Students from Dutch HBO-universities

Premaster’s programme for Dutch HBO students

For students with a suitable HBO degree (Dutch university of professional education) a fixed premaster’s programme has been formulated. In the setup for the Dutch premaster’s programme also the master’s programme has been adapted somewhat. When studying nominally, students can complete the premaster's and the master's programme in 2¹/₂ year: 

Starting date of the premaster’s programme

The premaster’s programme for HBO-students is only available in the autumn semester, starting at September 1^st.

Premaster’s courses

The main learning objective of the premaster’s programme is to lay a sound theoretical foundation under the practical knowledge that you already obtained during your bachelor’s programme:

• Topics from calculus and linear algebra should bring your understanding of these mathematical subjects to the same level that students with an academic bachelor’s degree have.
• The Linear Systems course introduces the mathematical concepts of signals and systems, the different ways they can be described and how a system transforms an input signal into an output signal. The course prepares for more advanced courses in electronics, telecommunication, signal processing, system modelling and control. As such it is indispensable for any specialisation during the Electrical Engineering master’s programme.

The course Introduction to Technological Research teaches the student how to setup and carry out technological research in a systematic way. Topics are:

• How to formulate a research question
• Literature search
• How to formulate a research plan
• Ethical topics (fraud and plagiarism)
• Carrying out research
• Oral and written communication.

The premaster’s programme is taught during the first semester of the academic year (autumn) and consists of the following courses:

See the specialisation page for information about the specialisations.

Note 1: The courses Linear Systems and Academic Research Skills are taught during the whole semester. Linear Systems starts in week 5 of the first quarter.

Note 2: The course codes of most courses have been changed for the academic year 2020-2021.

Language of instruction

All master’s and premaster’s courses are taught in English.

Admission to the master’s programme

The premaster’s programme has been separated formally from the master’s programme. The student will only be admitted to the master’s programme, if all courses of the premaster’s programme have been completed with a sufficient examination result. The full premaster’s programme must have been completed successfully within a year after the start of the programme. If not, the student will be rejected for admission to the master’s programme. Note that you can only start with the master’s programme after you have completed the premaster’s programme and you have been admitted to the master’s programme. This is according to Dutch legislation (“harde knip”).

Starting the master’s programme

The master’s programme can be started in the beginning of Quarter 2A (February). However this assumes that all examinations of the premaster’s courses have been passed successfully. If one or more examinations have been failed, a resit will be offered in quarter 2A. This will delay the start of the master’s programme.

Adaptations of the master’s programme for students from HBO-universities

Homologation courses (after the HBO-premaster’s programme)

Homologation courses (bridging courses) are advanced bachelor courses, that you may have to follow after your premaster’s programme. Formally they are part of the master’s programme and as such they are included in the 120 EC study load of the programme. The courses depend on the chosen specialization and will be selected by the programme mentor of your master specialisation.

Individual project

The Individual project (10EC) will replace the internship in case the student is from a Dutch HBO-university. It serves as a preparation for the master’s thesis. During the project attention is given to the following aspects:

• Describing the assignment, the problem(s) and the framework of the project
• Looking for theoretical support for solutions, opinions and statements.
• Motivating choices, while solving a problem
• Distinguishing main and side issues
• Planning your work
• Reporting orally and in written form about your work.

You can choose a chair which participates in the Electrical Engineering program for your Individual Project. All chairs will have a list of available projects, to choose from. The project is placed in the second year (see above).

HBO-minor students

During the third or the fourth year of most HBO-programmes the possibility is offered for a minor-programme that can be chosen by the student. For students, following a suitable HBO-programme it is possible to spend this period to take the Electrical Engineering premaster programme. After successful completion of the premaster programme they will return to the HBO-university to complete their HBO-programme with a final project. After having finished their HBO-programme, including our Electrical Engineering premaster’s programme, these students can be admitted directly to our Electrical Engineering master’s programme.

If you carry out our premaster’s programme within an HBO minor-programme, the same conditions will apply for admission to the master’s programme. Of course an additional condition for admission to the master’s programme is that you will have received your HBO-degree.

You can register yourself for an HBO-minor at the Kiesopmaat website.

Coordinator premaster’s programme