TU/e launched its Strategic Plan 2020 in 2011,
after two years of conversations with TU/e staff and
external experts and stakeholders. The Strategic
Plan 2020 is, in essence, a growth strategy based
on the societal need for highly educated engineers.
TU/e launched its Strategic Plan 2020 in 2011, after two
years of conversations with TU/e staff and external experts
and stakeholders. The Strategic Plan 2020 is, in essence,
a growth strategy based on the societal need for highly
educated engineers. In preparation for the creation of the
Strategic Plan, TU/e discussed the development of the
university and perspectives for the future with experts and
stakeholders. Based on the outlines offered by the TU/e
Strategic Plan 2020, 16 concrete projects were laid out in
the Institutional Plan 2013-2016, focused on education,
research, knowledge valorization and cross-cutting themes.
These projects have since been incorporated into the
annual TU/e executive agenda, which is updated every six
months and discussed with the deans and the University
Council. The Institutional Plan 2017-2020 continues on
this path. Based on strategic goals, specific projects and
performance indicators will be laid out in the TU/e
executive agenda.
Now, it is time for a midterm review of the TU/e Strategic
Plan 2020 and, by extension, the Institutional Plan 2013-
2016. In the past four years, external factors such as
funding, high-tech ecosystem, research opportunities and
student enrollment have changed. In this midterm review,
we take stock of our performance in 2011-2015 and look
ahead to the challenges for 2016-2020.
Education
The profile of our engineers has been broadened
significantly with the major educational renewal in the
Bachelor College (from 2012 onward) and the Graduate
School (from 2015 onward). Quality assurance has improved
as well. Our new educational vision focuses on a high level
of agency for students to compose their own competence
and knowledge profile. With great effort from TU/e’s
scientific and support staff, these innovations have been
very successful, and nearly all education goals for 2020
had already been reached in 2015.
Student numbers have grown more than expected. That
means our goal for 2020 – an increase of 50% to 11,000
students – has already been achieved. The percentage of
female students has also grown, from 18% in 2011 to 26%
in 2016. We expect the total number of students to keep
increasing until 2023.
In addition to this ambitious growth, we have also reached
the desired levels when it comes to student performance.
Undergraduate success rates have grown from around 40%
to 70% within the allotted time. In addition, first-year
student drop-out levels have been reduced from 23% to
17%.
In 2014, TU/e passed the NVAO institutional audit. The
resulting recommendations are being implemented. As of
2016, educational support will be streamlined and
organized interdepartmentally rather than in departmental
programs. This will help optimize the growing number of
programs that cross departmental boundaries and enable
our students to fully utilize the space for electives.
In education, the great challenges for the next few years
are accommodating growth, consolidating educational
innovations and streamlining educational support.
Research and valorization
Research and valorization have made headway across the
board. In the strategic areas, in innovative multi-disciplinary
research initiatives and in developing promising
R&D institutes in important niches, such as the Integrated
Photonics Institute (IPI), the High Tech Systems Center
(HTSC) and the Data Science Center Eindhoven (DSC/e).
Important in achieving our ambitions is our Impuls program
to create more PhD positions. With a 100-million-euro
Midterm
review of the
Strategic
Plan 2020
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Institutional Plan 2017-2020