Interview: Studying abroad

Studying abroad:

Want to learn more about studying in Aachen? ‘Overcome your Take a look at studereninaken.nl fear and just go for it’

Ivo Merk Alumnus Engineering RWTH (Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule) is just over the border in the German city of Aachen. It’s a top university in our own EU region with a huge number of international students. Various Zuyd research centres already cooperate with this university.

If you’re considering further academic study after your Bachelor’s degree, you don’t need to look far from home. And you also immediately gain valuable international experience. It’s really interesting for Zuyd Bachelor's students looking for a follow-up study at Master’s level! Are you interested? Ivo Merk has been there and done that. Read about his experiences here.

Family and friends thought he was mad when he decided to do a Master’s after his Engineering degree. But that’s just what Ivo Merk did. He went to study in Germany at the RWTH in Aachen. Ivo was certainly not the model of German-style efficiency, and certainly didn’t have particular talent for languages. It was hard work, but Ivo would recommend it to everyone.

‘After my Bachelor’s degree I still didn’t feel ready to start work,’ explained Ivo Merk. ‘I was looking for more depth and wanted to investigate how things work.’ He decided on a three-year Master’s degree taught in English: Electrical Power Engineering at RWTH. Why Aachen? ‘Actually it’s quite simple. The study really appealed to me and the tuition fees were quite a bit lower than at TU Eindhoven or TU Delft.’

No language barrier Ivo first needed to successfully complete a mathematics and an English course before he could start. ‘I’d expected to face problems with English during my studies, as I’m not that great with languages. But things were only a bit awkward and clumsy for the first week. After that you develop quickly because you’re in a group with other international students, and that also made it really fun. You meet people from all kinds of nationalities, and you learn a lot about each other’s culture and customs.’

Another mindset needed The study programme itself was a disaster in that first semester. ‘The gap between the Bachelor's and Master's programme was huge and I was really behind in certain subjects. It made me wonder whether I should continue.’ But it was what Ivo wanted so he changed his mindset and adjusted to the German study mentality. ‘In Germany you’re expected to really understand the subjects and acquire in-depth knowledge. The Dutch way of scraping a 5.5 just to pass is absolutely not done. You need to perform and you need to know what you’re doing. You need to go for a 9 or 10.’ I gained so much ‘It was a huge switch, but I was really motivated and I gained so much. I learned to work so hard in those three years, made new friends, and acquired huge amounts of knowledge. For my thesis I worked at the IAEW Institute in Aachen. We conducted dielectric tests in the lab up to 100,000 volts and created ‘lightning flashes’ even up to 1,000,000 volts. An invaluable experience.’ And... armed with my Master’s, I was able to choose from three jobs.

Just do it! Ivo recommends that everyone should study abroad. ‘I notice that there’s not much interest among Dutch students for studying in Aachen. They think it will be too much work or too difficult. But they couldn’t be more wrong. Don’t be afraid of taking that step. Overcome your fear and just go for it.’