23 January 2024
How do we design a smart electricity grid that responds to the growth of solar panels and keeps working when the sun is not shining? Can a simple 3D-printed lens, a smartphone, and smart software detect skin cancer without having to see a doctor? These are the kinds of questions that students will tackle in the new Science, Technology & Innovation programme. This challenges them to use their knowledge of physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, earth and environmental sciences and information sciences to find solutions to complex and current problems.
'With this programme, we combine our strengths of top natural science education as well as a broad, socially engaged university with technical skills. This will lead to new insights and applications and we will meet the great need for technically educated beta students. I congratulate the enthusiastic team on this milestone,' says Peter van Tienderen, dean of the Faculty of Science where the study is housed.
Chris Slootweg, the prospective programme director of this new bachelor, is also very happy that the process for approving this programme was successful. 'We passed with flying colours with laudatory comments from the committee.' Among the reasons behind this new programme, he cites the high demand for technically trained personnel. 'There are no technical universities in the Amsterdam region, so this is an opportunity for us to train students in basic natural sciences and provide them with the necessary practical experience. The emphasis on both theory and the application of knowledge is what makes this programme special.'
The new programme (in Dutch) will start in the academic year 2024-2025. The study programme is structured around four main themes: 1) High-tech designer materials, 2) Sustainable energy and circular raw materials, 3) Design with living building blocks, 4) Information sciences, digital modelling and simulation. Design- or problem-based education is central where students, in collaboration with experts from inside and outside the university, will develop a solution to a concrete problem.
At the UvA Makerspace, they will then design and test prototypes of these solutions. 'For example, we are working with the Port of Amsterdam on sustainable energy,' says Slootweg. 'Their mission is to be able to transport one million tons of hydrogen by 2030. As a study programme, we will contribute to facilitating this sustainability ambition by challenging students to find answers on how to achieve this.'
This new undergraduate programme will start 1 September 2024 with around 40 students.