Set-up

The Bachelor’s programme, outlined in the Bachelor’s ‘curriculum’, consists of three study years, or 12 modules. An academic year is divided into four ten-week quarters (or modules). The academic calendar is similar for all educational programmes. In line with the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS), the study load for a quarter (or module) is 15 EC (= 420 hours), adding up to 60 EC per year, and to 180 EC for the entire Bachelor’s programme.

In the Bachelor’s programme, knowledge is acquired in theory courses, while assignments and projects aim to deepen, implement, familiarize and generalize that knowledge. These projects and courses, embedded in coherent modules, implicitly and explicitly train professional skills. Since projects correlate directly to the academic goals of the programme, students are expected to explain and support their results and reasoning. Relevant workshops, laboratory practicals, computer courses and lectures supplement projects, providing students practical skills necessary to execute projects at adequate levels of abstraction, creativity and integration. The exact times of lectures and exams can be found in the schedule.

The first year of the programme is designed familiarise students with Industrial Design Engineering, giving them a wide range of course subjects that give them an idea of what ID is all about. This gives students the chance to see whether they fit into the programme, and to find out whether they can meet the required level of abstraction. Students are informed of their progress, and are explicitly confronted with their success rate and the likelihood of successfully completing their studies. The second year offers a broadening and contextualisation of the content; the third year gives students the opportunity to deepen their understanding and expand their knowledge (the ‘minor’ part of the programme). Moreover, students are challenged to acquire technical and practical skills in extracurricular activities.

The final part of the Bachelor’s degree is the Bachelor Thesis Project, in which students have the chance to demonstrate that they have mastered the skills necessary to earn an Industrial Design Engineering bachelor’s diploma. The Bachelor Thesis Project is preferably executed for a company or organization. It is possible to do the project abroad. Students will formulate their own assignment, although it must be submitted to the Bachelor Thesis Project coordinator for approval.

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