University of Twente

The University of Twente (Dutch: Universiteit Twente; Dutch pronunciation: [ynivɛrsiˈtɛit ˈtʋɛntə], abbr. UT) is a public technical university located in Enschede, the Netherlands.

For other universities that use the UT mnemonic, see UT.
University of Twente
Universiteit Twente
Former name
Technische Hogeschool Twente
Motto in English
High Tech, Human Touch
TypePublic
Established1961
Budget€ 329 M[1]
RectorTom Veldkamp
Administrative staff
3,150 (2019)
Students11,136 (2019)[1]
Location
Enschede
,
Netherlands
ColoursUT Black and UT White[2]
   
Affiliations4TU, CESAER, ECIU, EUA
Websitewww.utwente.nl/en

The UT collaborates with Delft University of Technology, Eindhoven University of Technology and the Wageningen University and Research Centre under the umbrella of 4TU and is also a partner in the European Consortium of Innovative Universities (ECIU).

The University has been placed in the top 400 universities in the world by three major ranking tables. The UT was ranked 65th in the Reuters's 2017 European Most Innovative Universities, and, 184th worldwide in 2019 according to the Times Higher Education magazine.[3]

History
University of Twente entrance

The university was founded in 1961 as Technische Hogeschool Twente or (THT). After Delft University of Technology and Eindhoven University of Technology, it became the third polytechnic institute in the Netherlands to become a University. The institution was later renamed to Universiteit Twente (University of Twente) in 1986, as the result of the changes in the Dutch Academic Education Act in 1984.

The Dutch government's decision to locate the country's third technical university in Enschede, the main city of Twente, had much to do with the north-eastern province's rich manufacturing industry (textiles, metal, electrical engineering, chemicals). Another important consideration was the fact that the local economy needed a boost to compensate for the dwindling textile industry. Just as the fact that the municipality of Enschede made the Drienerlo estate available for the first campus University of the Netherlands.[4][5]

Campus
Drienerlo tower on the campus

The University of Twente was built on the former country estate of Drienerlo, situated between Hengelo and Enschede. The 140-hectare estate consists of woodland, meadows and water. Architects Van Tijen and Van Embden designed the first — and so far only — Dutch campus university along American lines where students and staff live, work and pursue their leisure activities on campus.[6]

The Student Union, which is run entirely by students, manages several premises, including the student social centre(de pakkerij) and study centre(Wallstreet) in Enschede and The Water sport complex on the Twentekannal.[7]

Organization

Administration

The current director of the university is professor Thom Palstra. The other two members of the executive board are Victor van der Chijs (President Executive Board) and Mirjam Built-Spiering (Vice-President)[8]

Faculties

There are five Faculties at the University of Twente, each Faculty is in turn organized into several departments:

  • Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences (BMS) - i.a. Communication studies, psychology, public administration, educational science & technology, European studies, environmental & energy management and Risk management
  • Engineering Technology (ET) - i.a. Mechanical engineering, civil engineering, industrial design engineering and sustainable energy technology.
  • Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS) - i.a. Electrical engineering, applied mathematics, interaction technology, internet science & Technology and computer science.
  • Science and Technology (ST) - i.a. Chemical engineering, applied physics, biomedical engineering, health sciences, advanced technology and nanotechnology.
  • Faculty of Geo-information Sciences and Earth Observation (ITC) - i.a. spatial engineering, cartograpy, geo-information science & earth observation.

Next to the programmes administered by the faculties mentioned above, University College Twente offers the broad honours BSc programme in Technology and Liberal Arts and Sciences, or ATLAS for short, and the Twente Graduate School offers post graduate education (PhD and PDEng).[9] Since 2019, this study is part of the faculty ITC.

Bachelor's and Master's Degrees

The University of Twente has the following faculties with corresponding bachelor- and master programmes:

Academics

Research
"Het Ding" "(The Thing)", by Jasper Latté and Jaap Hos

Research institutes

Knowledge and research centres
  • Center for Philosophy of Technology and Engineering Science (CEPTES)
  • Center for European Studies (CES)
  • Center for Higher Education Policy Studies (CHEPS)
  • Center for healthcare operations improvement & research (CHOIR)
  • Centre for integrated manufacturing and development (CIPV)
  • Center for clean technology and environmental policy (CSTM)
  • Nikos - Dutch institute for knowledge intensive entrepreneurship
  • Science, Technology, and Policy Studies (STePS)
  • Twente Water Centre (TWC)
  • 4TU Resilience Engineering Centre
  • 4TU Centre of Excellence for Ethics and Technology
  • Max Planck Center for Fluid Dynamics

Education

The degree programs at the University of Twente range from business administration and psychology to applied physics, engineering and biomedical technology.

In the applied sciences, the emphasis is on nanotechnology, process technology, engineering, information and communication technology, and the biomedical sciences.

So far, the UT has produced over 1,000 spin-off companies and start-up companies; more than any other Dutch university.[10] UT is also one of the founders of Novel-T, formerly Stichting Kennispark Twente, a startup accelerator and support program for university spin-offs.[11][12]

Rankings
University rankings
Global – Overall
ARWU World[13]401-500 (2020)
CWUR World[14]418 (2020-21)
CWTS World[15]441 (2020)
QS World[16]=197 (2021)
THE World[17]201–250 (2021)
USNWR Global[18]=390 (2021)

The Leiden Ranking (2016) ranked the University of Twente 127 in Europe.[19]

The Webometrics Ranking of World Universities (2016) ranked the University of Twente 215 overall in the world and 75 in Europe.[20]

The 2016 QS World University Rankings ranked the University of Twente 177 overall in the world.[21]

The 2017 Times Higher Education World University Rankings ranked the University of Twente 153 overall in the world.[22] Also, the University was ranked 82 overall in the world in the field of Engineering and technology and 61 in the field of Computer Science.[23]

In 2016 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) ranked the University of Twente 301-400 overall in the world.[24]

In 2015 the University of Twente was ranked as the most entrepreneurial university in Netherlands and also voted the Dutch university most successful in commercializing scientific knowledge.[25]

Timeline of rectors
  • 1963–1967: Gerrit Berkhoff (died in 1996)
  • 1967–1971: Jo Vlugter
  • 1971–1974: Pieter Zandbergen
  • 1974–1976: Jan Kreiken (d. 2001)
  • 1976–1979: Izak Willem van Spiegell (d. 2005)
  • 1979–1982: Harry van den Kroonenberg (d. 1996)
  • 1982–1985: Wiebe Draijer (d. 2007)
  • 1985–1988: Harry van den Kroonenberg (second term)
  • 1988–1992: Jos de Smit
  • 1992–1997: Theo Popma (d. 2013)
  • 1997–2004: Frans van Vught
  • 2005–2009: Henk Zijm
  • 2009–2016: Ed Brinksma
  • 2016–present: Thom Palstra

Notable alumni

Notes and references
  1. "Facts and Figures from 201o". Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  2. University of Twente: huisstijl - bouwstenen – website of Tilburg University
  3. Editorial, Reuters. "Top 100 European Innovative Universities Profile". U.S. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
  4. "History of the University of Twente". Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  5. https://www.utwente.nl/en/organization/about/History/%7Caccessdate=22 August 2019|
  6. "Life at the University | Campus Life | MSc University of Twente". Universiteit Twente. Retrieved 2017-01-14.
  7. "The Student Union". Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  8. "Members of the Executive Board". Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  9. "University of Twente, Faculties". Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  10. "University of Twente Top universities".
  11. "News | Kennispark Twente becomes Novel-T | University of Twente - Enschede". Universiteit Twente. Retrieved 2018-02-18.
  12. "Founders Novel-T". Novel T. Retrieved 2018-02-18.
  13. "Academic Ranking of World Universities 2020". ShanghaiRanking. Retrieved 2019-08-17.
  14. "World University Rankings 2020-2021". Center for World University Rankingsg. Retrieved 2021-01-07.
  15. "CWTS Leiden Ranking 2020". Retrieved 2021-01-07.
  16. "QS World University Rankings 2021". Top Universities. Retrieved 2021-01-07.
  17. "World University Rankings 2021 - University of Twente". Times Higher Education (THE). Retrieved 2021-01-07.
  18. "Best Global Universities - University of Twente". U.S. News Education (USNWR). ). Retrieved 2021-01-07.
  19. "Leiden Ranking 2016". Retrieved 2016-12-05.
  20. "Webometrics Ranking of World Universities". www.webometrics.info. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  21. "QS World University Rankings 2016".
  22. "Times Higher Education World University Rankings". Retrieved 2016-12-05.
  23. "Times Higher Education World University Rankings - Overview University of Twente".
  24. "Academic Ranking of World Universities 2016". Retrieved 2016-12-05.
  25. "University of Twente again voted the most entrepreneurial university in the Netherlands".

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.