Here we share the main ambitions of the plan, which describes a new strategic direction for our university.
The mission, vision and values from our Strategy 2030 have been updated. This is based on an analysis of external developments, a thorough evaluation of the previous institutional plan and input from students and staff from the TU/e community.
Central to the plan is the shared desire to contribute to a better world as a university. This is in line with TU/e’s CORe values : Curious, Open, Responsible and Respectful. We have translated this mission into new strategic goals: by 2030, TU/e is a key driver of innovation ecosystems, European competitiveness and resilience, and sustainability transitions.
Building on strengths
We want to achieve these goals by building on our greatest strengths.Firstly, our unique way of working with partners in and beyond the region. As a leading example of a fourth generation university, TU/e stimulates sustainability transitions with talent, groundbreaking science and valorization initiatives, based on our CORe values.
In addition, we educate responsible engineers through our focused and interconnected research and education programs. They are able to lead the necessary societal changes and develop technological system solutions for sustainability transitions.
Finally, we stimulate talent throughout the university’s community: from students and staff to starting entrepreneurs and alumni. We provide, recognize, and facilitate clear and diverse career paths for academics and professionals.
One TU/e
An important underlying condition for the success of this strategy is that we join forces under the motto ’One TU/e’. We aim to function as a close-knit community, breaking down silos and fostering collaboration across departments and disciplines. This approach emphasizes shared goals, trust, and inclusivity so every member of the university can contribute.Under the motto ’One TU/e’, we bring people together in research, education, valorization and operations. We implement one operating model for all departments and services, supported by effective, transparent and inclusive decision-making processes. In addition, we are exploring organic clustering of our departments to foster collaboration and join forces, build critical mass, and increase investment opportunities, while safeguarding the identity of the different disciplines.
’Building a strong TU/e community is of great importance to me. My dream is that we build a community in which we benefit optimally from the diversity that we have, in which everyone feels at home and safe, everyone can flourish, and we build on each other and stand up for each other.
For our university, this implies a transformation. That requires time, energy and an investment from all’of us.
I strongly believe that you go faster as well as further if you are a close-knit team that is well attuned to each other, that fights for each other and shows real team spirit. That requires courage. Requires leadership. Requires the ability to step over your own shadow and act in favor of the bigger picture. And requires trust, safety and a culture in which we dare to hold each other accountable and stand together.’
Koen Janssen, president of the Executive Board
Ambitions
For the years 2026-2030, we focus on three ambitions.Talent
Firstly, we want to be an attractive and growing hotspot for excellent students and staff. In addition, we want to achieve the goals of the Beethoven project , which are mainly in the field of Talent.To this end, we will focus in the coming years on:
- attracting, developing, and retaining talent;
- developing leadership and an organization that promotes transparency, effectiveness and (social) safety;
- educating more master’s students for the semiconductor sector, which is essential for the Brainport region and is also of great European importance with the Beethoven program;
- and creating an engaged community, both on and off the TU/e campus.
Science, engineering, design
We strive for technology leadership by delivering research excellence at the European level. In doing so, we want to take a leading role in the priority areas of energy; health; digital and semiconductor technologies; and advanced materials. In addition, we educate responsible engineers as future leaders in the sustainability transitions, based on excellent research in these priority domains.To achieve these ambitions, we are committed to:
- developing technology leadership in a European context in the four priority areas;
- educating responsible engineers in close interaction with Brainport;
- making education more flexible, so that students are able to follow their own study path;
- investing in infrastructure and capabilities in the four priority areas;
- embracing artificial intelligence in education, research, valorization and business operations;
- and developing an Open Science approach with extra attention for knowledge security.
Value for society
In the four prioritized domains, we are leading when it comes to valorization in Brainport and beyond. We collaborate with leading academic institutions, businesses, civil society organizations and citizens in multiand transdisciplinary settings. Our campus is open; we share our facilities and exchange knowledge and staff. We actively involve our alumni in bringing different perspectives, competencies, experiences and investments to our innovation ecosystems.In the coming years, we will focus on:
- co-creation with society, mainly through our institutes;
- realizing an open campus that promotes collaboration;
- and the development of an entrepreneurship ecosystem by creating a Knowledge Transfer Office.
’Anyone who has talent and shows commitment should be able to flourish here. That is why we will diversify career paths.
Why do people chose to work at a university? Because of the freedom you get to follow your passion.
We want to offer our researchers the space and support they need to be creative in education, research and valorization. But that certainly doesn’t mean that everyone does everything. People should be able to steer their own career path and determine their own focus. Not everyone has to go for a Veni, Vidi or Vici grant, we don’t have to solve all the world’s problems, and people who are heavily committed to education or valorization should also feel supported in their efforts.
I hope people join our university because we are an excellent university with a welcoming culture. Our CORe values fit perfectly in my view.
We are a young university, with passionate people, in an attractive region, who must seize the opportunities that are available. And we can only do that by making our diverse career paths our strength.’
Silvia Lenaerts, rector magnificus
TU/e Operations
In order to achieve our strategic ambitions in an efficient and effective manner, we realize personal, connected and seamless operations throughout academic departments, institutes and service departments. To this end, we distinguish between processes for which an adequate level is sufficient, and for the coming period four key differentiators that require world-class level:- attracting talent,
- developing and retaining talent,
- optimize research facilities in our prioritized domains
- and creating and fostering an engaged university community.
Next steps
Based on this institutional plan, the board will draft the implementation plan together with the community; this plan should be ready in June 2026. It will describe how we will reach the goals, who will have leading roles and how people, from inside and outside the university, can contribute.’Together we are building an organization that is ready for the future. For TU/e operations, this means that we will put more ownership where it belongs: with the departments. Through stronger alignment between departments and services, we aim to collaborate more seamlessly in service chains and better address user needs.
We do this not only to improve our operations, but also to make our work more enjoyable, personal and effective.
This will take effort. This requires a different approach and commitment from all’of us. We prefer progress over perfection: it’s not possible to do everything differently all’at once. Together with all directors, we are taking steps with a shared way of thinking, achievable goals, clear agreements and clear governance. All these small steps together make the difference towards personal, seamless and connected operations.’
Patrick Groothuis, vice-president of the Executive Board
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