My experience at TU Eindhoven
This article describes my personal experience as a master student at TU/e,
I did my masters in Embedded Systems there between 2017 and 2019.
Usually, students start in September but I joined in February. Unless you don’t have a choice, don’t start mid-year like me! When you start in September, you get to meet fellow students in kick-off events. You’ll get ample guidance and company in figuring out the basics like housing, insurance, courses, schedule, etc. I missed all those since I started in February and also ended up taking mandatory courses that were difficult to follow without pre-requisite knowledge that I would have gotten had I started in September.
Courses
The master’s program is of 120 ECTS (European Credit system) and it comprises mandatory courses, specialisation mandatory and free electives (latest curriculum here). Unlike a semester system, TU/e follows a quarter system i.e a quarter spans roughly 2.5 months/10 weeks. A course typically includes lectures, individual/group assignments, and exams.
Courses are revised frequently to keep up with the latest research in that area. Most of the courses have pre-requisites. A manageable workload is three courses per quarter (15ECTS), depends on how flexible you are and the availability of courses as well. Grading is done on a scale of 10 and courses stipulate 6 or 6.5 to pass and anything above 7 or 8 is considered really good! Depending on the difficulty level of the course, sometimes even a pass is a big achievement!
I struggled initially with a few courses. It’s okay to fail and try again. Never give up and never feel ashamed to fail! I could only clear Realtime Systems on my second attempt, but scored a stellar 8/10!
Faculty
Professors are very professional, experts in their respective fields yet extremely humble. The lectures are really high quality and well structured. You can clarify your doubts during the lectures and there are dedicated office hours for discussions. With good grades and a rapport with the professor can help you in landing internships/thesis projects in their research group.
Exams/Assignments
Depending on the course, there might be an oral exam and/or a written exam as a part of the final assessment. Assignments can be either a group project or individual. Every course has a significant workload concerning the number of credits, through assignments and exams. Remember, plagiarism, even in assignments is seriously frowned upon.
Opportunities
There are plenty of opportunities for research or collaborating with the industries. You can do summer internships to gain credits as well. Besides, a career fair happens every year hosting several companies on the campus. It’s the best time to network, understand the landscape, and talk to recruiters. With special events like speed dates, you can schedule a quick interaction with a company of your choice and learn more about them. One such career fair event helped me land an internship at a company in Eindhoven.
Thesis
Thesis is the capstone in the master’s program. Since it is a full-time project spanning an entire semester (30 ECTS), a student is expected to have completed all the courses before starting. I had the choice to pursue thesis either at the campus or at a company. If you plan to graduate on time, I recommend to begin your search at least 3 months ahead, regardless of within the university or a company. You can talk to professors, research groups, companies, to find a suitable topic with a mentor. Planning and executing a master thesis deserves a separate article on its own. A quick gist,
- Choose a topic
- Identify the problem statement. (Critical part of the thesis!)
- Find a professor as an advisor.
- If you are carrying out your thesis in collaboration with the industry, ensure that it has sufficient research involved.
- Do literature survey, write down the requirements and set milestones.
- Keep the university advisor and mentor from the company posted on progress.
- Do not procrastinate the writing part! I’d suggest starting early and being consistent to avoiding rushing in the end.
TL;DR
Overall, it was a great experience. I feel lucky to have shared this journey with great professors and fellow students from all over the world. The program can be challenging but it definitely helped in my career. On the contrary, there are also alternate ways to grow in career.
Hope this helps an aspiring student. Thanks for reading & let me know if you want me to dive into a specific topic in detail.
