Twente develops technical talent by not giving students an assignment

The Dutch government wants to train more young people for technology sectors, and is counting on structural collaboration between education and industry to make that happen. In Twente it already does, through an approach that runs counter to regular education. Students are not handed an assignment. They are handed room to work. ROC van Twente, Saxion University of Applied Sciences and the University of Twente are now setting out that approach together for the first time. On Friday 11 September, the executive boards awarded the ‘Student Team Twente’ status to eight student teams.

In practice, a student team is a small company. The students set up a foundation, put their own team together, bring in sponsors and partners, draw up a budget and run their own communications. On top of that, they have a year to build something that actually works in an international competition. Around 200 students take part, most of them in their early twenties, drawn from vocational education, applied sciences and research university programmes.

Students are in charge themselves

A regular course project lasts around 10 weeks. Too short to build a solar car, to get a hydrogen drive train working, or to take a robotics team to a world championship. Students in the Twente teams therefore take between three months and a year and a half. In that time they do more than build. They also bring in sponsors, draw up a budget, lead a team and talk to the press.

We do not decide what they build

The new agreements state explicitly that the teams stay in charge. That is deliberate. The teams that perform best internationally are the ones that take the initiative themselves. At most competing teams from other universities and universities of applied sciences, that initiative sits with a degree programme. The institutions supply knowledge, a network, workspace and money. What the students do with it is up to them.

"The teams are not ours. They belong to the students. Our job is to make sure it is possible," says Gregor Halff, President of the Executive Board of the University of Twente. "Space, machines, guidance, a network. And beyond that, mostly staying out of the way."

Later on they will work together anyway

In education, vocational, applied sciences and research university students are largely kept apart. In a student team they are not. Students from all three levels work on the same project, to the same deadline. That is how it works once they graduate, so they get to practise that collaboration before they need it.

The difference between them is not one of level, but of what each brings. One student works a design through on paper. Another gets that same design actually built. And a team is not made up of engineers alone. It also needs students who handle the money, the organisation and the communications.

"Our students can turn a design into something real. In these teams you can see what happens when craftsmanship sits alongside scientific insight," says Trudy Vos, Chair of the Executive Board of ROC van Twente.

Companies get involved

Companies in the region work with the teams on parts they have not finished themselves. The team gains knowledge and materials, the company gains a prototype and a fresh perspective. In practice, a team then works as a small test lab. Companies also get to see exactly which students they might want to hire in a few years. That makes sponsorship a fair exchange.

"In student teams, students get the room to learn, to take initiative and to innovate. Not everyone has to be able to do the same thing. It is precisely when different talents come together that you can build something remarkable. You can see that beautifully in these student teams, which are valuable to our regional companies and partners as well," says Karin Verschoor, member of the Executive Board of Saxion.

Where this meets the Talent Strategy

In July 2026 the Dutch government presented its Talent Strategy. One of its four policy lines is closer structural collaboration between education and industry. The strategy names four domains that the Netherlands should focus its talent on: digitalisation and AI, security and resilience, energy and climate technology, and life sciences and biotechnology. The Twente teams work on subjects within each of those four.

About the status

The ‘Student Team Twente’ status is not a prize for the best performance. It is an agreement. Teams that receive it take part in an international competition, are made up of students from different programmes and institutions, and work on a societal challenge of their own alongside that competition. In return they can count on workspace, access to labs and workshops, advice and a financial contribution. They also appear at open days and on campus tours.