Nibs

The contracts require students to attend lectures, but have been condemned by the UK’s National Union of Students. The NUS claims the contracts are “one-sided”, and don’t spell out what standard of teaching students should expect to get for the tuition fees they are being charged. Oxford and Chester Universities have introduced the contracts for students this year. The NUS believes it’s the start of a disturbing trend that could be adopted by other universities. At Oxford, which already makes such demands of its postgraduates, students must sign a document saying any breach of regulations about their conduct, studies and residences “may lead to your expulsion from the university or other sanctions”. Chester University says new undergraduates have an obligation to “study diligently, and to attend promptly and participate appropriately at lectures, courses, classes, seminars, tutorials, work placements and other activities which form part of the program as required”. The National Union of Students executive is challenging what it sees as university-by-university process.
Mekelpark competition

A competition has started to find a name for the heart of the TU Campus. The entry period for the Mekelpark competition opens on 1 September. Can you think of a good name for the new heart of the TU Delft campus? Send in your suggestion before 1 October 2006 via www.mekelpark.tudelft.nl or email your entry to the Mekelpark Information Line: Mekelpark@tudelft.nl. The Mekelweg is changing to the Mekelpark: a traffic-free zone, with hills and rows of trees, linking the new No. 19 tram line to other forms of public transport. A main artery runs through the middle of Mekelpark, linking all faculty buildings, public transport stops and squares, and forming the heart of the knowledge campus. The TU is now looking for a fitting name for this main artery of the campus heart.
Leermeester Prize

The Delft University Fund awarded the 2006 Leermeester Prize to Professor Ernst ten Heuvelhof, who has been professor of Public Administration at the Technology, Policy and Management Facutly since 1992. The University Fund awards the Leermeester Prize each year to a TU Delft lecturer whose excellence in teaching and research has been an inspiration to PhDs and other students. Leermeester prize winners are given an opportunity to spend two months at a scientific institution abroad, to give guest lectures and develop insights into their own specializations.
Delft rising

In terms of research results, TU Delft is increasing its dominance over the Netherlands’ other two technological universities, TU Twente and TU Eindhoven. This was the finding of an annual survey of the top 500 research universities in the world, conducted Jao Tong University in Shanghai. TU Delft has risen significantly in the rankings this year. Last year, TU Delft was ranked in the middle of the pack, but now the university is grouped with the universities ranking between 151st and 200th place. Two years ago, TU Delft and TU Twente shared an equal ranking. But last year, TU Twente fell fifty places and is now, together with TU Eindhoven, ranked between 300 and 400 on the list. Still, TU Delft has some way to go to reach the top. According to this survey, the world’s leading technological universities are MIT (ranked 5th), Caltech (6th), ETH Zurich (27th), TU Munich (54th) and, surprisingly, the Tokyo Institute of Technology (89th). TU Delft is ranked at the same level as Virginia Tech and Denmark University of Technology.
English-speaking

In the 2007/08 academic year, students will be able to choose from 1,168 courses taught in English at Dutch universities and polytechnics: that is 100 more courses than currently offered this year, according to figures released by Nuffic. 40,000 foreign students now study in the Netherlands. “We estimate that the number of students entering the international higher education market will increase by 10% each year,” said a Nuffic spokesperson. Nuffic is currently running foreign student recruitment campaigns in China, Vietnam, Mexico, Thailand, Russia and Brazil.

Expulsion threat

Thousands of undergraduate students in Britain are being forced to sign good behavior contracts with their universities and could be expelled if they breach regulations. The contracts require students to attend lectures, but have been condemned by the UK’s National Union of Students. The NUS claims the contracts are “one-sided”, and don’t spell out what standard of teaching students should expect to get for the tuition fees they are being charged. Oxford and Chester Universities have introduced the contracts for students this year. The NUS believes it’s the start of a disturbing trend that could be adopted by other universities. At Oxford, which already makes such demands of its postgraduates, students must sign a document saying any breach of regulations about their conduct, studies and residences “may lead to your expulsion from the university or other sanctions”. Chester University says new undergraduates have an obligation to “study diligently, and to attend promptly and participate appropriately at lectures, courses, classes, seminars, tutorials, work placements and other activities which form part of the program as required”. The National Union of Students executive is challenging what it sees as university-by-university process.
Mekelpark competition

A competition has started to find a name for the heart of the TU Campus. The entry period for the Mekelpark competition opens on 1 September. Can you think of a good name for the new heart of the TU Delft campus? Send in your suggestion before 1 October 2006 via www.mekelpark.tudelft.nl or email your entry to the Mekelpark Information Line: Mekelpark@tudelft.nl. The Mekelweg is changing to the Mekelpark: a traffic-free zone, with hills and rows of trees, linking the new No. 19 tram line to other forms of public transport. A main artery runs through the middle of Mekelpark, linking all faculty buildings, public transport stops and squares, and forming the heart of the knowledge campus. The TU is now looking for a fitting name for this main artery of the campus heart.
Leermeester Prize

The Delft University Fund awarded the 2006 Leermeester Prize to Professor Ernst ten Heuvelhof, who has been professor of Public Administration at the Technology, Policy and Management Facutly since 1992. The University Fund awards the Leermeester Prize each year to a TU Delft lecturer whose excellence in teaching and research has been an inspiration to PhDs and other students. Leermeester prize winners are given an opportunity to spend two months at a scientific institution abroad, to give guest lectures and develop insights into their own specializations.
Delft rising

In terms of research results, TU Delft is increasing its dominance over the Netherlands’ other two technological universities, TU Twente and TU Eindhoven. This was the finding of an annual survey of the top 500 research universities in the world, conducted Jao Tong University in Shanghai. TU Delft has risen significantly in the rankings this year. Last year, TU Delft was ranked in the middle of the pack, but now the university is grouped with the universities ranking between 151st and 200th place. Two years ago, TU Delft and TU Twente shared an equal ranking. But last year, TU Twente fell fifty places and is now, together with TU Eindhoven, ranked between 300 and 400 on the list. Still, TU Delft has some way to go to reach the top. According to this survey, the world’s leading technological universities are MIT (ranked 5th), Caltech (6th), ETH Zurich (27th), TU Munich (54th) and, surprisingly, the Tokyo Institute of Technology (89th). TU Delft is ranked at the same level as Virginia Tech and Denmark University of Technology.
English-speaking

In the 2007/08 academic year, students will be able to choose from 1,168 courses taught in English at Dutch universities and polytechnics: that is 100 more courses than currently offered this year, according to figures released by Nuffic. 40,000 foreign students now study in the Netherlands. “We estimate that the number of students entering the international higher education market will increase by 10% each year,” said a Nuffic spokesperson. Nuffic is currently running foreign student recruitment campaigns in China, Vietnam, Mexico, Thailand, Russia and Brazil.