News

Within the partnership between 4TU and NEMO Science Museum, we are jointly committed to increasing science communication and reaching new target groups. In 2026, NEMO will launch a special pilot project that will make the museum even more accessible to a wider audience.

As major societal challenges become increasingly urgent, the federation worked on its role, its strategy for 2030 and concrete initiatives that have an impact on education, research and innovation. Secretary Marjolein Dohmen-Janssen looks back on a year in which cooperation was more central than ever and looks ahead to the challenges and opportunities of 2026.

There is no silver-bullet solution to the housing shortage; it takes many small initiatives that everyone can contribute to.

To increase the impact of their research, built environment scientists are developing positive future scenarios. “The starting point for action.” 

2025: what a great year it has been for 4TU! As we approach the end of the year, we would like to take a moment to reflect on some of the highlights of 2025. Each milestone contributes to our mission: strengthening engineering research, innovation and education in the Netherlands.

On Tuesday, 2 December 2025, KIVI, together with 4TU, announced the winners of the KIVI EngD Award and the KIVI EngD Public Award. The ceremony, held at KIVI’s head office in The Hague, celebrated 4TU.SAI's EngD trainees for their ability to translate complex engineering challenges into practical solutions that benefit industry, research, and society.

Clear and fair IP agreements should lead to more academic spin-offs

4TU.CEE’s anniversary year is drawing to a close. The Centre is already looking to the future: its new Strategic Plan is ready.

The fifth edition of the FAIR Data Fund is now open for applications! 

On 1 January 2026, Ena Voûte, Pro Vice Rector for International Affairs at TU Delft, will join the board of CESAER, the European network of technical universities. Her appointment contributes to the international representation of 4TU within this strategic partnership.

Sjoukje Heimovaara, who started as chair of 4TU in September, steps into her new role at a time of significant budget cuts in higher education. The technical universities are heavily affected, leading to difficult decisions such as discontinuing research projects and staff reductions. Her own Wageningen University and Research is also facing substantial cuts.

Arlene John, Assistant Professor at the Biomedical Signals and Systems (BSS) group (EEMCS, TechMed Centre), is among ten female researchers from the Netherlands and Belgium nominated for the TOPX Females to Follow Award 2025 in the Rising Star in Science category. You can support her by casting your vote

At Dutch Design Week 2025, Federico Andreotti from Wageningen University & Research presents Game Design and Play for a Thriving Planet, a project that uses serious game design to make complex systems, such as food and farming, tangible and playful.

As of the end of September 2025, the 4TU Federation has a new chair: Sjoukje Heimovaara. She took over this role from Vinod Subramaniam, who held the position for three and a half years. “The only real resource the Netherlands has is knowledge.”

When a jubilant Hubert Martens (Salvia BioElectronics) was announced the winner of the LEVEL UP Awards, the more than 1,550 participants could already look back on a full day of celebrating entrepreneurship. During the day, they discussed deeptech, deftech, medtech & life sciences, gaming, big data, quantum, AI, plant-based food, cybersecurity, and many related topics. And what's more: all these debates had impact and sustainability as the central theme. If LEVEL UP 2025 made one thing clear, it's that there's no innovative progress without positive societal consequences.