Campus

Big welcome for record number of international students

The International Introduction Programme 2015-2016 promises to be the biggest so far with around 1800 students about to start their studies at TU Delft.

Starting on August 17 2015, the two-week programme includes a daily Meet and Greet at the Welcome Café, multi-cultural celebrations and a rocket-building competition. In addition, there will be plenty of help introducing non-Dutch students to all the administration involved in beginning an academic study in the Netherlands.

“As usual, we asked both Dutch and international students already studying at TU Delft to help”, said Sophie Vardon, Student and Staff Introduction Coordinator, “And there was such an overwhelming response that we had to have two days of assessment to select who to train as a coach.” During the introduction weeks, these coaches will be on hand to help international students with everything from how to open a bank account, and how to use Blackboard and even, how to fix a bike.

There are four categories in the optional part of the programme: practical, academic, social and cultural understanding. Vardon’s team is working closely with Dutch student organisations to get the new graduates and undergraduates involved in sport and cultural activities.

Building on the success of the last introductory week, the team is once again running a water-rocket launching competition. “From the feedback of previous years,” said Vardon, “we know that mandatory projects, designed to test academic ability and team spirit, have been less popular than the other activities. But the water-rocket competition half a year ago was one of the most popular events ever.” Groups of ten students from different countries and faculties will spend a few days working together to design a water-rocket that they get to launch at the end of the week. This time the contest has been scaled up with seven or eight launchers instead of just one, and marks will be awarded for presentation and, of course, the rocket that stays airborne for the longest time.

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