I am an international student from India and I basically joined TU/e for not only its renowned level of education but also its welcoming attitude towards international students. The decision to come here has undoubtedly been one of the best decisions I have taken in my life towards a better career. The education techniques, exams and approach towards any subject at the university has always been application based (instead of just theory based) which has helped me a lot in understanding the use of this knowledge in actual industrial or research problems. It has also been announced that the university would be changing its official language to english in 2020 but the Masters Programme has been delivered in english for several years now. From my personal experience, I would say that it has been a life-changing and a good experience to step out of my comfort zone to go to a new country and and try to set up a new life here. Although the university has several international students on campus and many committees and other sports or recreational activities to increase the communication between the dutch and the international students, at the end of the day it depends on the student on how much he/she can open up to others and adjust to the new surroundings. I have personally learnt a lot from this experience as well. Overall my experience at TUe has been quite educational and eye-opening on both personal and professional levels.

Let me start by explaining the impact of the location on the way the TU/e is governed. Brabant is known for being easygoing, more specifically Eindhoven is a city but feels more like a town where everybody knows each other. You can feel this as soon as you enter the Campus. Every faculty has their so called student counselling where there is a meeting between the head of education and students who can give comment on specific courses, exams or just the way the professor teaches.

Moreover, the faculty of chemistry and chemical engineering is small, approximately 100 freshmen every year. This means you know everybody and almost all the professors. But more important they will know you. This also results in a good level of education throughout the TU/e.

In general the electives you can choose are restricted but you already have more freedom compared to other universities. You are free to choose electives form other faculties. Because it is a technical university all the courses are more beta related. You will learn about catalysis, optimizing chemical reactors and material science. During the first year of your bachelor you will have a broad array of courses, in order to give you a basic idea what you can do with chemistry and chemical engineer. During your second and third year you start choosing electives which you like in the field you like. During your third year you start planning for you bachelor thesis.

The student life is busy, there are three student associations and every program has its own study association. These associations are not comparable with the associations in USA. They are much smaller and you don’t have to pay an incredible sum of money to become a member. If you don’t think that is something for you, there are many other options. You can become a member of one of the many student teams, the most well known being Solar Team Eindhoven.

Overall TU/e is an university where everything is possible as long as you know what you want to do and what you would like to achieve.