The result is something quite unique: education and research that literally move between two universities. “They really are true VU-UT students,” says Boukje de Gooijer, lecturer and coordinator for Mechanical Engineering. “They belong to both.”

Studying, working and friends nearby
The alliance started in 2019 with Mechanical Engineering at VU Amsterdam, driven by a clear demand: the Netherlands needs more engineers, especially in the Dutch metropolitan region. But there was another factor too: students increasingly wanted to study closer to home. Tamino Kolmer, one of the first students in the programme, recognizes this immediately: “If the programme hadn’t been offered at VU, I wouldn’t have enrolled. I wasn’t ready to move yet, with my job and friends here.”

Mechanical Engineering has grown steadily and has now achieved the highest student satisfaction scores within mechanical engineering programmes for five consecutive years. That success was followed by the expansion of the alliance with Creative Technology.

Lecturers travel too
The collaboration between lecturers from both universities is intensive. Sven Askes, lecturer and coordinator for Mechanical Engineering, explains: “There are always topics where we need each other. Think about how to deal with Artificial Intelligence in education, or how to handle free-riding in group assignments.” Collaboration also happens in very practical ways: for example, exam question databases are shared to save time.

When students travel to Enschede for practical sessions, lecturers travel with them. This leads to new connections and sometimes even research collaborations. As De Gooijer puts it: “Precisely because we’re further apart geographically, it’s important to really see each other.”

Lecturers within the alliance teach at both VU and UT. One example is Luc Schoot Uiterkamp, lecturer in Creative Technology at both universities: “The end of the project course at VU, when students present their final projects, is always a fantastic moment for me. It shows how well UT’s practical and creative approach to education combines with VU’s strong sense of social engagement. The result is truly unique projects.”

Travelling to Twente for practicals
For students, most of their studies take place at VU, but they regularly travel to UT for practical sessions and projects. “VU is not a technical university,” says Askes. “Certain facilities simply don’t exist here.” De Gooijer adds: “Think of a metalworking workshop, but also practical teaching spaces for large groups. A regular lecture hall just doesn’t work for that.”

At the same time, VU is developing its own facilities, such as the Makerspace in the DLAB. These provide smaller-scale versions of the Twente labs and give students in Amsterdam opportunities to experiment. Schoot Uiterkamp explains: “This allows students to get hands-on experience in Amsterdam as well.”

The best of two universities
The strength of the collaboration lies in the combination of perspectives. De Gooijer explains: “At VU, the emphasis is more on a broad spectrum of academic expertise, while UT brings exceptionally strong technical depth. Together, that creates a broad learning environment.”

Askes adds: “Students experience a mix of applied and more academic education, while both universities maintain a strong focus on society.” At the same time, there is room for each institution’s own approach.

The two universities also learn from each other when it comes to curriculum design. “UT traditionally had quite a conventional curriculum,” says De Gooijer. “There, they can learn from how we innovate.” Conversely, VU learns from UT’s scale and experience, as well as its strong project-based education. “We see that students really enjoy this. They also learn a huge amount from it: communication, expectation management and collaboration,” says Askes.

Looking ahead
The ambition is to deepen the collaboration further, both in education and research. One option being explored is offering VU degree programmes as branch locations at UT. Askes says: “We work with a group of enthusiastic, often relatively young lecturers. That creates a lot of energy and involvement.”

For VU, the alliance mainly demonstrates what becomes possible when two universities structurally connect their education and expertise. The result is a learning environment that continuously evolves. “And if something doesn’t work well, we simply adjust it,” says De Gooijer.

Want to know more about the Alliance VU-UT and its programmes? Visit www.vu-ut.nl.