access to funding opportunities and an incubation program for selected teams after completion
• Lectures from globally recognized artists, designers, entrepreneurs, and tech professionals
• Exposure to cutting-edge digital tools and interdisciplinary collaboration with professionals from various fields
• Development of entrepreneurial, artistic, and technological skills applicable to personal projects and business ideas
• Networking and growth opportunities for participating companies (via corporate representation)

• Media & Art History
• Speculative & Interactive Design Theory
• Ethics, Art & Technology
• Computational Creativity
• AI-enabled Tech Development
• Innovation & Entrepreneurship: Business Modeling & Product Validation
• How to Build for Speed with Venture Capital Backing
• Understanding the Market & the Audience
• Branding, Marketing & Digital Channels
• IP Management, Licensing & Contracts

The Summer School brings together distinguished speakers from the fields of entrepreneurship, technology, and digital arts.

Participants will attend lectures and receive mentorship from keynote speakers of the Athens University of Economics and Business, the Tandon School of Engineering of New York University, and Onassis ONX Fellows in Athens and New York. At the same time, they will have the opportunity to attend talks by leading international professionals in the field, such as Jiabao Li and Cooper Galvin. Jiabao Li, an artist, designer, and technologist, explores how technology, the market, and biopolitical mechanisms shape our perceptions of the body, care, the environment, and the future. Through works that combine XR, biotechnology, performance, installation, and speculative design, Li poses questions that seem both absurd and utterly timely: What happens when artists use the language of startups to “sell” impossible futures? What does it mean when motherhood becomes infrastructure, breath becomes climate data, perception becomes a commodity, and care becomes a programmable service?

Through the curriculum and the interaction between them, participants will advance their entrepreneurial skills, become acquainted with the methodologies of art thinking and artistic creation, and draw inspiration from radical applications of new technologies in art and the market.

• Undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as professionals early in their careers
• Established professionals and corporate employees in fields such as arts, culture, design, marketing, technology, and business administration

Participation Options

• Individual application
• Participation as a member of a corporate team or company representative (see Terms & Conditions for details)

Requirements for Participation

1. Online application submission by June 21, 2026.
2. Availability for in-person attendance.
3. Previous experience (e.g., professional background, portfolio, etc.).
4. Active participation and strong collaborative mindset.

Language

The working language of the program is English.

The program will accommodate up to 30 participants.

More details on the selection process and criteria can be found in the Terms & Conditions.

For inquiries, please contact us at digital@onassis.org.

The program is organized by Onassis ONX, the international program for new media and digital culture of the Onassis Foundation, in collaboration with ACE (Athens Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation) at the Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB) and the Tandon School of Engineering of New York University.