The University of Twente (Dutch: Universiteit Twente [ynivɛrsiˌtɛi(t) ˈtʋɛntə]; abbr. UT) is a public technical university located in Enschede, Netherlands.
The university has been placed in the top 170 universities in the world by multiple central ranking tables. In addition, the UT was ranked the best technical university in the Netherlands by Keuzegids Universiteiten, the most significant national university ranking.
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).
Contents
History
The university was founded in 1961 as Technische Hogeschool Twente (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 that the local economy needed a boost to compensate for the dwindling textile industry. The municipality of Enschede made the Drienerlo estate available for the first campus University of the Netherlands.
Campus
The University of Twente was built on the former country estate of Drienerlo, situated between Hengelo and Enschede. The 140-hectare (345 acre) 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.
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 sports complex on the Twentekanaal.
Rankings
According to the Times Higher Education Ranking, the University of Twente is considered one of the 200 most prestigious universities globally. The university performed particularly strongly in the Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure 2021 ranking. Here, the university was ranked eleventh in the world rankings. At the same time, psychology and social sciences also performed well, receiving 101–125 in the world rankings.
In the Shanghai Ranking 2021, the University of Twente's Geoinformation and Earth Observation Sciences were awarded. In the field of remote sensing, the university landed among the top ten universities in the world. The commitment in this area will be further expanded in the coming years.
According to Keuzegids Universiteiten, the most significant national university ranking, the University of Twente is the best technical university in the Netherlands.
Organization
Administration
The current rector magnificus of the university is professor Tom Veldkamp. The other two members of the executive board are Vinod Subramaniam (president of the executive board) and Machteld Roos (vice-president)
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.
Technische Natuurwetenschappen (TNW) : Applied Natural Science and Technology – 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, cartography, 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). 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
MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology
TechMed Centre
Digital Society Institute (DSI)
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. UT is also one of the founders of Novel-T, formerly Stichting Kennispark Twente, a startup accelerator and support program for university spin-offs.
Timeline of rectors
1963–1967: Gerrit Berkhoff (d. 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
2016–2020: Thom Palstra
2020–present: Tom Veldkamp
Notable alumni
Albert van den Berg, professor of physics and 2009 winner of the Spinoza Prize
Ank Bijleveld, Dutch politician – Minister of Defence
Bas Lansdorp, co-founder and CEO of Mars One
Cees Links, Wi-Fi Innovator
Dirk-Willem van Gulik, founder of the Apache Software Foundation
Fred Teeven, former Dutch politician – State Secretary for Security and justice
Giancarlo Guizzardi, creator of the Unified Foundational Ontology and the OntoUML language
Gom van Strien, Dutch politician – member of the Senate
Han Polman, Dutch politician – King's Commissioner of Zeeland
Henry Franken, co-founder and managing director of BiZZdesign
Iain Baikie, professor of physics and winner of the Swan Medal
Jaap Haartsen, inventor of Bluetooth
Marleen Veldhuis, swimmer – Olympic, World and European Champion
Merlyna Lim, professor, Canada Research Chair, and member of Royal Society of Canada College
Peter Flach, professor of artificial intelligence at the University of Bristol