Frequently asked questions

The last few years the number of first-year students in Chemical Science & Engineering at the UT has been around fifty. All of the practical classes and team projects are done in small groups of mostly three or four students.

If you like the sciences and did well at them at high school level, you should be able to follow this programme. Of course, your own motivation is important too. Don't be afraid of being challenged and of dedicating 40 hours a week to your studies. Because the programme focuses strongly on the technological application of chemistry, physics and mathematics are also essential. So it is important that you enjoy and are good at all of these subjects (this means that your grades in these subjects are 7s or higher). If you scored a 6 for some of the sciences subjects in high school, you will have to put in more time and effort than others to succeed in Chemical Science & Engineering.

Approximately 70 to 75 per cent of our first-year students continue on to the next year. Most of the students who stop leave during or just after the first half of the programme. The reasons for this vary. For some people, Chemical Science & Engineering turns out to have been the wrong choice. Others transfer to a more practically oriented university of applied sciences. Our experience shows that students who scored a 7 or higher in chemistry, physics and mathematics at the high school level have better chances of succeeding at Chemical Science & Engineering than those with lower grades. The University of Twente will help you when it comes to choosing another programme. Are you still wondering if Chemical Science & Engineering is the right programme for you? Read about our matching activities here.

About 20 per cent of our students are female. Some of our lecturers are female, too. Watch a video of one of our teachers, Nathalie Katsonis on winning the Professor De Winter prize.

Take a look at our study programme here and read up on this programme's content.

You need some mathematics to solve chemistry problems. That is why you will spend about 20 per cent of the first year on mathematics.

The Bachelor's programme Chemical Science & Engineering will be English-taught. Highschoo-level English is enough to follow an English-taught programme. Read more about language requirements.

In the first year, your books will cost about 600 euros. After the first year, you will spend far less, as you will be using your first-year books throughout the whole programme. We also work a lot with handouts. A handout is a collection of study material that has been specially put together. Handouts are a lot cheaper than books. For some of the projects you do need a lot of books, but the University of Twente offers you the possibility of borrowing them.

On top of tuition and textbooks there are some other costs. For example, you will need a laptop. You might also have travel expenses, and if you don't live at home then you need to think of costs like rent and food. You can make a financial study plan. And you can read more  about living on campus.

Chemical Science & Engineering is a fulltime university degree. We assume that you will spend approximately forty hours a week on going to lectures, seminars, workshops and on independent study. Find out more by reading up  on our students' experience.

A laptop is not officially mandatory, but in practise, you can't do without one. The majority of our students work with a laptop and our teaching is based on that fact. For example, to analyse processes during the practical classes it is handy to have all the information in digital format. The University of Twente has excellent facilities for laptops. The whole campus is wired with free Wi-Fi. You can also make use of our attractive laptop scheme, which offers devices at good prices and with good service. For more information on the laptop scheme, visit our Notebook Service Centre website.

Good student guidance during our Bachelor's programmes is important to us. The Chemical Science & Engineering degree has an on-going mentoring programme. Not only will your mentor help you with any problems you might come across, the mentor will also support you when it comes to choosing a Master's degree or exploring possibilities to get the best out of your studies, for example by signing up for our Honours programme. In the first months, there is a peer-to-peer programme during the onboarding period to help you integrate smoothly. Additionally, you can always contact our study advisor.

In your third year, during the minor , you can travel abroad.  Also, every year the Alembic study association organizes a three-week intercontinental study trip. With a group of about twenty students and a few teachers you visit universities and companies. There are also several cultural outings. Destinations include South Africa and Argentina. For more information and photo reports on study trips, visit https://alembic.utwente.nl/buco/. During the Master's programme there are also several possibilities for going abroad, for example during your Master's internship.

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No, you can also start Chemical Science & Engineering with a Nature and Health profile. Please note, however, that your ‘vwo’ profile must include Physics and Wiskunde B (advanced mathematics).

Chemical Science & Engineering has a two-year Master's degree.

Most engineers join a company, for example, in the chemical industry (AkzoNobel or DSM), the oil industry (ExxonMobil, Shell or Gasunie) or the metal industry (TATAsteel). There is also a demand for Chemical Science & Engineering graduates in the food industry (Heineken, Grolsch, Unilever and Friesche Vlag), the pharmaceutical industry (Organon) and the energy sector (Nuon and Essent). Some of our students choose careers at design agencies, research institutes, in education, with ministries or provincial and municipal authorities. Other graduates become independent entrepreneurs and launch a start-up, with or without financial support from the university.

Our graduates usually find a job within a few months. And the job market seems to be getting better. Fewer people are studying Chemical Engineering today than ten years ago. At the same time, a large group of chemical engineers will soon be retiring. Multinationals such as Shell and DSM are already hiring young engineers on a large scale. Chemical engineers are also sought after outside the industry, as they can analyse problems quickly and come up with creative solutions.

Enschede is a real student city. It's usually not hard to find housing. You can find more information about 'student housing' on this website.