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Since this autumn, the teams of the four new High Tech for a Sustainable Future (HTSF) programmes are at full strength and will be able to start their high-tech research on themes such as the heat-free city, personalised healthcare, green sensors and the food system of the future.

International students key in engineers' gap

Thursday 31 August the second edition of the national Techniekdecanendag took place at TU Eindhoven. The day consisted of a full programme, ranging from updates on developments in the engineering domain to pitches on educational innovation. With a high attendance of engineering deans from all four universities of technology and the RUG.

The Dutch elections for parliament are scheduled for 22 November 2023.

How can academic research find its way to society? By collaborating with societal actors from early on in your research, and seeking ways to actively communicate your results to the stakeholders they are relevant for, conclude 4TU researchers Florence Metz and Simona Turco from their own experience.

In the 4-part series Brightful Minds, science editor Sonja Knols and photographer Dieuwertje Bravenboer are taking a tour along the tenure trackers involved in the 4TU High Tech for a Sustainable Future (HTSF) programs. These talented, often young, scientists explain what drives them, what high-tech research they are working on, and how they organize their careers. 

The major societal problems of our time require an approach that transcends scientific disciplines. This often means that people from one discipline collaborate with colleagues from other disciplines. Femke van Beek (TU/e), Guido Camps (WUR) and Caroline Figueroa (TUD) take a different approach: they unite multiple disciplines within themselves, forming bridges between robots and nature, food and artificial intelligence, and mental health and digital technology.

As of 1 July 2023, Remon Rooij (TUD) will succeed Perry den Brok (WUR) as chairman of 4TU.CEE - the 4TU Centre for Engineering Education. 4TU spoke to Remon and Perry.

Last Friday 9 June, 4TU secretary Marjolein Dohmen-Janssen, together with the rectors of the 4TU (Arthur Mol, WUR; Tim van der Hagen, TUD; Sylvia Lenaerts, TU/e and Tom Veldkamp, UT), kicked off round two of the 'High Tech for a Sustainable Future' (HTSF) programmes during the HTSF Crossover Event. In HTSF round 2, with 20 million euros of funding, scientists from the four technical universities will work on personalised healthcare (RECENTRE), the heatless green city (HERITAGE), green, biodegradable sensors (Green Sensors) and a local, personalised food system  (REDESIGN). 

The Annual Report 2022 of the 4TU.Federation is available. In the annual report you get a good picture of the diverse initiatives in which the technical universities work together in research, education and valorization.

In this first episode of the Brightful Minds series you can read about the experiences of Carissa Champlin (DeSIRE) and Tim van Emmerik (Plantenna) from HTSF round 1, and the ambitions of Sujith Raman (Green Sensors) from HTSF round 2. Their stories illustrate the importance of collaboration, and of scheduling enough time to experiment at the beginning of a scientific career.

In the High Tech for a Sustainable Future (HTSF) capacity building programmes of our four technical universities, talented researchers work on society-relevant themes such as sustainable agriculture, personalised medicine and a heathless, green city.

Today the Netherlands Academy of Engineering (NAE) has officially been launched with a call to submit names for nominations for the appointment of Fellows of the NAE. The 4TU.Federation, together with the Ministries of Education, Culture and Science and Economic Affairs contribute financially to realise the establishment of the NAE.

On 1 April, Sandra Nienhuis started as coordinator at the 4TU.Federation. She assists the secretary Marjolein Dohmen-Janssen and succeeds Linda Baljeu (policy advisor; Convergence Alliance). We talked with Sandra on the Delft campus; during her introduction tour along the four universities of technology.

Since the 18th century, the Netherlands has been going through significant transitions in which engineers have always played a crucial role. With the constant development of science and technology, major challenges were successfully overcome.