phd robotics netherlands

Mission driven

• Minor Robotics
• Other Minors
• Honours Class
• ROS Academy

Mission driven education: training robotic minds

Students and PhD’s are on a mission: they want to build robots and invent new robotic applications. TU Delft Robotics Institute helps them become inventors by offering mission driven education and – via RoboValley – by closing the gap between academia and the market.

Due to the multidisciplinary nature of robotics, there isn’t a straight path to becoming a robotics expert. Students must first specialise in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computer science, industrial design engineering or aerospace engineering before they can work successfully in the field of robotics.

But it is important that students can start their robotics mission as soon as they enter the university. Therefore, TU Delft Robotics Institute offers an Honours Programme Robotics for talented freshmen as well as a minor robotics for third-year BSc. Next to that, the Institute is working on a broader robotics curriculum, comparable to the bachelor liberal arts & sciences. In the end, a full robotics education programme will be offered by TU Delft Robotics Institute.

"TU Delft Robotics Institute is the place where new robotic inventions are being made"

TU Delft Robotics Institute is the place where new robotic inventions are being made. But we want those inventions to reach the market as well, so that society can benefit from the next generation robots. RoboValley, which emanated from TU Delft Robotics Institute, narrows the gap between the inventors and businesses.

RoboValley facilitates the collaboration between the, over 170, robotics researchers, other experts, entrepreneurs and decision makers in both public and private sectors. Thus, a unique network is thriving and RoboValley takes a leading role in the development of the next generation robots.

The combination TU Delft Robotics Institute and RoboValley makes sure that students can not only become inventors but entrepreneurs as well. They also make sure that their inventions can make it to our daily life.

Mission driven education

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Engineering Doctorate Robotics (ROB)

Large robot-technical companies created the robotics platform Holland RoboNed in association with different Dutch educational and research institutions in 2010. RoboNed workshops show that there is a need for highly qualified employees, who have been in contact with the state-of-art of robotics. The market requires for high qualified designers who know modern robot-technological issues. But above all, they need employees who know how to work properly in a multidisciplinary design team who are dealing with solving complex issues.

EngD Robotics

The EngD programme in Robotics focuses on creating technical solutions for the industrial sector (i.e. automatic welding robots), for maintenance and inspection (i.e. sewer inspection) and medical use (like rehabilitation or surgical robotics). The track is based on functional and market-based requirements and focuses on quality, environment, safety and sustainability. During the programme, you transfer results into technological innovation in industry and society. A methodological approach, which tackles the always-present uncertainties, always comes first.

Employers of graduates of this EngD programme are often the organizations where the trainees do their design assignments. The branches of these organizations vary from large multinationals to smaller companies in the industrial, maintenance and medical sector.

The two years lasting EngD programme in Robotics combines academic research in a professional context with education in a range of related subjects. It consists of three blocks: a block of professional development, a block with in-depth and broadening courses and a technological design project. These blocks with a total of 120 EC can run parallel to each other.

The block with in-depth and broadening courses can partly be tailored to the technological design project. Gained skills in professional development and gained knowledge from in-depth and broadening courses are employed in the design project. During the design project, you transfer results into technological innovation in industry or society.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COURSES

The professional development courses are intended to improve professional skills and advance career opportunities. Therefore, the course in Professional Effectiveness and the TGS Introductory Workshop is compulsory. Other courses are elective and can be chosen in consultation with your supervisors. The total study load of the professional development courses is 6-10 EC. See  www.utwente.nl/ctd  for an overview of professional development courses.

IN-DEPTH AND BROADENING COURSES

The In-Depth and Broadening block carries a total study load of at least 42 EC and comprises a compulsory block and an elective block.

Compulsory courses (depending on your specialisation domain)

The compulsory block includes three compulsory courses:

• Systems Design & Engineering
• Modern Robotics for EngD

Besides, one course can be chosen from a set of 3 courses:

• Modelling and Simulation
• Design Principles for Precision Mechanics
• System Identification and Parameter Estimation

The compulsory courses will always be at a post-master level (master courses need to be upgraded to post-master courses).

Elective Courses

The elective block of at least 15 EC allows you to extend your competencies in a specific direction as further preparation for the design project. For the composition of this elective block, together with your (daily) supervisors, you can select courses which are of interest for the technological design project. Elective courses can either be master courses or post-master courses at the University of Twente, national research schools, Capita Selecta courses, conference visits (incl. paper and/or poster), summer schools, in-company courses, or courses at another 4TU location.  

DESIGN PROJECT

The design project will be defined in close consultation with the organisation or institution which you will be working for. The project can arise from a design question from the organisation/institution or from the valorisation of PhD research where the industry/government has an inquiry. The programme ensures that the design project is innovative and complex, contains sufficient design aspects and is sufficiently multidisciplinary. The design project is individual in the sense that you have your project. Because of the complex and multidisciplinary character of the project, in most projects, you will work together with colleagues. The University of Twente ensures that there is a clear part of the design, for which you are responsible and for which you will be judged.

Target groups

The EngD-programme in Robotics focuses on these target groups:

• Talented graduates of a Master of Science in the field of robotics, or a related discipline (national and international), with a special interest in design cases;
• Graduates of a Master of Science in robotics, or related discipline, with several years of experience within the field. Besides, these graduates must have the ambition and talent to accelerate in finding solutions / creating designs for complex robotic issues with a multidisciplinary character.
• Graduates of a Master of Science in Robotics working at your organization, who have the ambition to get out the most of their career.

The EngD programme focuses on talented graduates with an interest in designing solutions for complex robot technical problems. This means that not everyone will be allowed and that the selection for this track will be strict.

Selection criteria

Candidates will be tested based on these selection criteria:

• CV candidate, with special attention to  results MSc ;  other diplomas, courses ; and  years and types of work experience (if applicable)
• Motivation candidate, with a special focus on demonstrable affinity with design and multidisciplinary assignments
• Professional skills, such as English language skills, communication and interpersonal skills, teamwork, initiative and self-reflection
• Letter(s) of recommendation to senior / graduate professor

Candidates with a non-Dutch qualification and who have not had secondary and tertiary education in English can only be admitted with an IELTS test showing a total band score of at least 6.5, internet TOEFL test (TOEFL-iBT) showing a score of at least 90, or a Cambridge CAE-C (CPE).

The selection will be done by the EngD-selection committee.

Experiences

Interested?

If you are interested in this EngD track Robotics, read more about  how to apply .

If you have any further questions about the EngD programme in Robotics, please contact:

13 Best universities for Robotics in the Netherlands

Updated: February 29, 2024

• Art & Design
• Computer Science
• Engineering
• Environmental Science
• Liberal Arts & Social Sciences
• Mathematics

Below is a list of best universities in the Netherlands ranked based on their research performance in Robotics. A graph of 115K citations received by 5.57K academic papers made by 13 universities in the Netherlands was used to calculate publications' ratings, which then were adjusted for release dates and added to final scores.

We don't distinguish between undergraduate and graduate programs nor do we adjust for current majors offered. You can find information about granted degrees on a university page but always double-check with the university website.

1. Delft University of Technology

For Robotics

2. University of Twente

3. Eindhoven University of Technology

4. Utrecht University

5. University of Amsterdam

6. Free University Amsterdam

7. University of Groningen

8. Wageningen University

9. Radboud University

10. Maastricht University

11. Leiden University

12. Tilburg University

13. Erasmus University Rotterdam

The best cities to study Robotics in the Netherlands based on the number of universities and their ranks are Delft , Enschede , Eindhoven , and Utrecht .

Engineering subfields in the Netherlands