TU/e towards two thousand semiconductor master’s students by Beethoven

TU/e towards two thousand semiconductor master's students by Beethoven

Important step

The Dutch government has positively received the National Reinforcement Plan, following the recommendations of Hans de Jong, The Hague's special envoy for this plan. De Jong presented his advice to the ministers concerned on Friday, July 5 in line with the plans drawn up in recent months by the four regions involved (Brainport, Twente, Delft and Groningen). De Jong recommends allocating more than half of the Beethoven funds available (63 percent) to the educational institutions in Brainport, amounting to 275 million euros. This allocation is based on the regional distribution of future semicon labor market demand, which is by far the largest in the Brainport region. This is a major step towards implementing the plans of the educational institutions in our region.

Leading the way together

"We have set out ambitious but at the same time realistic growth scenarios for the relevant courses, tailored to the needs of the industry," explains Rector Silvia Lenaerts. "Together with Summa College, ROC ter AA and Fontys University of Applied Sciences, we are the purveyors of talent to high-tech in our region, which is the heart of the Dutch semicon sector and with which we work very closely. We have strong research and teaching competence in semicon; this is brought together in our Future Chips flagship. All this makes it logical that together we, as educational institutions, are leading the way in securing additional talent for the semicon sector in the Netherlands. We are therefore very pleased that Hans de Jong has stipulated that the National Reinforcement Plan for microchip talent will lead to more educational capacity in the Brainport region, in a model of collaboration across the board and with other top international players. This is hugely important for the strategic autonomy of the Netherlands and of Europe."

Scale jump

"We have been making noises from Brainport for several years that a jump in scale in terms of education is badly needed due to the enormous growth in demand for engineering talent in our region. We are pleased that this noise is now being heard in The Hague and that we will soon be able to take real steps," says Robert-Jan Smits, President of the TU/e Executive Board.

Talent plan Brainport region

Besides increasing student numbers, the educational institutions involved have planned many initiatives, including even stronger cooperation with each other to ensure that as much engineering talent as possible actually reaches the semicon labor market. To this end, we will optimize the flow within and between institutions, and minimize dropouts. In the regional plan, the intermediate vocational education institutions are committed to the flexibilization and modularization of the relevant courses, and to lateral entry routes and other forms of lifelong learning and development to make talent available as quickly and efficiently as possible. Fontys is broadening its programs and making them more flexible in order to appeal to a broader group and retain more people for the semicon labor market. Furthermore, there will be a joint Brainport Academy, in which the parties will bring together and significantly expand their lifelong learning and development activities, in close cooperation with industry.

Future Chips flagship

The actions under the reinforcement plan for microchip talent are closely aligned with the Future Chips flagship, through which TU/e is boosting its clustered semicon activities. Recently, the university has established major cooperation agreements with ASML and with KU Leuven and Imec.

Award

The involved regions have now been asked to further elaborate their plans so that funds can be allocated. TU/e is ready to undertake this ambitious growth. Once the final approval is secured, a new recruitment campaign for additional students, the hiring of scientists and teachers, and the development of new educational spaces and laboratories will commence promptly.

Growth

TU/e is aiming for more master students (as opposed to more bachelor students) because that is what the industry is demanding ('master-level engineers') and also because the master programs take only two years, so students finish relatively quickly. The growth will occur in the four departments with strong ties to the semicon: Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics and Science Education, Mathematics and Computer Science, and Mechanical Engineering. Within those programs, there will also be new master tracks with a focus on semiconductor technology. The four departments will grow in terms of the number of master students by between 70 and 100%. TU/e wants to realize the increased number of master students by swelling the flow from the bachelor program to the master program and the lateral inflow of higher vocational education graduates and international students. With the plans in the framework of Beethoven, TU/e expects to grow in terms of total student population from 13,000 towards 15,000 by 2030.

TU/e had foreseen broad, organic growth of this magnitude for several years, but recently had to abandon this growth path due to the government's announced budget cuts. Thanks to Beethoven, that growth will still come, but now with a focus on master students in directions relevant to the semicon industry.

Preconditions

TU/e still adheres to the same preconditions for growth as with previous plans for a jump in scale: there must be timely and appropriate funding, maintenance of excellence, no additional workload, and facilities such as student housing must be available.

Read the letter to Parliament with attachments here (in Dutch).

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