Track curriculum

Programme structure

From the student perspective, this track fills a current need for a practically oriented (real-life) educational programme that highlights multidisciplinary collaboration. In particular, there is a current need from excellent Master (Honours) students to improve their leadership/teamwork skills and to gain real-life project-based experience in a structured and guided way. This track allows students to step outside the bubble of their own university to study fields and put theoretical knowledge into practice. The course is built on Challenge-Based Learning principles and asks students to drive their own education to gain the knowledge and skills that fit their individual needs. The module focuses on the topic of sustainability, which is a topic that unites students from all different backgrounds and which sparks tremendous enthusiasm within the student community. The module also brings together staff, student assistants and experts from the four technical universities and the overarching organisation to increase further collaboration and knowledge-sharing.

The track is divided into two sections. The first module (Q2) is held at the University of Twente with only the UT students. In this module students are prepared for the inter-university challenge, with a focus on skills building and reflection. The second part of the track is the inter-university challenge which takes two modules (Q3 and Q4). The first module is centered around a "book club" model, where students are required to read a book challenging their perspective on sustainability. For example, a business student might read "The Future is Degrowth" and an engineering student may read "The Age of Low Tech". During the module students are supported in reflection and perspective sharing, helping them along with their skills building. During the course several experts will provide guest lectures, where they will share their experiences in sustainability, systems thinking, perspective shifts, and more.

During the challenge, students work in groups of 5-8 students on a topic that is related to developments in technology aiming at increasing sustainability in society. This project aims to approach the development and implementation of sustainable technology in a multidisciplinary manner, with an emphasis on the combination of energy, materials, and ethics. Topics in this project relate to the Green Deal of the European Union.

The group independently studies the chosen topic and formulates their analysis and conclusions, in regular contact with supervisors and both academic and external advisors. Besides a matchmaking event to meet students and stakeholders, several live events at the different universities and a final symposium will be organised.

For students, it’s becoming more and more important to learn and to show that you are able to work in a multidisciplinary team on subjects that transcend your regular education. In addition, the current work environment is asking young professionals for skills that can only be gained through practical work experience. That is why this module is particularly interesting for ambitious and excellent students: you work on a project that takes you from your university setting and lets you collaborate with students from different backgrounds and research centres. There’s a student-driven setup to the entire module with the flexibility to let you work on a project within a real-world setting – so you will be in charge of the outcome for this case! In the project, you will have a stakeholder to satisfy and a team to bring together in order to solve the problem – just as you would have to in your future career -, so it is great to practice these skills in a guided and structured module like this one. Finally, the topic of sustainability is one that most students are passionate about, so working on a project that can bring about positive change together with a group of enthusiastic peers will certainly be a valuable and rewarding experience!

core elements

Within the 4TU.RSC track, the focus is on providing students with a structured approach to implement or improve sustainability efforts within organisations. Students work together with their peers from the other participating universities (Twente, Delft and Eindhoven) in multidisciplinary groups. The challenge consists of the following core elements.

The central challenge is to implement or improve sustainability at a company/organisation/stakeholder. Within this challenge, you work within a multidisciplinary team of 4-6 students to understand the underlying principles and issues at hand and to formulate an appropriate response that addresses these points. This challenge follows the Challenge-Based Learning methodology, which provides students with a structured but free approach to learning by gaining real-life experience.
Workshops and Lectures are provided to help structure the challenge and to provide key insights into relevant project management techniques and sustainability efforts that broaden the students' view and help determine creative and motivated methods to address the key issues of the challenge. The workshops extend throughout the modules in online sessions, and on live events organized with our partners. Additionally, due to the small-scale education, we can aid the students during their individual investigation with micro-lectures and additional expert sessions from our diverse network across universities.
Coaching for each group to support the learning process and improve the personal development of each student.
Peer review support from your fellow students to learn both with and from one another, to meet like-minded people and to shape each case by the shared knowledge of the group.

Aside from these core elements, we are working with (student-driven) organisations at the three universities to create a broad network to support the different groups and to provide engaging and inspiring sessions throughout the track.

Timeline and important course dates FOr the Challenge

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

This course will start with a Kick-off event in November 2024 and conclude with a central symposium in June 2025. For this course, you will receive 15 ECs upon full completion (i.e. a workload of 5 ECs per quartile). The challenge should be completed extracurricular to the regular study and cannot be completed individually (outside of your project team).

Due to the collaboration, the number of spots are restricted for each university (10 spots per university). Please make sure to apply on time (see here) and motivate your choice well to help guide your application and matching process.