Survival cafes, meet and greets and multicultural events. It’s that time of the year again. As the second semester opens, TU Delft gets ready to welcome 180 new international students.
The Central International Office has a week of exciting of survival activities planned to help them settle in. “The number of students joining in this semester is larger than last year. Though not as many as the students who join in August, it’s still a big enough number to need an Introduction Programme,” says Marlies Poelmann, project manager, Introduction Programme, Spring 2014.
Designed along the lines of the August Introduction Week, this will be held from February 4 to 8 2013. Besides a survival café, airport pick-ups, plenary sessions and multicultural activities, students will also be divided into groups for academic activities. “It’s a mini-version of what we do in August. We will also have a closing event at the Culture Centre with two or three student organizations present as well. It is the first time such as event will be held there.”
Unlike August, when the largest numbers of students are M.Sc. students, 108 of this batch are exchange students, here on programmes such as the Erasmus Mundus. Of the total, the largest are from the Faculty of Aerospace Engineers (49), with the Faculty of Industrial Design a close second (29). While there are students from over 20 countries arriving, the largest contingent is from China, with Italy and Germany next. The male/female ratio remains skewed, with only 60 girls in the total.
Before they can all drift apart to their various faculties, the Introduction Programme will bring them together. “While the activities are mandatory for MSC students, exchange students have to pay 75 euros to attend. It seems like our Introduction Programme is popular because almost everyone has signed up” says Poelmann.
Comments are closed.