Courses & research | Integrated Optical Systems

During your Master’s in Electrical Engineering, you will earn 120 EC within two years. In addition to the two compulsory courses for all master’s students in Electrical Engineering, you will take four mandatory specialisation courses to develop expertise in integrated optical systems. You will also take elective courses to deepen your knowledge or broaden your expertise by exploring related disciplines. In your second year, you will do an internship and conduct research for your master’s thesis.

European Credit Transfer System

Study workload at Dutch universities, and in the European Union as a whole, is represented in EC, also known as ECTS (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System). In the Netherlands, each credit represents 28 hours of work.

STRUCTURE

Year 1	Number of EC
Philosophical and societal courses For all Master’s in Electrical Engineering students.	5 EC	Perspectives on Engineering Design Philosophy of Engineering: Ethics
Mandatory specialisation courses For all students in Integrated Optical Systems.	20 EC	Nano-Optics Integrated Optics In addition, two of the following courses: Materials Science Systems Engineering Technology Laser Physics and Nonlinear Optics
Electives and homologation courses You can choose courses that match your interests and career ambitions. Also, you can take elective courses from other specialisations of the Master’s in Electrical Engineering or related master’s programmes. You will do this in consultation with your mentor.	35 EC	Suggested elective courses: Integrated Photonic Systems and Experiments Nanoplasmonics Biomedical Optics Quantum Optics Quantum Information
Year 2	Number of EC
Internship	20 EC	In the second year, you will do an internship preparing you for the professional field.
Master’s thesis	40 EC	In the final three quarters, you will join a research group to complete your master’s thesis.
Total EC	120 EC

or meet online with a student and gain first-hand experience!

Internship

In the second year of your Master’s in Electrical Engineering, you will do an internship. That way, you can apply the knowledge and skills you have acquired during your studies at an optics manufacturer or supplier, photonics or optoelectronics company, telecommunications company, or research centre in the Netherlands or abroad. The EEMCS faculty at the University of Twente has connections with a large number of high-tech companies, research institutes, and other organisations where you can do your internship.

Previous students have done internships at:

LioniX, PHIX, and other companies that provide integrated photonics-based microsystem solutions
ASML and IMEC
QuiX Quantum

Master's thesis

You will complete your Master’s by writing your master’s thesis. You can conduct research within the research group Integrated Optical Systems (IOS) or do an external master’s thesis at a company. You can choose from a wide range of research projects focused on developing and refining novel optical materials, efficient waveguide platforms, 3D photonic architectures, or advanced light coupling solutions. For example, you can explore design and fabrication processes in the cleanroom or delve into optical characterisation in the IOS labs.

As part of your master’s thesis, you can undertake a research project such as:

Can a computer design an on-chip aluminium oxide waveguide structure that can outperform the traditional human design in terms of functionality and footprint?
Can you design and build an interferometer setup to measure both the intensity and phase of light in a photonic chip?
How can you grow a doped aluminium oxide layer that has lower losses and higher optical gain?

Career perspectives