energy technology & transitions that will be needed in tomorrow’s world
Are you looking for a way to deepen your expertise in energy technology, while supplementing it with the broader knowledge and skills needed to achieve real change in our societies’ energy systems? Are you eager to use your understanding of technology and engineering to play a role as enabler, leader and game-changer in the transition towards a sustainable society? If you are, the University of Twente’s Master’s programme Sustainable Energy Technology (SET) is a good choice for you.
The two-year master’s in Sustainable Energy Technology is an internationally oriented programme and is taught entirely in English. You can start in September or in February. Read more about the master's programme, pre-master's programme and admission. You can also find more information about career perspectives.
Towards a sustainable society
The Sustainable Energy Master's is multidisciplinary and combines engineering and technology with social sciences and hands-on application. It makes you a real engineer. You will be trained in chemical, electrical, process and mechanical engineering, as well as in economics, business development, innovation, supply chain management and societal change. In addition to gaining in-depth knowledge of renewable resources and technologies – think bio-energy, solar energy, wind energy and hydrogen as well as energy storage fuel cells and smart grids – you will also gain expertise in the wider framework of today’s energy markets, entrepreneurship, business models and management. This will help you develop into the professional who can successfully implement technologies, leading the way towards a sustainable society.
Understand both technology and society
Building on our university’s unique High Tech Human Touch philosophy, the SET programme is for students who understand the kind of energy technologies that will be needed in tomorrow’s world as well as what it will take to get them rolled out and working in our communities, cities and societies. Engineers and energy technologists choose to focus on developing and improving renewable technologies are needed in society. The society also urgently needs professionals who understand these technologies but are also equipped to step forward as facilitators and leaders of the renewable energy revolution. The SET programme caters to this second group of engineers. Our aim with the programme is to help you become an authority in the implementation of technology-driven change in energy markets anywhere in the world.
A collaboration of 4 Technical Universities (4TU)
The 4TU Federation is a collaboration between the four technical universities in the Netherlands: Delft University of Technology, Eindhoven University of Technology, Wageningen University and the University of Twente. The Master's programme Sustainable Energy Technology is jointly organized by three of the four universities: Eindhoven, Delft and Twente. This collaboration means you can profit from the different strengths of every university. You register at the university of your choice, but you will automatically be co-registered at the other two universities and have access to the facilities of all three. Read more about the areas of focus at the University of Twente.
Technical & non-technical challenges
As a SET student or graduate, you will tackle questions that involve technical as well as many non-technical challenges. For example, you can work exclusively on an innovative energy technology for a certain city or region, or figure out what it will take to achieve energy neutrality in that city or region. Apart from looking for ways to optimize heat pumps, you might explore workable business models for implementing heat pumps in private housing. Or again, while other specialists come up with a new method for generating energy from the ocean, you may be developing energy scenarios involving many different technologies and socio-economic and political factors. The common thread in it all is that on top of understanding and developing the technology, you are also involved in getting it deeply integrated into society.
Programme overview
Become an engineer to roll out high-tech solutions
With global population growth and the energy demands of industries and consumers rising higher than ever before in history, we are rapidly depleting earth’s non-renewable energy and chemical resources: oil, gas and coal. Many renewable resources are available – such as wind, sunlight, moving water or biomass – and the range of technologies for effectively and efficiently harnessing these resources is exciting. However, making the transition from non-renewable to renewable energy and chemical systems is a tough and very complex challenge, involving not just technical issues, but also economic, political, ethical and social issues. In short, the world’s energy specialists need support from a new kind of engineer – a solidly trained, broad-minded professional with the knowledge and skills need to make the transition towards a sustainable society happen in our communities, cities and societies. The Master’s programme Sustainable Energy Technology has been carefully designed for this purpose. We want to prepare you for a role as leader and enabler of the renewable resources revolution.