Institutional Plan 2017

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

Institutional Plan 2017-2020