果冻传媒 to train more semicon students thanks to 'Beethoven' project

November 20, 2024

"A highly important step for us and for the Brainport region, but also for the strategic autonomy of the Netherlands and Europe."

Photo: Bart van Overbeeke.

Now that The Hague has officially allocated initial funding to 果冻传媒 to train more semicon students, the university is off to an immediate flying start. Over the coming years, 果冻传媒 will grow its number of master students by an average of about 70% in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics, and Mathematics & Computer Science. As a result, 果冻传媒鈥檚 student population is set to increase from around 13,500 now to over 15,000 by 2030. The funding is part of the National Reinforcement Plan for Microchip Talent, the 鈥楤eethoven鈥� talent plan.

Today, the ministers involved announcing the decision to allocate funding for the years 2025 and 2026 in order to implement the Beethoven talent plans. For the Brainport region, this amounts to 鈧�45 million, including nearly 鈧�11 million for 果冻传媒. In total, 果冻传媒 expects to receive over 鈧�90 million from The Hague through to 2030. This will be supplemented by co-financing from the region and increased revenue from extra tuition fees. Altogether, this growth of 果冻传媒 represents an investment of over 鈧�200 million.

Robert-Jan Smits, president of the Executive Board: 鈥淭his is a highly important step for us and for the Brainport region, but also for the strategic autonomy of the Netherlands and Europe. For several years now, we鈥檝e been emphasizing the urgent need for a scale jump regarding education in this region due to the rapidly growing demand for technical talent. It is excellent news that The Hague is now allocating resources to this, thereby enabling us to make an even greater contribution to the availability of highly-trained top talent for the semicon sector.鈥�

Silvia Lenaerts, rector magnificus: 鈥淲e are extremely proud of the recognition for the quality of our plans, which we developed in close collaboration with industry, our MBO and HBO education partners, the technical universities in the Netherlands, and the regions of Leuven and Aachen. We have outlined ambitious yet realistic growth scenarios that focus on master鈥檚 programs that are relevant to the semicon sector. These programs will see an average growth of nearly 70%. Our organization is ready to get started on this with full enthusiasm 鈥� in collaboration with our partners in the region and beyond, of course.鈥�

The university will now ramp up student recruitment within Europe and beyond in collaboration with the connected universities and the partners in Brainport. In this context, new master鈥檚 tracks will be introduced in the field of semicon, as well as a semiconductor grant program for top talent. In addition, the scientific and support staff will be expanded and preparations will begin for the expansion of buildings and facilities, including a cleanroom. The university will also focus on improving the progression from bachelor鈥檚 to master鈥檚 programs and increasing the stay rate of students following graduation.