Groningen wants to play
The fifth TU
Door Rob van der Wal
By Rob van der Wal
Rob van der Wal
IIf you want to do a bachelor in applied physics, you can go to the technical universities of Delft, Twente and Eindhoven. Or you can go to the UG. The bachelor in applied physics is offered in Twente, Eindhoven and in Groningen.
And a master in biomedical engineering? Or the engineering doctorates, a two-year post-master programme for engineers that combines studying with practical experience in the industry? Programmes like these used to only be available at technical universities, but now in Groningen as well.
Over the past fifteen years, the Faculty of Science and Engineering (FSE) has gradually changed course. It used to focus mainly on traditional and fundamental research and education in the natural sciences, but has increasingly started to concentrate on technical programmes. The 2017 name change from the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics to FSE reflects this ambition.
But the Groningen university has been offering students the option of getting an engineering title in physics and mathematics since the 1950s. ‘Very few people were aware of that, though, even in Groningen’, says FSE dean Joost Frenken.
That means it’s high time to raise awareness of this fact. The CogniGron Centre, aimed at developing new types of computer chips, accelerated this development. But even before that, there was ENTEG, the Engineering and Technology Institute Groningen, as well as ZIA, the Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, where researchers are creating new materials and conductors.
Reputation
Now, in 2025, the faculty can measure up to the other big players, says Frenken and university president Jouke de Vries. But there’s one problem: Groningen is suffering from its reputation. ‘We’re very good at technology, but no one knows it.’
That became abundantly clear last year, when the UG and its northern partners were the only non-technical university allowed to participate in the Beethoven project, which trains students to work in the computer chip sector.
The TUs kind of struggled with us being a classical university
While this was a great achievement, it was quickly followed by disappointing news. Groningen was only awarded 29 million euros by the government; just 7 percent of the national budget of 450 million euros. Brainport Eindhoven, which includes computer chip giant ASML, is getting no less than 63 percent of the total budget.
Why? The distribution was based on how many people ASML had hired from specific regions in the past. ‘The model assumed that this trend would continue in the future’, Frenken explains. But it didn’t take into account the enormous potential the northern regions might have.
And there was more disappointing news last year, when the UG was in talks to join the 4TU, the organisation of the four technical universities in the country. After months of consideration, they decided not to let Groningen in. ‘While they realised we may possess the elements of a technical university, we are in the end still a classical university’, says Frenken. ‘They kind of struggled with that.’
But, he emphasises, that feeling isn’t warranted. What’s more: ‘We have something unique here in Groningen.’
Other disciplines
Here’s the thing: the other technical universities are just that: technical education and research. But that alone often isn’t enough. The things technical universities come up with will have to also be applied, and for that, you need other disciplines. ‘Like behavioural sciences, for instance, where they study why people aren’t working on certain transitions when the opportunities are there’, De Vries explains. ‘Or you have to figure out the legal choke points that are preventing these transitions from being carried out swiftly. The UG has the capabilities to combine all this.’
If we want to partner with other disciplines, we don’t have to go to a different city
While Twente might have a psychology department and Delft has a programme in systems engineering, ‘Groningen has entire faculties focused on social sciences, and they’re at the top of their field.’ That adds a whole different dimension, says Frenken.
The FSE dean knows all about it. Before he came to the UG, he was involved in the founding of Medical Delta, a partnership between the universities of Delft, Rotterdam, and Leiden. ‘They all need each other, because the teaching hospitals are located in Rotterdam and Leiden, and the technology is in Delft. So if they want to do something together, there are all these hurdles to face.’
There are no such hurdles in Groningen. ‘Whenever we want to partner with other disciplines, we don’t have to go to an entirely different city’, says De Vries.
More partnerships
Frenken isn’t worried that the UG’s other faculties are at risk of being overshadowed by the technological plans. ‘We’re already working together on the four schools, and the other faculties contribute just as much as FSE. Plus, my faculty isn’t overly present in the schools’ management.’
In fact, over the next few years, the UG wants to focus on the connection between technology, medical sciences, social sciences and humanities, and the business world. One option is to expand the collaboration between the schools. They’d also like the Groningen Engineering Centre, the faculties, and the business world to collaborate more closely.
‘We’re calling ourselves the fifth-generation university’, says De Vries. ‘The fourth generation is the link between universities and the business world, which exists at Eindhoven, Delft, and Twente.’
This interdisciplinarity is important. After all, there is a great need for technically trained students. ‘Technological developments are becoming increasingly important in society’, says De Vries. ‘Take the ever-expanding field of artificial intelligence, for instance. And because of the manufacturing industry, which we increasingly like to keep control of due to geopolitical matters, we have a greater need of technical talent.’
Expand the profile
That’s why the UG wants to spend the next few years expanding its technological profile, to make everyone aware that it’s a full-fledged technical university. Already, FSE is a sizeable faculty. With more than 1,500 FTE, it’s one of the biggest science faculties at a Dutch classical university. With a budget of more than 200 million euros a year, it’s a fairly big player in the field.
We have to focus on getting companies like Apple and Google over here
However, the technical universities have budgets ranging from 400 to 500 million (Eindhoven and Wageningen) or even 900 million (Delft). ‘The technical universities offer more programmes than we ever could’, says Frenken. ‘That’s not something we’re trying to compete in.’
The UG will be focusing on the disciplines they already have. ‘When it comes to autonomous systems and materials science, we’re one of the top universities in the world’, says Frenken. ‘Groningen is the best place to study in those fields.’
While before, only FSE called itself a technical university, the UG now emphasises the technological profile of the entire university.
Recruitment
The UG will also be focusing on recruitment. The number of students from the region that come here to study the natural sciences is lower than elsewhere in the Netherlands. An increase in technological education aims to change this. Frenken is currently looking for funding to set up a broad engineering bachelor in addition to the existing master programme. ‘Students from different technical programmes come here to do that master, so I think the bachelor has potential. Especially since we’re slowly making a national name for ourselves in the technical field.’
But he also wants to recruit students from abroad. After international recruitment was dialled down at the government’s behest, it’s now been resumed. ‘We were granted an exemption because there is a shortage on the labour market and we’re a region with a declining population’, says Frenken.
Finally, he hopes the extra funds from Nij Begun that Groningen got to compensate for the negative effects of the gas extraction will draw more high-tech companies to the region. ‘We have to focus on getting companies like Apple and Google over here, creating a basis for the high-tech giants of the future’, he says.
And it’s looking good. Even though the UG wasn’t made the fifth technical university last year, the other technical university did make a small concession. The 4TU elements that the UG provides will be renamed 4TU-plus. ‘We’re the plus’, says Frenken. ‘We’re affiliated with the education and research institutes at the other technical universities, and we often have meetings with those universities’ deans.’ This enables them to apply for grants together and collaborate on even more research.
Their goal? ‘In less than five years, everyone has to be aware that you can get a good technical education here’, says De Vries. ‘We’re also cementing that in the new strategic plan.’