Nibs

Together with Marine Technology and Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Design was part of the Design, Engineering and Production Faculty. But as of September, Industrial Design will have its own faculty. This is the best way to stress the distinctive features of Industrial Design, TU Delft believes.
Visas

Foreign students still face visa problems. They must wait too long for their visas to be approved and consequently encounter difficulties, as they cannot prove their legal status in the Netherlands to employers, insurers or the tax authorities. These criticisms were made by the national ombudsman in a letter sent to Foreign Minister Rita Verdonk. Minister Verdonk has been under pressure regarding visas for some time. Universities, polytechnics, researchers, students and employers sent the minister a sharply critical letter in June, arguing that foreign students and independent researchers should be regarded as ‘knowledge migrants’ and quickly receive visas. In May, the government relaxed visa requirements, setting a salary standard of 45,000 euro for people to be considered as knowledge migrants and therefore receive visas within two weeks. Foreign students and independent researchers do not earn such high salaries and therefore do not receive visas within two weeks.
No juniors

Germany’s highest court scrapped a 2002 federal law intended to make German universities more competitive by speeding up the process of obtaining a professorship. The ruling does away with so-called ‘junior professorships’ the federal government introduced to replace Germany’s unique system of Habilitation, which requires post-doctoral researchers to work with tenured professors for several years and complete another thesis before they can become professors themselves. Saying that the old German system prevented people from competing on an international level, the government had wanted to allow scholars to become professors immediately.

Free at last

Industrial Design in Delft is the largest degree program of its kind in the world. But for the past seven years Industrial Design hasn’t had its own faculty. Together with Marine Technology and Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Design was part of the Design, Engineering and Production Faculty. But as of September, Industrial Design will have its own faculty. This is the best way to stress the distinctive features of Industrial Design, TU Delft believes.
Visas

Foreign students still face visa problems. They must wait too long for their visas to be approved and consequently encounter difficulties, as they cannot prove their legal status in the Netherlands to employers, insurers or the tax authorities. These criticisms were made by the national ombudsman in a letter sent to Foreign Minister Rita Verdonk. Minister Verdonk has been under pressure regarding visas for some time. Universities, polytechnics, researchers, students and employers sent the minister a sharply critical letter in June, arguing that foreign students and independent researchers should be regarded as ‘knowledge migrants’ and quickly receive visas. In May, the government relaxed visa requirements, setting a salary standard of 45,000 euro for people to be considered as knowledge migrants and therefore receive visas within two weeks. Foreign students and independent researchers do not earn such high salaries and therefore do not receive visas within two weeks.
No juniors

Germany’s highest court scrapped a 2002 federal law intended to make German universities more competitive by speeding up the process of obtaining a professorship. The ruling does away with so-called ‘junior professorships’ the federal government introduced to replace Germany’s unique system of Habilitation, which requires post-doctoral researchers to work with tenured professors for several years and complete another thesis before they can become professors themselves. Saying that the old German system prevented people from competing on an international level, the government had wanted to allow scholars to become professors immediately.