For new students | Master Business Information Technology (BIT): for students and staff

This page gives a brief overview of the Business Information Technology (BIT) Master’s programme to help you on your way. If you have already been to the Kick-off, or are already familiar with the UT, you might know some of these things already.

Roadmap for starting your study programme

Below, we provide a general roadmap with a time scheme that you can use to plan your study and complete it in two years (the nominal time).

Step 1: Starting the programme and picking coursesEC
- Introduction period / Kick-in0
  In the week before you start your studies, the introduction period (Kick-IN) takes place. During the Kick-in we will provide you with a lot of information about the programme, your courses, our educational systems and much more. You will also meet your study advisor, programme director, coordinator, the study association and your fellow students. Here is also where the courses for the first quarter must be chosen, so be sure to ask everything you need to pick (your first) courses!
- Course registration0
  To be able to participate in the education, you need to register for the courses you want to take. This is possible up to and including the Wednesday before the start of the quartile via Osiris Student for the course(s) in question. Once you have registered, you also gain access to the corresponding Canvasses and for the first opportunity and the resit of the corresponding tests!
  Note. For now, you can still ignore the pop-up where Osiris mentions that the course does not belong to your study programme.
  For more information on course registrations: https://www.utwente.nl/register
  Registration periods for all education in the 2024-2025 academic year
  1st quartile:       1 August 2024 up to and including Wednesday 28 August 2024
  2nd quartile:      14 October 2024 up to and including Wednesday 6 November 2024
  3rd quartile:      6 January 2025 up to and including Wednesday 29 January 2025
  4th quartile:      24 March 2025 up to and including Wednesday 16 April 2025
  Deregistration
  If you are registered for a course and no longer want to take part, you can deregister via Osiris Student up to one day before the test week of the running quartile.
- Assemble your timetable0
  Assemble your timetable and check whether there are no conflicts. When picking courses outside of your specialisation, some lectures might ocasionally coincide. This is not a big deal as long as attandance is not mandatory and you can still join the majority of your classes. However, in case of continues conflicts, we advice to pick another courses.
  >Data Science (the course, not the specialisation) is an exception. This course will almost always have some scheduling conflicts. However, all lectures and information are also available as recordings.
  >Machine Learning 1 and Simulation appear to have conflicts, but they provide two duplicate sessions per practical and tutorial. E.g. one practical in the morning and the same practical in the afternoon, giving you to option to attend one of the two.
  The Academic Calendar shows you the main features of the academic year in Twente:
  - Division of the year into four study periods (quarters/quartiles)
  - Examination periods
  - Holidays
  This Academic Calendar is relevant for you as long as you have to take courses. You can plan your internship, research topics and your Final Project without bothering about the education periods, but you should keep in mind holiday periods.
- Access Canvas and other educational systems0
  Once you registered for your first courses in Osiris, you automatically gain access to the online learning environment of these courses via Canvas. For most courses you should be able to access the information two weeks before the start of each course. In Canvas you find more in-depth info about the course. More information on all educational systems can be found at www.utwente.nl/en/educational-systems/new-students/.
- Tips on choosing the first courses0
  Choosing from so many courses and finding a clear focus in your curriculum can be difficult. We offer an example programme to help you start planning.
  > In the Osiris course catalogue you can find course descriptions and prerequisites for each course
  >Plan 15EC in each block. We recommend completing mandatory core and specialisation courses early on in your two year programme.
  > Make an initial plan!
  > Courses are 5EC unless stated otherwise and most courses are only offered once a year.
- In need of facilities or support because of personal circumstances?0
  If there are known circumstances that require individual adjustments or support so to not impact your studies, contact the study advisor as soon as possible. They can help you apply for facilities like additional time, exams with larger or specific fonts, etc. The sooner you contact them, the more likely it is that these facilities will be in place in time for your first test or exam.
Step 2: Finalise your programmeEC
- Registering your specialisation0
  Email boz-bit@utwente.nl to let us know what specialisation you will take. BOZ will add the corresponding exam programme in Osiris, after which it is much easier to look up the mandatory courses connected to that specialization.
  Don't forget to mention your name and student number.
- Explore the programme further15
  Take you time to grow into the programme, talk to peers, study the options within the curriculum while you follow your first few courses.
  > Try to find electives that not only fit your specialisaiton, but that also excite you.
  > Think about the topics you would like to focus on during your Final project and take that as a starting point for the choice of electives and the remainder of your programme.
  > If you find a course, topic or teacher that inspires you. Talk to this teacher, ask about their research, possible graduation topics they like to supervise and what courses they would recommend if you want to graduate in their field of research.
- Education and Examination Regulations (EER)0
  The full programme and all its formal rules and regulations are described in the Education and Examination Regulations.
- Electives0
  As a BIT student your programme is automatically approved if you pick courses from our programme and preapproved electives list. The content of these courses fit the level and contents of our BIT programme and have been checked for overlap. However, you might find a course that is not on the list, but would be interesting to add to YOUR BIT programme. In that case, you can request the Examination Board to add the list to your programme by explaining why it fits your BIT programme.
  The exam board only meets once every six weeks. We advise to look ahead and make a study plan, so you can avoid participating in a course without knowing whether you may include it in your programme.
  You may still take part and complete an unapproved course, but the credits obtained won't count towards (the 120EC of) your degree. However, if they are on a master level and from an accredited programme, they will still show up under "other" (courses followed outside of your degree programme) on your supplement.
Step 2.5: Prepare your internship (optional)EC
- Point of time: Half a year before the planned start of the internship45
  Start preparing your internship a quarter or longer before you plan to start the internship itself. The first step in this process is to visit the EEMCS Internship Office website and self-enroll in the EEMCS Internship Canvas.
  Note: To start your internship, you must have completed at least 45EC in courses from your course programme. You can prepare for your internship before satisfying this requirement. The reference date for this requirement is the starting date of your internship.
Step 3: Prepare your research topics & final projectEC
- Point of time: Around a quarter before the planned start of your research topics60
  Start preparing your Final project and Research topics about a quarter before you plan to start with the Research Topics.
  >The first step in this process is to visit the information session we offer twice a year and to look at the information on the BIT website.
  >Keep in mind that assignments outside of the UT take time to prepare. Start looking early and make sure you have arranged everything from the content of the assignment, your supervisor, possible contracts and your mobility online registration well in advance.

Getting assistance setting up your programme

The programme coordinator can help you with defining your overall course programme, basic course content and navigating rules and regulations.
For questions about the specific contents of the courses and electives you can contact the teacher of the course in question.
For general questions and advice, wellbeing or other issues not specifically related to the contents of your course programme, please contact the study advisor.

MBIT Canvas

There is a Master BIT Canvas page. New students should be automatically added in the first month after they started their programme. The Canvas is mainly used for announcements about the programme and some additional programme information. If you are not added after the first month please contact the programme coordinator.

Educational affairs office (BOZ)

The administration of our programme is handled by our Educational Affairs Office (Belinda). You can contact her by sending an email to boz-bit@utwente.nl.

Mandatory homologation courses

Sometimes your background (Bachelor) was sufficient to be admitted directly, but to be able to successfully complete all BIT courses, you need more knowledge in e.g. programming, finance, or other computer science or business related topics because these were not taught in your Bachelor. In that case you might need to do a homologation course. These are mandatory courses imposed by the Admissions Board as an mandatory part of your Master. Depending on your background homologation might consist of (parts of) 202001072 Finance for Engineers BIT, 202000260 Organization Theory, 202001066 Programming, 202001061 Introduction to Computer Science, 192360021 ICT Management, 192340101 Implementation of IT in organizations, (advanced) programming in engineering, and in some cases Research Project.

UT TCS Bachelors: 192360021 ICT Management or 192340101 Implementation of IT in organizations (unless you took business related courses in your minor, in that case contact the BIT coordinator).
UT IEM Bachelors: 202001061 Introduction to Computer Science or 202001066 Programming (in some cases (advanced) programming in engineering; if you took software developement/systems or related programming courses in your bachelor, please contact the BIT coordinator).

Examinations

When you register for a course in Osiris, you will automatically be registered for the upcoming examination of that course (but always check your examination registrations in Osiris, just to be sure). If you want join for the re-sit (even if you did not attend the first attempt), you need to manually register for that second examination opportunity. Registrations will be open up until 2 weeks before the exam date. Note that exams for non-mandatory courses are can potentially fall on the same day/time. Please make sure to check in advanced if this is the case (particularly for elective courses) and if so, contact the programme coordinator or study adviser. In that case you will be able to take both exams one after another under supervision (in a different location).

Study association

As a BIT student you can join study associations Inter-Actief (main association), Stress or both.