TU Delft sets course for Rotterdam, but is still looking for multi-million investments

The Executive Board confirmed the TU Delft | Rotterdam Campus Development Plan on 26 November. In the document, the project organisers state that the plan to open a branch in Rotterdam is because of the perceived need to train more engineers.

TU Delft looks to the future in the document. By 2040 the Rotterdam Campus should offer places to almost 10,000 students, 2,200 researchers and 700 support staff. The total area needed will be 95,000 square metres and it will house six bachelor degree programmes and 12 master degree programmes in at least three clusters: health & tech, energy and resilient living environment.

The bachelor degree programmes will be in Dutch, and a few existing master degree programmes may move from Delft to Rotterdam. The entire project will cost about EUR 4.8 billion. Much of this, about EUR 2 billion, will have to come from tuition fees and work carried out for third parties. The remaining funding, about EUR 2.8 billion, should come from external partners such as government authorities and companies.

Go/no-go

The question is whether this will all work out as planned, says Han Derkx, the Programme Director. The year 2040 is ‘a dot on the horizon’ and fairly arbitrary, he says, as who can see that far into the future?

To limit potential risks, the project is divided into three phases. In the process, the decision was taken to initially rent one or more buildings instead of buying or building them. The official go/no-go point is still to come and will be sometime in spring 2025. The most important conditions for success must then be ready. This entails finding EUR 400 million from external sources before 2030. This amount may be less, depending on the degree of desired financial security.

He sees the Development Plan as a ‘living document’

When talking about the project, Derkx speaks of ‘pioneering’. He sees the Development Plan as a ‘living document’ that sets the direction, which will undoubtedly be adjusted according to internal and external influences. The version that the Executive Board approved is from 3 July. Before that moment, it was already decided to start with three new bachelor degree programmes in September 2027 rather than in September 2026. This would give the faculties involved – Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS), Mechanical Engineering (ME) and Civil Engineering and Geosciences (CEG) – more time to develop the curricula, arrange accreditation, and inform school pupils. The new starting date has not yet been incorporated in the Plan to avoid the need to continuously update it.

Money

The later starting date for the bachelor degree programmes will also lead to financial shifts that are also not incorporated in the approved Plan. In 2023 the Executive Board had approved an EUR 8 million budget for the preparations for the Rotterdam Campus in 2024 and 2025. This remains. But on top of that, the support services and the faculties would need more than EUR 13 million more for personnel for the curricula development, of which EUR 12.5 million in 2025.

By postponing things for one year, the programme organisers have reduced this amount to EUR 5 million for 2025. But as this money was not approved by the Executive Board and the faculties do not have sufficient financial space, the Plan organisers are now working with them to see how the developments can be progressed in other ways. Derkx explains that the solution lies in making choices. “We are working hard on this now.”

Participation

Before the Executive Board decided to take this path, there was consultation. On 4 November, the Works Council wrote in its newsletter that it was ‘extremely, though constructively, critical’. Along with the Student Council, the Works Council put forward six points that they addressed later in the week at a meeting with the Executive Board and that are reiterated in their advisory letter of 12 November.

The participation bodies warn about increased workload and shrinking student numbers

The representation bodies mostly want to watch out for major financial risks and an increased workload, says the advisory letter. They warn about possible shrinking student numbers and believe that there should be an exit strategy. And while the Works Council and the Student Council are happy about the goals of the Rotterdam Campus and the education areas chosen, they repeat their previous request to substantiate that these areas will still be relevant to society’s needs in 10 years time and will still attract students.

Putting growth plans on hold

The Personnel Committees (the internal representation bodies for staff members, ODCs) are also critical, saaid Works Council member Stephan Wong during the 4 November meeting. Enquiries show that this criticism comes mainly from the University Services ODC. This is confirmed in a statement. ‘The ODC stands behind the position of the Works Council regarding Rotterdam Campus. We see expanding TU Delft to Rotterdam from a stable – financially and otherwise – university. We already see some concerns among staff members given the hard times caused by cutbacks and the current issues regarding social safety. In our view these two points are inextricably linked. Given the current cutbacks at TU Delft and the extra financial pressure brought about by the Cabinet, we believe it would be best to put the growth plans on hold for now.”

During the above-mentioned meeting, Rector Magnificus and Executive Board Chair Tim van der Hagen emphasised the difference between the short and the long term. The long-term costs “will need to be covered by additional external means’” he said. “This is about 10 years and more. It’s about the TU Delft of the future. We should not mix this up with short term cutbacks. That would be unwise.”

Cannibalism

Despite this, in its communications about the Rotterdam Development Plan, the project organisation goes into detail about the concerns of staff members. The concerns are not only about finances or workload, but also about aspects like whether the new bachelors in Rotterdam will not ‘cannibalise’ the current TU Delft degree programmes or those from other institutions, and about moving work spaces. The answers to some of these questions are on the intranet.

In order to ‘gain an insight into the underlying sentiments, opinions, facts and arguments’, the preparation for a so-called Participatory Value Evaluation will start in December. This is a research method that TU Delft used earlier this year to see what staff members and students think of partnerships with the fossil fuel industry.

With the support of Marjolein van der Veldt.