Course selection & restrictions
STUDY PLAN, EXAMINATIONS AND RESTRICTIONS
TU Delft uses the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) shared by all universities in the European Union. One academic year consists of a total of 60 EC. One EC is equivalent to a study load of 28 hours (including lectures, laboratory courses, practical work, assignments, projects, private work as well as examinations or other assessment activities. Bachelor programmes at TU Delft consist of 180 EC and Master programmes, 120 EC. The academic year at TU Delft consists of two semesters that are each divided into 2 periods. The first semester contains education period 1 and 2 and the second semester contains education period 3 and 4.
Study Plan
When choosing courses students have to look carefully if the chosen course is taught during their exchange period. Exchange students coming to the TU Delft must take a course load equal to 24-30 EC per semester. Even if the home university of the students requires less than 24 EC, students are not allowed to choose a course package less than 24 EC. We recommend to choose a course package consisting of a maximum study load of 12 to 15 EC per period. Exchange students may only stay for a maximum of 1 academic year. Extensions for a full semester can be requested with the expected study load of 24-30 EC, only with the permission of your home university and TU Delft.
We expect students to carefully prepare a study plan according to our guidelines and discuss them with their home institution as soon as possible, to make sure the choices are available in the desired semester. The study plan is a crucial factor whether students will be accepted or not.
Our course advisors will check whether you meet the pre-requisites and confirm that the requested subjects are available and appropriate. They may request subject’s outlines (syllabi) to check the required pre-requisites. If the proposed course package is not appropriate the course advisors will recommend alternatives.
The majority of courses (at least 51%) should be chosen from one faculty included in the student exchange agreement. Check with your home coordinator which TU Delft faculties participate in the agreement. Additional courses may be chosen from other faculties which are included in the exchange agreement. Should you choose courses at a faculty not participating in the agreement motivate your course request in the motivational letter.
Exceptions to course selection apply to the following faculties;
Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering requires a minimum of 70% of courses within IDE.
Faculty of Architect and the Built Environment requires 100% of courses within AR.
TU Delft’s study guide (studyguide.tudelft.nl) outlines all available courses for 2021-2022. The study plan should be based on this current study guide. Minor changes may occur as the course catalogue is updated every May. Students are advised to carefully check in which period the courses they wish to follow will take place. A study guide manual is available to help. Students can also select Bachelor level courses by consulting the list of TU Delft - courses taught in English.
For students enrolled in faculties not offering fixed course packages in case of exceptional circumstances, they are given a two-week period at the start of each semester to make any modification to study plans, pending that these changes are approved by all parties.
For these students TU Delft’s faculties cannot guarantee a place in any individual course as each course placement is subject to availability, the fulfilment of certain preconditions, and timetabling factors. We advise to be flexible and, before arrival at TU Delft, have alternative courses ready and approved by the home institution academic advisors.
Any further queries regarding courses can be emailed to your faculty exchange coordinator.
Examinations
Each student is expected to attend classes, submit assessments and sit final exams for all courses in which he/she is enrolled at TU Delft obtaining a minimum of 20 EC. They are expected to complete all examinations and assessments associated with any course/units/modules for which they register regardless of the courses required for the transfer of credits to their Home Institution.
It is only possible to take examinations during the period of enrolment as an exchange student at TU Delft, after that is it no longer possible to take any examinations (including distance examinations).
No extensions to your stay will be granted for this purpose.
Faculty specific requirements & restrictions
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Within the study exchange programme, the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment offers fixed course packages and Minor Programmes to incoming exchange students.
During the first semester (autumn), they offer:
- For Master level students complete ‘MSc 1’ fixed course packages.
- For Bachelor level students English taught Minor Programmes.
During the second semester (spring), they offer:
- For Master Level students a 15 EC MSc2 design course + a course package of 3 elective courses (5 EC each).
- For Bachelor Level students there are NO minor packages offered. BSc/undergraduate students can only apply for the autumn semester.
Please be aware that:
- It is not possible to combine courses of different packages or to choose electives, it is however possible to do part of a course package as long as you meet the 24 EC requirement.
- It is not allowed to complete Thesis Projects.
- Exchange students at the faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment can only take courses at the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment.
- Exchange students from other faculties cannot obtain credits at the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment.
- Before the start of the exchange period, the final fixed course package will be confirmed. After this confirmation, it is no longer possible to make any changes.
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At the Faculty of Industrial Design incoming exchange students can select their preferred fixed course package during the application process. They can select their first, second and third choice.
Due to the fact that the curriculum of the Bachelor programme will be restructured, the courses offered for undergraduate students in semester 2 will be announced later.
Before the start of the exchange period the final fixed course package will be confirmed. After the fixed course package is confirmed it is no longer possible to change or add courses. The place on the courses is guaranteed and the registration for the courses will be done by the International Office of the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering.
The International Office of the faculty of Industrial Design Engineering does not facilitate research projects or thesis projects.
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Incoming exchange students:
- Students have to apply through Studielink. Make sure you apply for the Master Civil Engineering or the Master Applied Earth Sciences.
- Because of the Master Redesign at the faculty of CeG, exchange students starting in the Fall semester of 2022 will not be able to choose the same courses that were available the past few years. Here you can find a list of courses exchange students can choose from.
- The faculty requires prospective students to follow at least 51% of their courses at this faculty
- Attending courses and obtaining credits at the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment is not permitted.
- Incoming exchange students will not follow any official graduation course or route at TU Delft as they are only temporarily studying at TU Delft (max. 12 months) whilst remaining registered at (and paying tuition fee to) their home university.
- Students who wish to do their thesis or a project to gain more than 10 ECTS cannot be admitted as exchange students, they will have to make this arrangement via the selected research group as guest researcher or trainee. See also the information below ‘Research based project work during exchange’.
- Incoming exchange students are not allowed to extend the exchange period after application.
- Information on the bachelor courses and second year MSc courses offered can be found in the study guide.
- Information on the first year MSc modules can be found here for Applied Earth Sciences and here for Civil Engineering.
Research based project work during exchange:
The Faculty CeG has very limited possibilities to accept students who would like to undertake research-based project work during their exchange at TU Delft. Only projects with a maximum workload of 10 EC are allowed and students need to combine their project with courses to obtain at least 24 EC. Students are responsible to find a suitable project on time and to provide the supervisor and the exchange officer with a work plan before arrival, which has to be officially approved by the home university beforehand. Please ask the CEG exchange officers for a template of this work plan.
Exchange students and their home university are fully responsible for the research project, its learning goals, and the supervision/assessment. -
The courses available at the Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management are included in the list of TU Delft courses in English . The majority of courses (at least 51%) should be chosen from TPM.
The Faculty TPM does not facilitate any (research) projects; these are only allowed if specifically agreed upon in the bilateral agreement.Engineering & Policy Analysis (EPA)
The first year of the EPA programme is taught at Campus The Hague, located at the Turfmarkt 99, 2511 DV The Hague in the city centre. The second year of EPA will partly take place in Delft, partly in The HagueManagement of Technology (MOT)
All first-year Master courses MOT have a limited capacity. You may consider courses in this area of studies from the list of Master electives in our Study guide. Here you can find an overview of the alternative courses.Industrial Ecology (IE)
For all courses in IE a separate admission is required from the IE programme coordinator. Only Master level students can apply and the courses have limited capacity. Courses in IE take place either in Leiden or in Delft.In case you want to take courses from MOT, IE or you want to do a thesis/research project, please contact our International office: internationaloffice-tbm@tudelft.nl
Courses that are not available are:
- Thesis/ thesis preparation courses
- MOT1003 Integration Moment
- SEN111A Introduction to Design in Complex Systems
- TPM424A The Journey
- UDxxxx Honours courses
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The courses available at the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering (AE) are included in the list of English courses 2021-2022. Some courses at the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering are restricted for exchange students and can also be found in this list.
The faculty of Aerospace Engineering will try to accommodate as many exchange students as possible. Please be aware that the course offers for the second semester differ from the first semester.
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Course codes starting with CSE are only available for exchange students enrolled in the Exchange Computer Science program (only Bachelor level students).
Students who are enrolled in a Master program at this faculty or at other faculties cannot select courses starting with CSE in their course package.
For the academic year 2021-2022, we have limited capacity for our Computer Science program. -
The faculty of Applied Sciences offers course proposals to incoming students. These course proposals do not constitute compulsory sets of courses but are proposals to help you compose your exchange programme. For more information on the courses offered, please see our Faculty website.
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Exchange Students of the faculty Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering (3mE):
- We do not offer English BSc subjects for exchange students.
- Exchange students (also BSc) can follow any MSc courses from our faculty as long as you have the pre-required background knowledge, students are not limited to one master track.
- Exchange students can take up to 49% of the courses at other faculties within TU Delft at BSc and/or MSc level if offered in English. Courses might have a limited capacity so students have to be flexible in their study schedule.
Project/Thesis work at the faculty of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering:
- is very limited
- students have to contact the department themselves to make the arrangements before they arrive for the exchange and inform the International Office 3mE of the agreed work plan.
- Students interested in doing a project/thesis work need to be aware that the maximum workload (ECTS) cannot exceed half of the total ECTS and the other half needs to be subjects.
- In case students only want to do a project or thesis they will be admitted as an unpaid Guest Researcher (not as an exchange student)
- In case students come as a guest researcher they will not receive a grade for their project work and cannot follow any subjects.
For further questions and help with finding the best subjects for your case please email our international office: internationaloffice-3me@tudelft.nl