TU Delft: Royal Dutch/Shell Centenary Scholarships

TU Delft with support from The Shell Centenary Scholarship Fund (TSCSF), offers scholarships to postgraduate students from developing countries. The programme is a collaborative effort between Shell and the technological universities of Delft, Eindhoven and Twente, each of which also contributes to the funding.The aim of the scholarship is to give students the opportunity gain skills that will make a long-term contribution to the further development of their countries. Eligible students

Candidates for these scholarships should normally be:

• aged 35 or under.
• nationals of and resident in any country other than Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States and intending to return and take up permanent residence there after completion of the MSc programme in the Netherlands.
• intending to study a subject that will be of significant value in aiding the sustainable development of their home country.
• of such outstanding academic ability as to be able easily to obtain a place on the MSc programme of their choice.
• fluent in spoken and written English (check our general admission requirements).
• neither a current nor former employee of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of companies.
• intending to return and take up permanent residence in their home country/country of residence after completion of the MSc programme in the Netherlands
• accepted by one of the following eligible MSc programmes at TU Delft:

MSc Aerospace Engineering MSc Applied Earth Sciences MSc Applied Mathematics MSc Applied Physics MSc Biochemical Engineering MSc Biomedical Engineering* MSc Chemical Engineering MSc Civil Engineering MSc Construction, Management and Engineering MSc Computer Engineering MSc Computer Science MSc Design for Interaction MSc Electrical Engineering MSc Embedded Systems MSc Engineering & Policy Analysis MSc Geomatics MSc Integrated Product Design MSc Life Science & Technology** MSc Management of Technology MSc Marine Technology MSc Material Science & Engineering MSc Mechanical Engineering MSc Media & Knowledge Engineering MSc Nanoscience** MSc Offshore Engineering MSc Science Education & Communication MSc Strategic Product Design MSc Sustainable Energy Technology MSc Systems Control MSc Systems Engineering, Policy Analysis & Management MSc Strategic Product Design MSc Transport, Infrastructure & Logistics

How many scholarships are available?

For the academic year 2009-2010 a total of 6 scholarships will be available. Students who already started their studies at TU Delft are not eligible.

Costs covered: Full-cost scholarship including tuition fees, international travel, living allowances and health insurance.

Duration of scholarship: The duration of the Master programme with a maximum of two years.

Application procedure In order to be nominated students must have been (conditionally) admitted to a MSc programme of TU Delft. If students have been (conditionally) admitted, the MSc programme selection committee may decide to nominate them for a Shell Centenary Scholarship. If the MSc programme selection committee wishes to nominate a student they will inform the International Office of TU Delft accordingly. The International Office will check whether the nominees meet the scholarship requirements. If a nominee meets the scholarship requirements the International Office will send the nominee the scholarship application form by email. The nominees must fill in the application form and return it by email to the International Office. The International Office will put forward the nominations to Shell. Shell will then start the selection procedure and after a positive assessment, the nominees will be invited for an interview with the local Shell Operating Unit. Once the results of these interviews are available, Shell will decide which nominees will be granted a scholarship. Shell will inform the International Office of TU Delft which nominees have been granted a scholarship The International Office will inform the nominees about the outcome of their scholarship application by the end of June 2009. For further information please contact: TU Delft, International Office, International Office, Jaffalaan 9a, 2628 BX Delft, The Netherlands. Telefax:: +31 (0) 15 278 5690E-mail: MSc2@tudelft.nlWebsite: www.postgraduate.tudelft.nl DeadlineIf you wish to apply for a scholarship, you must submit your postgraduate application form to arrive before 15th December 2008. Students who have been nominated by the MSc Selection Please check the detail on : http://www.shellscholar.org/about/index.html//Source: Nuffic

Grading system in the Netherlands

At a university in Holland the following grades system is used: range from 1 (very poor) to 10 (outstanding); a 6 is a pass. It should be noted that 9s and 10s are rarely given. On final lists, grades are normally rounded off (above 0.5 is rounded up and below 0.5 is rounded down, thus a 5.5 equals a 6 equals a pass, whereas a 5.4 equals a fail.) However, on exams and course work, it is customary to get a grade that has not been rounded off. Read also: European Credit and transfer system ( ECTS) //Source: TU Twente

Trip to Belgium (story#13)

Every year for students from Master program CHN organises a tour to another European country. The program should include not only entertainment, but also visit to the universities or conferences. This year the trip was organised to Belgium. We went to Belgium by bus. There, our office manager, Marlies, organised a game in which everybody was willing to participate. The game was called Murder. The rules of the game are the following. Every student receives a paper with the name of the victim and the weapon. You can kill the victim by touching him with the weapon only when you are alone with him and nobody is watching you. When you kill him you get a new mission from him. During the whole trip we were playing this game and the students were following each other even to the toilet not to be killed or to kill. On the way to Belgium we visited the village called Kinderdijk. This is the historical place for the Netherlands. There you will find 19 still working windmills dating back to the 18 century. We walked there around, took a lot of pictures and visited a windmill called Blokkerse Wip. Inside the mill we were allowed to take pictures even with the locals working in there and we used this opportunity! Our first destination in Belgium was European Parliament in Brussels. When we were there it was 50th anniversary of European Parliament and everything was nicely decorated. There we had a presentation by a civil servant called Anna Maria from Portugal about European Parliament, its functions and structure. Moreover we asked a lot of questions about the possibility for traineeships for students in the Parliament and the requirements to enter the Union for a country and others. We also saw the online transmission from Strasbourg where the President of the Union was congratulating all the country-members with the anniversary. Furthermore, we visited the room, where the EU mission was taking place at the moment. We could listen to what they are saying with headphones as real representatives and choose the translation into one of the 23 European languages. Our next destination was the hostel in Malmedy. The rooms of the hostel were for 4, 6 and 8 persons. So, it seemed that it would be really cosy and nice place with a lot of fellow students around. And it really was! The hostel reminded me a castle. There was no wall paper and the walls were covered with big grey stones. In the first floor there was a big furnace that was still working on a wood. Furthermore, it was creating the romantic and friendly atmosphere and we spent there some nice evenings just chatting. The next day we went to the city Spa. It became famous for its warm springs and mineral waters. Moreover, the bottles with Spa water are produced there. It is also famous for Formula 1 Rally that is held there. Furthermore, all the spa resorts received their name form this city. There we visited conference devoted to the future of traditional Spa resorts. We also had an excursion in the city center. Moreover, we visited the oldest casino in the world that was built in 1736. Even the old machines are still standing there. The last evening in Belgium we went to a restaurant with our teachers, all together. It was a nice cosy restaurant and the dinner was served specially for us. Besides waiters, we were the only guests there. In Belgium people speak 4 languages: German, French, English and Dutch. In Malmedy, where we were, people mostly speak French. So, if you know French you can practice it there. Being in Belgium restaurant I felt myself as if i were in France. The cuisine is very delicious, the service is perfect and the servers speak French with you. The last day we made a stop in the most beautiful and Roman city in the Netherlands - Maastricht. We had free time there to walk around, enjoy the sity, go shopping or relax in the bar. We arranged to do all these things at the same time. Moreover, we visited the city center of Maastricht with market, we went to the bookshop that is situated in the church and we stayed in the outside cafe to have a lunch. Also, we made a lot of pictures in Maastricht thus it was our last stop. I really enjoyed our trip to Belgium! I am grateful for my school for such an unforgettable experience!//Stenden (CHN) University

The Most Expensive Russian HE Institutions

The most expensive higher education institutions are located in Moscow, where the average fees are around 7,000 – 8,500 euros a year. In the region, prices start at 700 euros. According to their websites Moscow State Institute for International Relations charges 7,000 euros a year on average, the Finance Academy under the Government of the Russian Federation and the Academy of National Economy under the Government of the Russian Federation charge 6,700 euros, and Moscow State University 6,400 euros. The most expensive programmes at these universities are Management and Economy (8,500 euros), World Economy (7,500 euros) and Law (6,500 euros). Tuition fees for Natural Sciences programmes are around 4,000 euros and in Technical Sciences they vary from 1,300 to 3,600 euros a year. Provincial universities charge 700-900 euros (e.g. in the towns of Belgorod and Kursk) to 2,000-3,000 euros (Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk). MBA programmes start from 3,500 (Nizhniy Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Saratov), 6,000-8,000 euros at larger universities, and joint degree programmes can cost up to 12,000 euros a year. The Russian Federal State Statistics Service states that in 2006 58.9% of all students admitted to Russian higher educational institutions were accepted free of charge. However, students (or their parents) sometimes have to pay an extra “fee” to the university, its tutors on the examination committee or other individuals within the HE sector to be admitted to a “free” programme.// by Thérèse Ariaans //Nuffic Russia

HAN university: Master of Information Systems Development

Since many years HAN University of Applied Sciences offers the master program information Systems Development. This implies paying attention to latest methodologies, techniques and operational tool support covering the complete information systems life cycle, emphasising project management, analysis and design and application development (including the use of application generators for Windows and Web). Objectives Students acquire theoretical knowledge and practical skills needed for designing and developing information systems. Typical topics are: Business administration, information management and project management. Transactional and analytical information systems and their role in the business. Business function/process modeling. Conceptual information modeling and derivation of optimal database/datawarehouse designs. Selection and application of appropriate modeling and development methods and supporting tools. Making well-founded design choices at the technical level. Metadata management principles and metadata management application in practice. Model to model transformation and model transformation automation. Latest changes to the program Apart from the above mentioned topics, in the 2007-2008 program students get also theoretical and practical insight in tool architectures and principles and technologies that can be used for realizing application generators and tool-interconnectivity by developing tool bridges. HAN University is well known for its leading position with respect to research on these subjects conducted in the competence group data architectures & metadata management which is tightly connected to the Master. Admission requirements Applicants are registered as students at HAN. In order to be admitted students must be graduated of a Bachelor degree in Engineering (list of marks GPA 2.8 or more) and have sufficient knowledge of the English language (TOEFL score 550 or more/ IELTS score 6.0 or more). //HAN University

Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS)

The Dutch study workload is measured in credits. These credits are based on workload. Workload includes contact hours, but also practical assignments, lab work and self-study at home. Up to and including 2003-04 the Dutch system was based on 42 credits a year (credits normally being abbreviated with 'SP', which means "StudiePunt", in English: “Study Credit”). A credit of 1 SP corresponded to 40 hours of workload, which equals one week of work. In the Netherlands, a full academic year comprises 42 SP (thus 42 weeks) by definition. However, from the academic year 2004-05 onwards alls credits will be based on the European Credit Transfer and accumulation System scheme only. As a result of the Bologna-process the Netherlands has adopted a 60-credit per year system. This means that 60 credits (also called ECTS) represent one year of study in terms of workload. Below follows more information on ECTS and credits, as well as information on the grading system in the Netherlands. What is a credit system and what is ECTS? A credit system is a systematic way of describing an educational programme by attaching credits to its components. The European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) is a student-centred system based on the student workload required to achieve the objectives of a programme, objectives preferably specified in terms of learning outcomes and competences to be acquired. Why introduce ECTS? ECTS makes study programmes easy to read and compare for all students, local and foreign. ECTS facilitates mobility and academic recognition. ECTS helps universities to organise and revise their study programmes. ECTS can be used across a variety of programmes and modes of delivery. ECTS makes European higher education more attractive for students from other continents. What are the key features of ECTS? ECTS is based on the convention that 60 credits measure the workload of a full-time student during one academic year. Workload refers to the notional time an average learner might expect to complete the required learning outcomes. Student workload in ECTS includes the time spent in attending lectures, seminars, independent study, preparation for, and taking of, examinations, etc. Credits are allocated to all educational components of a study programme (such as modules, courses, placements, dissertation work, etc.) and reflect the quantity of work each component requires in relation to the total quantity of work necessary to complete a full year of study in the programme considered. Credit is also a way of quantifying the outcomes of learning. Learning outcomes are sets of competences, expressing what the student will know, understand or be able to do after completion of a process of learning, short or long. Credits in ECTS can only be obtained after completion of the work required and appropriate assessment of the learning outcomes achieved. Thus, credits are awarded only when a student passes the assessment of the work. The allocation of ECTS credits is based on the official length of a study programme cycle. The total workload necessary to obtain a first cycle degree (bachelor degree) lasting officially three years is expressed as 180 credits.//TU Twente

New English-language HAN site online

HAN’s newly restyled English-language site is now available online. In October last year, the new Dutch-language HAN site went live and work began immediately on redoing the English-language site. The results are now live. Goal The new English-language site offers: new design, new pictures, and an improved structure and navigation. Our goal is to enable our English-language visitors to more easily search for information about the HAN and our English-language programmes. With the English-language version of the HAN’s Virtual Tour, foreign visitors can now get a better feel for living and studying at the HAN. Homepage Bachelor programmes are grouped together by areas of interest, just as on the Dutch-language site. The English-language homepage also makes a clear distinction between the 3 main sections of the site: Bachelors programmes, Masters programmes, and Further Education and Consultancy. //HAN University

A Study in Holland Universities Takes You Places

Many students now-a-days are willing to join foreign universities to guide their career in the right direction. Studying in the foreign universities has many advantages to it. To begin with, it offers a professionally fulfilling and financially lucrative career anywhere in the world. However, choosing a university especially in a country to where you have never been before can make you feel jittery. Undoubtedly, you wouldn’t want to make a decision about your career that you would rue for in future. While many universities in different counties offer education to attract foreign students from across the globe, there are strong reasons why you would do well to study in Holland universities. First of all, an education in Holland can take you places. The Dutch education system and each university in Holland have a long tradition and trusty-worthy reputation. Besides, a study in Holland allows you to approach your education in manner that is best suited to your needs. The Dutch education has been tailored in such a way that foreign students can pursue their degrees in the most flexible manner. The higher education system in the universities in Netherlands has been recognized internationally. Whether you want to purse your bachelor, master or PhD, each and every university in Holland can offer you education that is designed to help you get the best of out of them. The Dutch universities are reputable globally and they innovate and introduce new teaching methods so that the students are able to meet all the challenges in their professional career. The constant support of the Dutch government has made it possible for the universities in Holland to offer international students a high quality of education at an affordable price. The best part of a study in Holland is its flexibility. For instance, it is so easy to follow fast-track Master programmes after you complete your education at a university in Netherlands. Furthermore, a study in Holland universities will help you hone your English language skills. The universities in Netherlands offer their students an exclusive opportunity to improve their European languages especially English. Hence, if you plan to pursue your Masters in any university in Europe or United States, you won’t face any problem at all. In other words, a university in Netherlands prepares you for a future challenge aside from offering you quality education for an excellent professional career. Moreover, the favourable geographical location of Holland offers an exceptional opportunity and a perfect platform for the foreign students to learn and practices some other important languages such as French and German in very natural way. Netherlands is regarded as the gateway to Europe. Thus, a study in Holland offers you the best opportunity to understand the European culture very closely and intimately. In a nutshell, enrolling yourself for a study in Holland will help you shape your career in the right manner.//Copyright Eurogates

TU Delft: MSc Offshore Engineering programme

Since 1975 Offshore Engineering courses are given at the Delft University of Technology. In 2004 these two specialisations merged and formed the new MSc programme Offshore Engineering, a two-year curriculum leading to the MSc degree in Offshore Engineering. The programme consists of four specialisations: Fixed (Bottom Founded) Structures, Floating Structures, Subsea Engineering and Dredging Engineering. Students with a BSc degree in Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Marine Technology and Ocean Engineering can enrol in this programme. Students with a different background should first consult the staff of Offshore Engineering to explore the possibilities. Offshore Engineering is multidisciplinary and is a cooperation between Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Marine Technology. Offshore & Dredging Engineers make structures such as fixed and floating platforms for the oil and gas industry. They also design undersea pipelines and other underwater equipment for this sector. An important feature is the design of dredging equipment for land reclamation, maintenance and the recovery of embedded minerals in deep-sea locations. Another application of offshore engineering is the design of offshore wind farms. Offshore & Dredging Engineers are the people who design facilities for the 70% of the earth’s surface area that is not land. Scope The offshore & dredging industry is a relatively young, international industry, which has expanded globally in the last fifty years. Almost all new offshore & dredging engineers work in the private sector. The offshore & dredging industry’s relative ’youth’ means that problems often arise that have never been encountered before. This means that offshore & dredging workers (and students of offshore & dredging engineering) must possess a great deal of ingenuity and demonstrate initiative in addressing and resolving problems. Tuition fees Master programmes Academic Year 2008-2009 EU/EFTA* and Surinamese nationals born after August 31st 1978€ 1,565 per year EU/EFTA nationals born before September 1st 1978€ 2,130 per year Non-EU/EFTA nationals€ 8,460 per year (except in the cases of Nanoscience and Life Science & Technology where the tuition fee is € 12,168 per year) EU countries Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, The Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. * EFTA countriesIceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.//TU Delft

TU Delft tests windmill for seawater desalination

A traditional windmill which drives a pump: that is the simple concept behind the combination of windmill/reverse osmosis developed by the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in The Netherlands. In this case, it involves a high-pressure pump which pushes water through a membrane using approximately 60 bar. This reverse osmosis membrane produces fresh water from seawater directly. The windmill is suited for use by, for instance, small villages in isolated, dry coastal areas. The combination of windmills and desalination installations is already commercially available. These windmills produce electricity from wind power, the electricity is stored and subsequently used to drive the high-pressure pump for the reverse osmosis installation. The storage of electricity in particular is very expensive. Energy is also lost during conversion.In the TU Delft installation, the high-pressure pump is driven directly by wind power. Water storage can be used to overcome calm periods. The storage of water is after all a great deal cheaper than that of electricity. Robust The chosen windmill is normally used for irrigation purposes. These windmills turn relatively slowly and are also very robust. On the basis of the windmill’s capacity at varying wind speeds, it is estimated that it will produce 5 to 10 m3 of fresh water per day: enough drinking water for a small village of 500 inhabitants. A water reservoir will have to ensure that enough water is available for a calm period lasting up to five days. Three safeguards (in the event of the installation running dry, a low number of revolutions or a high number of revolutions) are also performed mechanically so that no electricity is needed. Prototype The first prototype has been built and is already working at a location near the A13 motorway near Delft. This prototype is to be dismantled and transported to Curaçao the first week of March. There the concept will be tested on seawater.//TU Delft

Twente University: pre-master programme

Holders of a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Administration from a Dutch university are eligible for admission. The Public Administration admissions committee decides if applicants with a different Bachelor’s degree in a related field of study are eligible for admission and/or if it is necessary to first complete a pre-master’s programme to be eligible for admission. The admissions committee determines the content of the pre-master’s programme on the basis of previous education. The pre-master’s programme, for an applicant with a degree at the level of University (college) for higher professional education, comprises 30 EC under which the following modules: Data-analysis and Measurement I (5 EC) Concept and Observation (5 EC) Research methodology (5 EC) Design methodology (5 EC) Track-specific courses (10 EC) The pre-master’s programme is offered twice a year; once in September (taught in Dutch) and once in February (taught in English). Saxion Hogescholen: Doorstroomminor If you are a student at the Saxion Hogeschool, than it would be possible to do a pre-masterprogramme during your HBO-study. This is called a ‘doorstroomminor’ (dsm). For more information (admission, conditions, etc.), please check the Doorstroomminor-website. Information in English will be there soon.//Twente University Pre-master programme

Holland: 'I feel like I ought to learn Dutch'

Learning Dutch is popular amongst international students: 35 percent of international students decide to follow one of the Dutch classes the Language Centre offers at Tilburg University. Students admit it takes a reasonable amount of time and effort, but it makes the international experience more fulfilling. "Learning Dutch is not essential or compulsory, but it is always nice to surprise Dutch people by saying a few sentences in their language. It kind of shows that you are trying your best to adapt to local ways", says Ng. Swee Shoon, a business management student from Singapore. He has been in Holland for two months now, and is participating in 'Dutch one', for which he studies five hours a week. In this Dutch class, much time is spent on practical everyday situations. "If I wanted to, I could order 'een broodje met kaas', but I prefer sandwiches with peanut butter instead of cheese", he says with a smile. Pronouncing the letter 'g' turned out to be difficult for the Singaporean student. "For instance, when we practice the word 'Goedemorgen', 'Goodmorning' in English. I also tend to make mistakes in the order of the words in a sentence; because my first language is English (second is Chinese-Mandarin), I tend to copy the English way of constructing sentences. Although students say it's hard to learn Dutch, Tjits Roselaar says it's a popular misconception that the Dutch language is exceptionally difficult to learn. Roselaar coordinates Dutch classes for the language centre, and teaches a few herself. She explains that the difficulty depends on a few factors. "First, it is very helpful if a student has learned a foreign language before. Then you have already been through the process of learning a language. Students from the UK and America sometimes haven't been in touch with any foreign language before, because it is not compulsory at secondary schools over there", says Roselaar. Another issue is that learning Dutch is more difficult for Asian students because there is such a big difference between Asian and European languages. The main difficulty is that European languages are based on the alphabet, while Eastern scripts are based on characters. To approach the needs of students in the best possible way, the language centre offers differentiated courses, 'Dutch for International Students', 'Dutch for Asians' and the intensive 'Dutch as a second language'. "I want to learn Dutch, because I almost feel like I ought to when I am going to stay here for three years", says Wenhe Wu, an International Economics and Finance at Tilburg University student from China. "Learning a country's local language is more than learning how to write and speak, it is also part of a country's culture and history and stuff." Roselaar confirms this: "I think you go home with a cultural business-card, and language is an important part of that. Family and friends at home often see these students as 'Dutch experts', and so it would be nice for them if they were able to actually speak some Dutch as well." Practice is always the key word when learning another language. But in an international environment, that is not always easy for international students. "Some students complain a little about the international environment", Roselaar points out. "Because everything is highly organized, and many live in a building with other international students, the possibilities to practice Dutch are reduced." For this reason, the language centre tries to challenge the students with a lot of 'real life' exercises. Roselaar: "We send the students outside the safe campus walls to practice. Homework may include getting to know your Dutch neighbours, or calling a travel agency with a few question about specific trips." Elena Perekotiy is a Russian International Law student at Tilburg University, and she is taking the intensive 'Dutch as a second language' classes. "For me it was a bit of an idealistic thing, I really wanted to learn good Dutch in a short period of time", Perekotiy says. She is taking her classes seriously, although she doesn't think she will benefit much from speaking Dutch in the future. "Although sometimes people don't understand my decision, I never regret all the time I spend on practicing the Dutch language", she says. Ng. Swee Shoon is also really enthusiastic about the Dutch courses, despite all the time it takes. "It makes the exchange period more fulfilling; I recommend it to everyone!" [Marlin de Bresser].//Univers.Tilburg University