45 Ideas to create the UT of tomorrow 1 april, 2014
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45 IDEAS ABOUT the UT of tomorrow This promotion book presents the 45 ideas that resulted from the event ‘Create the UT of tomorrow’. Three hundred students, employees and alumni of our university put these proposals forward. On 1 April, 2014 they all enthusiastically set to work on the task: go beyond your comfort zone and come up with creative and surprising ideas. The groups departed from an early concept of the strategy document Vision 2020, in which UT’s ambitions for the future are formulated.
FILM: Create the UT of tomorrow
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Vision 2020 We are living in an ever-changing world. With the increasing role of technology our society is constantly evolving and facing many new challenges. As a technology-driven research university we are preparing our students for the future as tomorrows’ global citizens. Our alumni are academic professionals with a strong ability to combine and apply knowledge from various disciplines. Together with public and private stakeholders they design creative solutions for challenges of the future. Our researchers work on scientific breakthroughs and develop solutions for major challenges of the world. This enhances the appreciation of our researchers and strengthens their position as opinion leaders on a global level. To be able to adapt easily to market and environmental changes we constantly interact with public and private partners; thus the University of Twente will become an agile organisation. We provide excellent education and research, in the fields of Biomedical-, Nano-and Information Technologies, combined with relevant Governance and Behavioural Sciences. We distinguish ourselves from others by the impact we create through the transfer of scientific knowledge and the number of our spin-off companies; we are the most entrepreneurial university of Europe and will maintain this position.
Create the UT of Tomorrow The 45 ideas that came out of the event Create the UT of Tomorrow are presented in this promotion book. In most cases this is an abridged version. But the ideas have been edited as little as possible. The plans are categorized and presented around the following six themes:
• Smart & living lab Campus • Education on demand • Network organisation • Support and talent development • Research, education and entrepreneurship • Multi-, inter- and cross-disciplinary focus Each theme is preceded by a short excerpt from the Vision 2020 document, to give context to the presented ideas.
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WEBSITE YOUTUBE PREZI
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IDEAS ABOUT A SMART & LIVING LAB CAMPUS Experience the campus as a smart and living lab for future smart city concepts and technology. Our Campus is an academic and creative meeting place, an international community where you have access to state of the art resources, facilities, knowledge and talent. Scientists, students, public and private organisations work together on scientific and technological solutions for the challenges of our society. We offer a test lab environment in which we solve crucial issues by means of a smart campus. Our motto: inspiring and getting inspired by the world.
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Evolucity Your ideas come alive at the Twente Evolutionary Experimental Research Facility located in the Hogekamp. For 2020 we envisage the development of not only smart technologies such as smart grids, smart homes and smart appliances, but also systems and new concepts such as more advanced water recycling systems, electric vehicles, material recycling and increased energy generation, with the aim of reducing the strain on existing networks. Current research generally involves simulations and implementations on test sites. However, in order to make faster progress we need to test technologies
and concepts in real-life situations. In this continuous creative environment we can gain more user experience, making use of existing equipment and ideas, and student involvement. Therefore we will transform the Hogekamp building into a Living Lab where students will live during their internship. The idea will be extended to the rest of the campus: - Hogekamp as Living Lab - Campus internships within the building - Short trial-and-error cycles - World domination of the University of Twente through spin-offs
University of Twente as the most sustainable University of Europe We have the first self-sufficient and most sustainable university in Europe in 2050: sustainable food, smart cities, renewable energy and green transport. Our campus is a ‘live life for free’ community. We make the best possible use of campus facilities, also commercially. We educate visionaries, we offer virtual campus experiences and we attract capital and generate extra revenues. The UT campus is put to use as a Technology Park. Bekijk PREZI Sustainable technological innovations of the UT should be applied to the campus. All transport on Campus, like segways, bikes, scooters and buses are based on green energy projects. To navigate on
campus we develop an augmented reality app, the Campus Piccolo, which gives information in multiple languages. To connect and involve people with what is happening on the Campus there is a new edition of Campus News in live reports, presented on all screens.
The Human Tech Valley A metaphor for our Campus is a Human Tech Valley with attention to people, planet and profit, focusing on health, logistics and energy, and leading to less waste, fewer materials and reduced damage. Therefore we improve traffic accessibility, we keep
and attract talent (e.g. by offering fully arranged packages including an attractive campus) and we integrate education, research and added value, and create optimal facilities for companies. How to unlock these University of Twente goals? - For our international guests, students and corporate alliances we need to improve accessibility. Twente should be within half an hour’s reach of Schiphol, Hamburg and Köln. - To attract new talent and keep current talent Twente is to become a sexy living environment with attractive jobs, arts, sports, an appealing countryside, housing, excellent healthcare and top schools. - For the integration of education, research and added value we need outstanding support for companies, e.g. tax advantages, assistance with financial and legal matters, and facilities to stimulate partnerships.
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The Smart, Green, Knowledge Hub How can the UT in twenty years be the Smart Green Knowledge Hub where different boundaries cross: global/local, cross-disciplinary, encompassing different types of knowledge? What goals do we have to set to meet these challenges? - Educating the polymath* of tomorrow - Enabling the global knowledge worker - Aligning diverse types of knowledge * Polymath: a person whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas; such a person is known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems. The term was first used in the seventeenth century and referred to such individuals as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Galileo Galilei, Paolo Sarpi, Nicolaus Copernicus, Francis Bacon, Michael Servetus, Ibn al-Haytham, Ibn Sina,
What ideas for solutions arise? - Polycentric research projects and curricula: transregional, transdisciplinary, transinstitutional, e.g. linked master theses, research projects, topics/ problems approached from different angles - Developing international teaching initiatives, e.g. via virtual platforms - Regional internationalisation: an interregional university network - Collective experimentation: problem-related research and experimentation conducted in an opensource manner, involving crowd sourcing and crossing the boundaries of academic and applied disciplines
and Omar Khayyรกm. These thinkers embodied a notion that emerged in Renaissance Italy.
Quality of living Lab We need a stronger connection between health on the one hand and industrial research and development on the other hand by interrelating concepts such as health & ageing, safety, connectivity and food. We use our campus as a Quality of living Lab, including Sodexo, cleaning, green management, accommodation, education and research. Thus we can
be a flexible, problem-driven research organisation, consisting of capacity groups that are related to multidisciplinary problems. The UT is a recognised research partner for public and industrial organisations within a range of 500 km for topics related to the quality of living.
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Creating the Sustainable Space Campus Challenges in the future are depletion of resources, reduced air quality and shortage of water and food. Our aim is to create a Sustainable Space in 2050: our campus makes living in space possible! In space energy, water and urban farming are basic needs. Multidisciplinary research and development teams will make the campus into a living lab to test, show, and apply the latest technological developments providing these needs in a creative environment.
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IDEAS ABOUT EDUCATION ON DEMAND In our education we extend the resources of the University to meet the needs and interests of a wide range of students, from the traditional student to the lifelong learner. Our students have instant access to education anytime, anywhere and they have the ability to create their own programmes. We educate the new generation of professionals who are driven by the challenge of knowing the unknown. Keywords are: freedom for creativity, guts, no limits in thinking, be critical. Find solutions for the problems of today. Our learning community is a worldwide network organised around issues in society, individual learning paths, with apps, electronic guides, lab facilities and with the UT as the centre and meeting point of all network partners.
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Festivaliz’UT In the future students can create their own curriculum. Education is like a festival: Festivaliz’UT. The UT of Tomorrow is organised as a creative environment that houses interdependent scientists of multiple disciplines who collaborate on societal challenges such as health, safety and cities. The campus is a breeding ground for artists, engineers and scientists. The educational programme within this university uses the metaphor of a festival: students choose their own curriculum from all the exciting research programmes and knowledge events that the university has to offer. To ensure that all students can live up to their potential and are able to fulfill the programme’s basic requirements, the first year starts with a universitywide Bootcamp (the new BSA). In this Bootcamp students with different high school profiles will form teams to work on challenging projects for which they must seek knowledge from multiple disciplines. Finishing the Bootcamp with a good result gives them full access to the university’s educational programme. After Bootcamp, students can choose from the variety of modules and tracks related to High Tech Human Touch. The festival structure ensures a serendipity effect: students will not only follow their chosen path but will also find unexpected treasures. Students will generally work in state of the art projects, some of which are stimulated by business organisations. Students will choose their own path within the multidisciplinary programme the university offers.
In the final two years at university, students will converge towards one of the main societal challenges (domains of application), as well as towards a ‘flavour’ within the multidisciplinary programme (artist, scientist or engineer). At this stage, students can also contribute their own work to the festival structure. Final degrees to acquire are for instance: City artist / city scientist / city engineer Health artist / health scientist / health engineer Safety artist / safety scientist / safety engineer Researchers at the UT will present their acquired knowledge on stage at the university festival, which will also be a platform for researchers from universities abroad. The community at the festival will therefore also work as a catalyst for new connections between researchers. In addition, the festival can function as a living lab where researchers can perform experimental research projects. In line with European and national grant policies, the UT will facilitate multidisciplinary research initiatives. This will for example be formatted at the festival ground in multidisciplinary battles where two or more researchers tackle a societal challenge together.
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BOOT-CampUs Education at the UT is like a BOOT-CampUs: in 2030 lifelong learners will not be educated by the university’s pre-set programmes, but they will design their own learning trajectories. We will have lifelong learning programmes for people aged 13-72. All programmes will have merged into technical degrees with subject streams and exit levels. In order to enroll into a programme, you need to qualify and prove you have basic academic skills. ‘So you think you can be a bachelor, master, engineer, scientist, postdoc, doctor or professor?’ Prove your knowledge and skills in BOOT-CampUs sessions. And if you do not qualify for the lowest level BOOT-CampUs sessions or you do not yet have the courage to audition, you can enter our special ‘So you think you can be a student’ modules.
BOOT-CampUs FILMPJE Some characteristics of the BOOT-CampUs model are: - No fixed programmes and many different timings possible - 24/7 with a personal balance in work & living
- Company and ‘real-world’ involvement from the start - Technasium XL and Twente Academy for the 13 to 18-year-olds - R&D-professionals on campus, campus as a real life lab - Qualify as a passionate jury or coach - Off-campus knowledge and on-campus projects - Teachers are only allowed to develop educational modules if they can prove these are a unique selling point for the UT
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Regional cooking, global impact Educating the new generation of professionals by introducing the Utopia Module.
Utopia Module (PREZI) How can the University of Twente achieve worldwide impact and how can it educate its students to become flexible professionals? We use the metaphor of the modern international restaurant. On the one hand the UT campus is a top-of-the-bill restaurant with strong ties to the regional market. Here we provide young professionals the chance to get hands-on engineering experience with companies and organisations. On the other hand, knowledge transfer becomes a demanddriven activity such as smulweb.nl.
Our top scientists provide an exclusive three-star ‘vision’ course which through modern technology and technique will be globally accessible. Of course our students are also guided towards the best online courses all over the world. Our goal is to create a resilient, recognisable UT, to have global impact and train flexible young professionals. We introduce the UTopia Module: working on relevant social issues within a multidisciplinary team, inducing students to develop into individual young professionals.
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Gaming Reality
Competition in Education
We use a gaming reality as the way to test knowledge developed by the university: game and reality cross over at the Campus. Challenging issues are solved through a Smart Campus. The UT is a basecamp for knowledge exchange. We offer summer schools and our educational programmes are in English. Our students can test their ideas on the campus, just like staff and entrepreneurs are able to do so. Education should not be cooped up in buildings; freedom of location at our campus is important.
Cross-disciplinary groups of students excelling in international scientific challenges and competitions: this results in high-profile press coverage for the UT. The UT should demonstrate how MOOCs provide added value. Also, it is important that students gain work experience and that they work in small groups. Challenges lie in the areas of: company back-up; involving the expertise of professionals; duration (one quartile); accessibility; co-curricular set-up.
A Twente state of mind Our goal is to offer an educational environment which enables pleasure, fun and happiness. We believe that a university should not push students in a given direction, but students should be inherently motivated to find their way to their own future. We see that some things are changing and that other things remain the same. For instance, changes have occurred in the extent to which the state can be held accountable for social issues and in the relationship between teacher and student. However, the foundations and basic characteristics of our university have proven to be a stable factor. These are our building blocks to establish a state-of-the-art learning environment for students and staff. We aim to do that by encouraging the following values:
- Trust: to be sure that students eventually find their way through life - Passion: students follow their hearts and passionately follow their interests - Freedom: like a bird, to find your way: students have the freedom to take education into their own hands - Senses: learning should become a sensory experience - Together: everybody is different, but in a network you need each other to achieve great things If we realise this we offer the tools to make students motivated so they can discover their way through life, finding fun, pleasure and happiness.
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IDEAS ABOUT UNIVERSITY OF TWENTE: A NETWORK ORGANISATION Learn, share, make friends, have fun and impress! The UT is an international on- and offline meeting place for those who want to be inspired and want to find and share knowledge. We try to remove all obstacles to make education and research as accessible and enjoyable as possible for students, staff and others, so that they can discover their passion and have a real impact on society.
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Smart community with Smart link The UT is a place where people meet, exchange views and learn, and where information is transferred into knowledge. Students, teachers, citizens, experts: everybody participates in giving, absorbing and generating knowledge. The intensity of interaction determines its effectiveness. The currency is the Smart Coin. By providing knowledge one obtains Smart Coins, gathering knowledge costs Smart Coins. The Smart Community is supported by Smart Link, the integrated information environment that enables the exchange of information, and incorporates functions
such as LinkedIn, BlackBoard and Twitter. Smart Buddy Tim-Tim guides you through information, contacts and opportunities. Smart Hub (the current campus) forms the meeting point where the actual meetings take place. Students obtain grades by participation in specific activities and obtain credits based on the knowledge they demonstrate. Meetings are diverse, from in-depth expert sessions to open meetings with participants from companies, institutions and citizens.
Small World Network: APPLE APPLE stands for Applied Projects Process Lab for Education. We are faced with a daunting challenge: a quickly changing society with ever-changing demands. The University of Twente prepares students for a new world. Therefore we need to focus more on socially relevant research (on major issues) and we need to be more flexible to better respond to a complex environment. A Small World Network is the answer: a new, closely intra-connected UT-structure characterised by flexibility and adaptability. Nowadays the disciplines are the organising principle of universities. Current developments ask for an organisational response. Thus the increased complexity of society and the increased demand for socially relevant research ask for cross-, inter- and multidisciplinary research. Similarly, reduced government funding, added to increased dynamics in public and private funding lead to the need for universities to be more entrepreneurial. As a result the only constant is change, requiring our university to develop cross-disciplinary approaches,
flexibility and agility. So we need to radically change our thinking about organising ourselves, i.e. applying the concept of Small Networks to the UT and enabling flexibility: - Local disciplinary nodes - Cross-disciplinary hubs - Flexible connections through research and education We need strongly interconnected disciplinary groups to address these challenges. Therefore we suggest to: - create Hubs and Nodes; - facilitate pilots in research, education and valorisation, e.g. · research computational modelling at the faculties of Engineering Technology and Behavioural Sciences; · energy transition teaching; · embedding our ideas in TOM, such as in the HTHT ‘packages’; · enabling facility sharing with industry and university partners, such as Wetsus (water) and BICON (bioeconomy).
Knowledge Community East Netherlands The KCEN is a distinctive community, formed in 2029 and first of its kind, to strengthen knowledge coproduction in the region and to incorporate the constituent parts of the former Institutes for Higher Education in the area. This community is a collection of knowledge intensive organisations, connecting users, producers, disseminators and co-creators of knowledge. Members are e.g. SME, schools (faculties), labs, NGOs, public agencies, regional training centres and spin-offs. The board of the organisation is elected by its members. The function of the board is to coordinate and facilitate collaboration between members and to encourage a flow of knowledge within the community. The board links this knowledge community to other knowledge
communities in the world. It is financed by its members and by the EU. With KCEN we create and maintain a sophisticated information platform. It is a sort of ‘Facebook for knowledge exchange’ in education and research: - Education ·P rovide training, education, degrees, diplomas, certificates and lifelong learning · Ensure excellent and diverse learning pathways - Research · Facilitate collaboration between the members · Identify priorities and emerging research themes for societal challenges - Knowledge exchange · Create public value and societal embeddedness.
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Make an impact through entrepreneurial identity and lifelong learning in the field of technological innovation We aim to integrate applied sciences and risk capital in the development of large-scale, long-term projects of national importance, by combining and commercialising scientific research and technological innovation. In this way we can increase our revenues and make an impact. - Educational target: make prospective students realise that technology has an impact on the real world (when it is embodied in products and services) - UT population: make students realise that they themselves can have an impact on that technology (when it is embodied in products and services) - Super alumnus: creates impact by giving back to the UT in terms of experience, money and internships
products and services and market these, and by much stronger alumni relations.
Our goal is to offer lifelong learning on technological innovation within the UT community, approached by an international community on the campus, by interdisciplinary teams of students co-developing
UT Global Crossroads The world has expanded extensively in terms of urbanisation, connections and communication. However, since society has realised the benefits of such situation, the trend has become to advocate a village feeling and to go back to one’s roots. We acknowledge the importance of links, information sharing and community creation between people. We base our findings on a traditional African village model where a central person plays the role of sage and counsellor for the society. This person is known as the centre of knowledge in the village. The University of Twente should have a similar role. Our goal is to make the University of Twente the centre of knowledge for the global village. The general idea is to create a spider’s web between students and the university in order to create a system of information sharing: a platform called UT Global
Crossroads. We define three main lines, namely students, companies and society. We want to attract students and researchers, both international and local, willing to make a contribution to solve global problems by giving them the necessary knowledge, skills and tools. We realise this by: - attributing study credits (ECTS) to student ideas as part of project based education; - providing support in turning ideas into concrete plans, e.g. by rewarding entrepreneurial skills, both in the Netherlands and abroad; - creating connections between students and alumni and developing a strong sense of belonging and pride in being part of the UT (cf. brand awareness). UT Global Crossroads will maintain active contact with companies interested in discussing their ideas and propositions, thus leading to knowledge exchange and experience sharing. Students are stimulated in their empowerment process by providing internships, scholarships and job positions both locally and globall; the UT supports them in innovation development and enterprise cooperation. In order to connect different stakeholders within the whole network (alumni, students and companies), we will organise conferences to share information, knowledge, experiences and provide support. A possible subject can be: Creating the UT of Tomorrow, a development platform for Dutch and international students to solve problems in their own country, e.g. pollution in Bogota.
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Diversifiers of UT: attract the best in the world to become the best in the world Our aim is to attract the best staff and students from the world so they become the best in the world. The University of Twente becomes a real global knowledge hub with a human touch from all around the world! ‘Make your own University.’ We should be able to create a universal university model where the ‘learner’ has the freedom to decide how they want to achieve their learning goals. This academic model should be an easily replicable model where teachers are called co-learners and learning is a process of co-creation. How do we attract the ‘best from the world?’ - We strengthen our alumni network: ‘Use Alumni super power.’ We create a Country Ambassador Programme for each country, in which alumni advocate the message of how fantastic the University of Twente is. And the UT supports this group of individuals in every way possible. We keep in close contact with alumni and create a social network for the UT which connects alumni, students, professors and researchers at the UT.
- We create networks and partnerships: ‘One knowledge partner in every country of the world.’ Is this hard to achieve? The UT has partners from around the world. Can we at least ensure that we have ONE knowledge partner in every single country of the world without any bias? - We create an open environment: the UT becomes truly inclusive and culturally sensitive by having an open space where people can relax, socialise, study and just have a bite together, just like a theatre cafe but without alcohol. - We open up all UT resources. Everyone has access to all UT resources, such as labs, equipment and professors. To create a fertile research environment a central repository of resources is available at the UT; every departments knows what is available and where, and can access this repository.
- We go digital and bridge the language gap: via MOOCs all knowledge content goes digital. We save other languages of the world. We will NOT let ONLY English survive in the name of globalisation. Going digital and making all content available in all languages of the world can give the UT the edge and a unique selling point in terms of being different and truly global. We help save all the languages of the world by making all knowledge and research available in MOOCS and in multiple languages.
Big Ideas platform Grandness of humanity is not limited by background, gender, religion, age or location. As a campus community we are the crossroads where ideas and people accelerate. Ideas meet leverage, people meet knowledge, problems meet solutions, democratising the world. By 2020 there will be 3 billion more people on the internet than presently, leading to more perspectives because these people will be given a voice. Therefore we need an offline and an online campus community to make these voices heard: www.utwente.nl/bigideas
www.utwente.nl/bigideas How we accelerate the world and society We use the Campus as a tool. The Campus gives everyone the opportunity to experience the future: it is a playground for applications of scientific findings. It is open 24/7 to ideas and challenges posed by society. The campus will be the place where scientists, students, companies and others can test, improve and apply products and knowledge.
The organisation facilitates that education, research and application are one. Knowledge is at hand everywhere; everyone can contribute and extract. By being in contact with the world around the Campus, students and employees can develop themselves to experts and generalists. Research and education are demand-driven: everyone can make use of different fields of expertise. Graduation takes place on the basis of experiences, both successes and failures. We are an entrepreneurial university. So once a year the University of Twente chooses a socially relevant universal problem. Students, employees and alumni of the University of Twente collaborate in a think tank to solve this problem. In an online and international community everyone can join and contribute to the solution. The University of Twente facilitates a glass building on the campus where a creative high tech laboratory is facilitated which everyone can useto help solve the problem. We invite ‘the world’ to participate, send in ideas and use the online community.We ask important humanitarian organisations such as the UN and Unicef to think along.
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IDEAS ABOUT SUPPORT AND TALENT DEVELOPMENT The University of Twente is a stimulating environment where talent is encouraged to excel. Realising impact in society requires excellent scientific research and education. Therefore, an excellent but also innovative, supportive organisation is indispensable. We focus on attracting, developing and retaining talent.
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Golden Teams In order to realise excellence by impact in the real world, to have a constant flow of innovation and to talents in a stimulating UT environment, we introduce The Golden Teams. These Golden Teams are made up of the most talented people in all areas: education, research, management and support. These groups have a focus and a vision and they work project-based in dynamic teams consisting of diverse and excellent young talents. Therefore, internal barriers like the current UT structure should be removed. A shift is needed from ‘closed’ to ‘open’ research & innovation; we should think in terms of a Golden Team Bar or a Talent Market. To realise a stimulating environment we want to develop a unique campus culture with shared research facilities, mixed with social facilities such as
media and usability labs, the Faculty Club, sport facilities and the Gallery. This approach is also related to the theme network organisation.
A spin-off for Service Centres Support services innovate! The creation of one overall service department 80% of which focuses on generic services and 20% on innovation, leads to permanent innovation and to spin-offs. Successful ideas will be used within the University of Twente and sold outside the University. Benefits are reliability, tailor-made and flexible services (‘on demand’) and supportive budgets. The University develops one Central Service Department. The merge of the current service departments creates a quality chain of support, which leads to the most efficient corporate solutions. The faculties focus on stable and generic basic service activities, so 20% of human capacity and budget savings can be used to innovate our services. Themes for innovations are MOOCs, supporting the ‘Smart City’, internationalisation, the UT workplace and the design of UT buildings. We are an entrepreneurial university and so is our service organisation. The new Central Service Department leads to permanent spin-offs. Our staff can present innovative ideas to a jury of UT members, comparable to the concept of the Dragon’s Den. The selected ideas can develop further within the spin-off organisation, with the intention of being commercialised. The service department is an early adopter of spin-off activities. In order to make the ideas possible the required support and facilities are available. On a frequent basis we invite innovator, so that we can learn from their
approach. Our staff have to be challenged to get out of their comfort zone and to develop themselves as entrepreneurial professionals.
What is necessary? - Focus on the supportive activities and reduce operational targets on day-to-day issues - Make budgets supportive instead of limiting primary service activities in education and research - Agreement as to the basic services; a deal is a deal! - HR policy is focused on self-development and mobility (internal and external) of employees (culture and mentality)
Synchronising demand and supply of services The idea is to streamline services and support by matching service demand and service supply. Matching takes place automatically by synchronising
the competences of support staff with requests for support.
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IDEAS ABOUT RESEARCH, EDUCATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP As a relatively small university of technology, with social and behavioural science alongside our focus on science and engineering, we both want and need to develop a more distinctive profile based on a unified ecosystem of education, research and commercial knowledge transfer. This is why we are now focusing more intensively on targeted and innovative combinations in research and education. We intend to become leaders in high-impact innovation and to offer unique educational programmes in a distinctive setting. Our campus is developing into an inspiring meeting place for scientists, students and entrepreneurs. A community for professional and personal development, where we educate the global citizens of tomorrow.
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Twente Valley The University of Twente integrates research, education and entrepeneurship on an international level in the concept of Twente Valley. Twente Valley consists of the Innovative University Campus in which students receive academic training to solve future challenges by testing their ideas on a Smart Campus. The first shell around the university is the Region of Twente with all of its businesses and communities. The next shell is Europe, where the university and its spin-offs tackle the challenges of Horizon 2020. The outer shell is the Global Village in which Twente Valley plays a key role in online education & research.
The Enterprising University To exploit our entrepreneurial nature, contacts between the University of Twente and companies have to be stimulated. While the UT already has a strong history of entrepreneurship, the remote location of the UT with respect to busy industrial centres in the Netherlands, such as the Eindhoven region and the Randstad, undermines close contacts between the UT and industry. While we could invite companies to the campus, another approach is to go to places where industry has activities. In line with that, companies often do not know what we can offer as a university and how they can benefit from partnership. A second issue is the modest nature of the our staff. This is partly ingrained in the culture of Twente, partly a symptom of being the smallest of the three Dutch technical universities. We should become more outgoing and show our strengths over the whole spectrum. We should show our connection with reallife problems, and be more visible outside the nanotechnology domain. Three initiatives are proposed: MEET@UT, UT2GO, COMPANY PORTAL. MEET@UT: We propose to have one central location on the UT Campus, a kind of ‘UT Tourist Information Office’, acting as an informal and easily accessible information centre showing ongoing research and education. Companies and people can experience what the UT can offer. Eventually, this can be combined with a museum showing past, present and future UT achievements. A good place to have this Meet@UT is a location in The Gallery. The UT introduces meeting facilities at different central locations in the Netherlands: Utrecht CS, downtown Amsterdam and the Hague, and the Zuidas in Amsterdam. Here, organisations can have regular or incidental meetings comparable to ‘seats2meet’. These facilities also have a UT Research & Results Gallery, a small version of Meet@UT. This gallery can be used for inspiration, but also to ‘direct’ people to
scientists and facilities at the UT campus. Virtual reality, Skype and other teleconferencing facilities are available. Also, trained UT facilitators can be hired by the meeting organisers. These facilitators act as UT ambassadors; they are familiar with UT expertise and ongoing research. Companies can also browse through the UT expert database during their meetings. In this way contacts can be made that are of direct relevance to both the UT and those who use the meeting facilities. UT2GO: FILMPJE COMPANY PORTAL: In addition to the physical Meet@ UT gallery, a web-portal is to be created. The portal shows past and present UT achievements, and links to senior faculty members. It can be maintained by the UT ambassadors by having them visit faculty members on a regular basis; thus the ambassadors can gain input for writing short summaries of ongoing research. Visitors of the portal can browse through offers that show possibilities for cooperative projects, initiated by the lecturers. The ambassadors combine the tasks of extracting information from faculty members and providing information at the Meet@UT facility and the UT2Go’s. In the UT2Go’s they also facilitate meetings.
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UTPolis: World Wide Inspiring Theme Park to realise your dreams UTPolis is a vision. It is not limited to borders, ideas or background. It is like a theme park where knowledge and inspiration are currency for exchange. If you want to have an impact, you can wander around, adapt, redesign and blend in. People in Twente will be familiar to work with the latest innovations. They live in smart houses, drive smart cars and live in a smart environment. In 2040, your presence at the University of Twente is defined by entrepreneurial collaboration. Globalism is defined by personal connections. Thematic areas are: Inspiring Surroundings, Business Ecosystem and International Networks.
Energising factors to realise Inspiring Surroundings are for instance: - Millennium Development Goals - Conversations and interaction with great thinkers - Entrepreneurship ingrained in the UT ‘DNA’ - Redesign the university – the UT is an entrepreneur in itself - Readdress the role of knowledge - Blended learning We should redesign and rename the UT, create an international theme park, with an entrepreneurial curriculum, reduced bureaucracy, and diversifying and inspiring work teams. A Business Ecosystem requires market funding of knowledge, risk taking, more fundamental research, global partnerships, a network of entrepreneurial universities and a special department which actively seeks talent in developing countries. To establish international networks we could profile ITC as entrepreneurial, internationalise Kennispark, extend internships and participate in EU 2020 Entrepreneurial Universities. In 2050 we will have a redesigned university consisting of an inspiring entrepreneurial playground where dreams become reality.
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IDEAS ABOUT MULTI-, INTER- AND CROSSDISCIPLINARY FOCUS Nearly all of the ideas mentioned earlier span the boundaries between disciplines, and also between education, research and valorisation. In this section ideas are displayed which explicitly emphasise these cross-overs.
45 IDEAS TO CREATE THE UT OF TOMORROW
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Science challenges: discover your passion! Although the University of Twente profiles itself as an entrepreneurial university, too many students only focus on getting their degrees. They are not encouraged to excel or develop their personal skills in fields they are passionate about. Furthermore, most of the university’s courses may also be followed online in MOOCs from international top universities like Stanford University. Moreover, we expect that companies will value experience to solve real world problems over degrees. This means that we need to add value for prospective students so that they will prefer our university over other places to study. We believe students should be inspired to discover and pursue their passion. Unlocking the full potential of students requires innovation at universities. We aim to create a healthy community to encourage students, teachers and companies to share knowledge. We achieve this by presenting challenges to small groups of passionate students, and by stimulating them to work on the Grand Challenges our world has to offer, together with leading experts in the field. We facilitate cross-disciplinary groups of students to excel in international scientific challenges and competitions, resulting in high profile press coverage for the University of Twente. Challenges are short scientific projects that are: - high profile, well-known competitions covered by the international press; unique students distinguish themselves;
- co-curricular: credits are not the primary aim; a challenge can be taken on in combination with a course; - limited in time: a challenge has a deadline and a deliverable; - preferably backed by companies and accessible to every student (unlike the present Honours programme). The challenges come from experts in the field, including professors from universities and experts from companies. These people have the opportunity to present their most inspiring and challenging cases. Every case is reviewed by a board of students and professors to guarantee the academic quality. Let us show what our university has to offer to future students and the academic field. Let us challenge our students, with science! More information can be found at:
www.sciencechallenges.nl We offer extra-curricular activities to students interested in their fields of study. Starting at the end of September, we will offer challenging projects and online competitions to students and help them complete these projects. Student participation is voluntary but highly recommended, for you can win fantastic prizes and add to your personal portfolio.
twente Holistic Innovation Lab: expanding cross-disciplinary interfaces in research and education Technical and social sciences are combined to create a new discipline with a special focus on the impact of technology on society. For instance, the curriculum starts with monodisciplinary education (B1 en B2) and moves on to a more multidisciplinary set-up at a later stage (B3). We start on the assumption that monodisciplinary problems do not exist; all of today’s problems are multidisciplinary and that is the basis of our educational programme. What do we want to achieve with our students? Students should be experts in their fields, have an understanding of the context of their work and of the impact on society. Our students are aware of technological opportunities, they are able to work together with other disciplines and to communicate across boundaries.
How do we achieve this? The combination of disciplines and the cooperation between groups within educational programmes needs to be much more drastic than in the current situation. We need crossdisciplinary creation that is applicable. For every problem of today there is more than one possible perception, and therefore problems need to be approached in a multidisciplinary way. We focus on the issues with real-world value, in the public domain, so the output of the education project has to be made public. This stimulates the idea of students to really create and achieve something.
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Educating the new generation of professionals Technology is the basis for the society of the future and yet the human component is very important. Therefore the UT fits the future profile well. However, education could be improved by strengthening the link between High Tech and Human Touch. The globalised world needs UT students who can possess multicultural and management skills. The professional of 2020 should be able to make a technological impact while taking into account human factors. He or she is a good communicator, is multilingual and interested in other communities and cultures.
What do we need to educate the new generation of professionals? - High Tech Human Touch should be further implemented in our education programmes. - We need more combinations with technology in our social sciences programmes and more interdisciplinary cooperation between the different education programmes. - Students are educated to be creative and to explore new ideas. - All programmes should contain basic courses of ICT, such as web design and programming, but also skills courses on English language for professionals, management skills and assertiveness. - There should to be more opportunity for personal and professional development, like internships and study places at other universities, in the Netherlands or abroad. - Better integration of international students and Dutch students.
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45 IDEAS TO CREATE THE UT OF TOMORROW
CONTACT Do you wanna know more about UT Vision 2020, please check www.utwente.nl/vision2020
www.utwente.nl/vision2020 COLOFON Universiteit Twente Postbus 217 7500AE Enschede Redactie: Bertyl Lankhaar, Spokesperson Executive Board, Sabien van Harten, Director TCP Language Centre University of Twente Vormgeving: Eric van der Wal - Station Noord Tekeningen: Frank Los, visual designer www.utwente.nl/vision2020 vision2020@utwente.nl
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