Harmonisation Master's Programmes

The Master's Programmes in Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences (AUBS) and Geomatics (GM) will be ‘harmonised’ in the academic year 2024-2025 and 2025-2026. To this end, a team of educational staff and teachers is working in consultation with student representatives of Stylos, Faculty Student Council and Board of Studies to make these programmes more similar in composition and structure. This will give students a wider range of choices within their two-year programme, both within and outside the faculty. Also, graduation will be a maximum of three quarters for all students.
 
The renewal will be implemented in two phases. The first year focuses only on MSc2 and will start in February 2025. The renewal of the second year (MSc3 & MSc4) will follow in September 2025.
 
Read more below about the background and goals of the harmonisation plans and what changes it will bring.


Why are we going to harmonise our Master's Programmes?

- Q5: TU-wide inter- and transdisciplinary electives
TU Delft has asked faculties to schedule the fifth quarter (Q5) free of compulsory courses to create inter- and transdisciplinary elective space. This will allow students from September 2025 to choose electives offered by or in collaboration with other TU Delft faculties, or with social partners. The Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment is happy to answer this call. This new Q5 will offer students the opportunity to gain new knowledge and experience from applying existing knowledge and specific skills towards collaboration projects with other disciplines or challenges found outside the walls of our own faculty. 

- Q4: more options for collaboration within the faculty
Because Q5 also allows students to choose non-faculty subjects, seven quarters remain to meet the Final Attainment Levels. Therefore, we will concentrate the elective space in the first year of the Master’s Programmes on electives within our discipline. By harmonising the structure of the various programmes and concentrating the elective space for all students in the fourth quarter (Q4), students will have the opportunity to take courses offered by their own track, or courses that come from collaborations between tracks.

- Reduced workload during graduation
Many students, as well as teachers, experience the graduation process with its many peak moments as long and very intensive. For this reason – and because of the arrival of the new Q5 – graduation will be shortened to a maximum of three quarters. Naturally, graduation requirements will be adjusted accordingly.


What will change?

The curriculum structure will be ‘harmonised’, that is, aligned, in several ways:

  • In all AUBS tracks, faculty-wide electives will be introduced in Q4 (intradisciplinary: within our discipline of AUBS).
  • In all programmes, the fifth quarter (Q5) from September 2025 is entirely devoted to interdisciplinary electives (between faculties) and transdisciplinary electives (with social partners).
  • The graduation process covers a maximum of three quarters at all Master's Programmes.


What are the consequences?

Are you currently following the first or second year of a Master's Programme? In principle, this harmonisation does not affect you.

In which situations does the harmonisation affect you?

  • You will not take all courses of the second semester (MSc2) this academic year.
    If so, you will complete the second semester next academic year 2024-2025 in the new structure, with new or replacement electives. More information will be available in April 2024.
  • You plan to interrupt your studies for (more than) a year.
    If so, it is best to do this after completing the entire first year. You will then continue your studies in September 2025 in the new structure of the second year, with an inter- or transdisciplinary Q5 and graduation in three quarters.

 We recommend that you complete as many whole semesters as possible.


How will we proceed?

In the coming period, the harmonisation of the Master's Programmes will be further developed. From February 2025, the renewed programme of year 1 (MSc2) will be introduced. The introduction of year 2 (MSc3 & MSc4) will follow in September 2025. More information on the new curriculum will be available in April 2024.
 
For questions about the harmonisation of Master's Programmes, please contact Education and Student Affairs at masterharmonisation-bk@tudelft.nl.
 

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