Building a pool of talent

In March 2024, it was announced that the Dutch government and the Eindhoven region had decided to invest a total of 2.5 billion euros with the aim of strengthening the chip sector in the Netherlands. The money has been reserved to improve infrastructure in the Brainport region and for investments surrounding the recruitment of technical talent for the high-tech semiconductor industry.

The package includes a one-time investment of 450 million euros for technical education, in addition to 80 million euros per year structurally. ‘These 450 million euros are meant to strengthen the entire chain of education, from senior secondary vocational education institutions (MBO) and universities of applied sciences (HBO) to the universities in Groningen, Enschede, Delft and Eindhoven,’ Paul Koenraad explains.

Some 275 million euros from this budget are coming to the Eindhoven region, one-third of which is allocated to TU/e. ‘At TU/e, we made the deliberate decision to focus on training more students in the master phase,’ says Koenraad. The ambition is to have 1,600 additional master students by 2030. ‘To this end, we want to increase the retaining rate of our bachelor students, and we want to recruit more international students to enroll in a master program in Eindhoven.’

With new master students alone, we are not there yet, the Dean warns. ‘Our starting point for growth in student numbers has always been that we do not want to increase our student-to-staff ratio. So, we will need additional staff to educate these new students, and we will need PhD students and infrastructure to accommodate the research conducted by this new staff. All in all, for our university, project Beethoven will thus not only result in more master students but also in more research in the field of semiconductors and photonics.’

Project Beethoven looks beyond the boundaries of electronics or photonics, Koenraad emphasizes. ‘This is about boosting the semiconductor industry as a whole. That also requires knowledge of topics like material science, mechatronics, optics, software, and systems engineering. The latter is a topic I would like to include more explicitly in the curricula of our master programs. For example, we could have an introductory course in systems thinking, followed by some interdisciplinary challenge-based learning project in collaboration with our regional industry.’

That TU/e is exploring ways to leverage its links to industry in education, is nicely illustrated by the recently started MasterPlus Optics & Photonics. Andrea Fiore, one of the driving forces behind this national initiative that is supported by the 4TU.Federation and the PhotonDelta and Optics Netherlands ecosystems, explains what the MasterPlus is about. ‘The goal is to bring the students in contact with the optics and photonics industry. Students enroll in a master program in Applied Physics or Electrical Engineering at either of the three Dutch technical universities and choose three electives in optics and photonics. The additional MasterPlus activities include topical seminars, visits to companies, and a camp dedicated to careers and entrepreneurship. We also provide them with possibilities for internships in industry.’

It is this tight connection to the industry that is the most distinct feature of the MasterPlus, Fiore states. ‘By organizing a multitude of networking opportunities, we provide our students with a better view of what types of jobs are available in industry. And we give the partners in our optics and photonics ecosystems the chance to scout for talent early on.’

Last September, the first 35 students entered the track, 22 of whom decided to enroll at TU/e. Fiore: ‘I am positively surprised by the balanced mix between international and Dutch students. Over time, the goal is to attract more internationals to the Netherlands with this initiative, and to increase the visibility of the field and the opportunities to build a career in optics and photonics in our country.’

‘The MasterPlus is a good example of what we can do: we are globally recognized for our strength in photonics, and we want to gain an international position in optics. Establishing distinctive initiatives like these provides us with the opportunity to present ourselves to the world, and attract new international talent to our country,’ Koenraad concludes.