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Technische Universiteit Delft | |
 | |
Former names | Koninklijke Akademie van Delft Polytechnische School van Delft Technische Hoogeschool van Delft |
|---|---|
Motto in English | Challenge the Future |
| Type | Public,technical |
| Established | 1842; 183 years ago (1842)[1] |
| Budget | € 1,093 million (2024)[2] |
| President | (Tim) van der Hagen [nl][3] |
| Rector | (Tim) van der Hagen[3] |
Academic staff | 4,415 (including 1,365 faculty members of all ranks, 29.9% female, 49.6% international, full-time equivalents in 2024)[4] |
Administrative staff | 2,870 (2024) |
| Students | 26,971 (2024) |
| Undergraduates | 13,484 (2024) |
| Postgraduates | 13,047 (2024) |
| 3,549 (2024) | |
| Location | , 52°0′6″N4°22′21″E / 52.00167°N 4.37250°E /52.00167; 4.37250 |
| Campus | Urban (university town) |
| Colors | Cyan,black andwhite[5] |
| Affiliations | IDEA Climate-KIC CESAER EUA 4TU UNITECH SEFI SAE TPC ATHENS PEGASUS ENHANCE Alliance |
| Website | tudelft.nl/en/ |
 | |
TheDelft University of Technology (TU Delft;Dutch:Technische Universiteit Delft) is the oldest and largest Dutchpublictechnical university, located inDelft,The Netherlands. It specializes inengineering,technology,computing,design, andnatural sciences.
It is considered one of the leading technical universities in Europe and is consistently ranked as one of the best schools for architecture and engineering in the world. According to theQS World University Rankings it ranked 3rd worldwide forarchitecture and 13th forEngineering & Technology in 2024.[6][7] It also ranked 3rd best worldwide formechanical andaerospace engineering, 3rd forcivil andstructural engineering, 11th forchemical engineering, and 12th fordesign.[8][9][10][11]
With eightfaculties and multipleresearch institutes,[12] TU Delft educates around 27,000 students (undergraduate andpostgraduate), and employs more than 3,500doctoral candidates and close to 4,500 teaching, research, support and management staff (including more than 1,300 faculty members of allacademic ranks in the Netherlands).[13]
The university was established on 8 January 1842 by KingWilliam II as a royal academy, with the primary purpose of trainingcivil servants for work in theDutch East Indies. The school expanded its research and education curriculum over time, becoming a polytechnic school in 1864 and an institute of technology (making it a full-fledged university) in 1905. It changed its name to Delft University of Technology in 1986.[1]
DutchNobel laureatesJacobus Henricus van 't Hoff,Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, andSimon van der Meer have been associated with TU Delft. TU Delft is a member of several university federations, including theIDEA League,CESAER,UNITECH International, ENHANCE Alliance, LDE, and4TU.
Delft University of Technology was founded on 8 January 1842 byWilliam II of the Netherlands asRoyal Academy for the education of civilian engineers, for serving both nation and industry, and of apprentices for trade.[1] One of the purposes of the academy was to educatecivil servants for the colonies of theDutch East India Company. The first director of the academy was Antoine Lipkens, constructor of the first Dutchoptical telegraph, called simply as Lipkens. Royal Academy had its first building located at Oude Delft 95 in Delft. On 23 May 1863 an Act was passed imposing regulations on technical education in the Netherlands, bringing it under the rules ofsecondary education.
On 20 June 1864, Royal Academy in Delft was disbanded by a Royal Decree, giving a way to aPolytechnic School of Delft (Politechnische School te Delft). The newly formed school educatedengineers of various fields and architects, much needed during the rapidindustrialization period in the 19th century.
Yet another Act, passed on 22 May 1905, changed the name of the school toTechnical College (Institute) of Delft (Technische Hoogeschool Delft, from 1934Technische Hogeschool Delft), emphasizing the academic quality of the education. Polytechnic was granted university rights and was allowed to award academic degrees. The number of students reached 450 around that time. The official opening of the new school was attended by QueenWilhelmina on 10 July 1905. Firstdean of the newly established college wasir. J. Kraus,hydraulic engineer. In 1905, the first doctoral degree was awarded.[14] From 1924 until the construction of the new campus in 1966, the ceremonies were held in theSaint Hippolytus Chapel.[15]
Corporate rights were granted to the college on 7 June 1956. Most of the university buildings during that time were located within Delft city centre, with some of the buildings set on the side of the riverSchie, in the Wippolder district.
Student organizations grew together with the university. The first to be established on 22 March 1848 is theDelftsch Studenten Corps housed in the distinctiveSociëteit Phoenix on the Phoenixstraat. This was followed by theDelftsche Studenten Bond (est. 30 October 1897) and theKSV Sanctus Virgilius (est. 2 March 1898). In 1917,Proof Garden for Technical Plantation (Dutch:Cultuurtuin voor Technische Gewassen) was established byGerrit van Iterson, which today is known as Botanical Garden of TU Delft. In that period, a first female professor, Toos Korvezee, was appointed.
After the end of World War II, TU Delft increased its rapid academic expansion.Studium Generale was established at all universities in the Netherlands, including TU Delft, to promote a free and accessible knowledge related to culture, technology, society and science. Because of the increasing number of students, in 1974 the firstReception Week for First Year Students (Ontvangst Week voor Eerstejaars Studenten, OWEE) was established, which has become a TU Delft tradition since then.
On 1 September 1986, the Delft Institute of Technology officially changed its name to Delft University of Technology, underlining the quality of the education and research provided by the institution. In the course of further expansion, in 1987 Delft Top Tech[16] institute was established, which provided a professional master education in management for people working in technology-related companies. On 1 September 1997, the 13 faculties of the TU Delft were merged into 9, to improve the management efficiency of the growing university. In the early 1990s, because the vast majority of the students of the university were male, an initiative to increase the number of female students resulted in founding a separateemancipation commission. As a result,Girls Study Technology (Meiden studeren techniek) days were established. In later years the responsibilities of the commission were distributed over multiple institutes.
Since 2006 all buildings of the university are located outside of the historical city center of Delft. The relatively new building ofMaterial Sciences department was sold, later demolished in 2007 to give place for a newly built building of theHaagse Hogeschool. Closer cooperation between TU Delft and Dutch universities of applied sciences resulted in physical transition of some of the institutes from outside to Delft. In September 2009 manyinstitutes of applied sciences fromthe Hague region as well as Institute of Applied Sciences in Rijswijk, transferred to Delft, close to the location of the university, at the square between Rotterdamseweg and Leeghwaterstraat.
In 2007 the three Dutch technical universities, TU Delft,TU Eindhoven andUniversity of Twente, established afederation, called3TU.
On 13 May 2008, the building of theFaculty of Architecture was destroyed by fire, presumed caused by a short circuit in acoffee machine due to a ruptured water pipe. Luckily, the architecture library, containing several thousands of books and maps, as well as many architecture models, including chairs byGerrit Rietveld andLe Corbusier, were saved. The Faculty of Architecture is currently housed in the university's former main building.
Through the course of the years thelogo of the TU Delft changed a number of times, along with its official name. The current logo is based on the three university colors cyan, black and white.[5] The letter "T" bears a stylized flame on top, referring to the flame thatPrometheus brought fromMount Olympus to the people, against the will ofZeus. Because of this, Prometheus is sometimes considered as the first engineer, and is an important symbol for the university. His statue stood in the center of the newly renovated TU Delft campus, Mekelpark, until it was stolen in 2012.[17]
Initially, all of the university buildings were located in the historic city centre of Delft. This changed in the second half of the 20th century with relocations to a separate university neighbourhood. The last university building in the historic centre of Delft was the university library, which was relocated to a new building in 1997. On 12 September 2006, the design of the new university neighbourhood, Mekelpark, was officially approved,[18] giving a green light to the transformation of the area around the Mekelweg (the main road on the university terrain) into a new campus heart. The new park replaced the main access road and redirected car traffic around the campus, making the newly created park a safer place for bicycles and pedestrians.
A new university neighborhood called Mekelpark (its name commemorating TH Delft professor and WW II resistance fighter, Jan Mekel, who was executed by the Nazis on 2 May 1942 inSachsenhausen) was opened on 5 July 2009. Mekelpark replaced old parking structures, bike lanes andfilling stations, constructed between faculty buildings of the university in the late 1950s. Its 832-meter-long promenade eased the commute between faculty buildings. Both sides of the promenade are covered by stone benches, 1547 meters long in total.[18] Some of the university buildings around the Mekelpark deserve certain attention.
TU DelftAula was designed by Van den Broek en Bakema architecture bureau, founded by two TU Delft alumniJo van den Broek andJaap Bakema. It was officially opened on 6 January 1966 by Dutch Prime MinisterJo Cals. It is a classical example of a structure built inBrutalist style. TU Delft Aula, which symbolically opens the Mekelpark, houses main university restaurant and store, as well aslecture halls,auditoria, congress center, and administrative offices of the university. Alldoctoral promotion,honoris causa ceremonies, as well asacademic senate meetings take place in the Aula.
The TU Delft Library, constructed in 1997, was designed by Delft-basedMecanoo architecture bureau. It is located behind universityaula. The roof of the library is covered with grass, which serves as a natural insulation. The structure lifts from the ground on one side allowing to walk to the top of the building. The library is topped by the steel cone, giving its unique shape. All the walls are completely filled with glass. The library won the DutchNational Steel Prize in 1998 in thebuildings of steel and hybrid constructions category. The library is also host of the 4TU.Centre for Research Data, the archive for research data in the technical sciences in the Netherlands.
The TU Delft Sports and Culture Center, recently renamed X, is located at Mekelweg 10, at the edge of the Mekelpark. It was designed by architect Vera Yanovshtchinsky and opened to TU Delft students and staff in 1995. Since then it has undergone expansions and renovations.
Three musea are associated with the university: Science Centre Delft,[19] Mineralogy-geology museum andBeijerinck enKluyver archive.
Science Centre Delft was opened in September 2010 and is located at Mijnbouwstraat 120 in Delft. Science Center Delft is a successor of Technical Exhibition Center.[20] Technical Exhibition Center was established by a group of TU Delft professors with the aim of presenting the recent advances in technology to a wider audience. Parts of the collection were shown outside of Delft: in the Netherlands and abroad, includingIsrael andCzech Republic. The collection was permanently hosted in the building of former department ofgeodesy. The historical collections of Technical Exhibition Center were moved Delft Museum of Technology, located at Ezelsveldlaan, in the buildings of the former department ofnaval architecture (Werktuig- en Scheepsbouwkunde), next to the city center of Delft. As Delft city council together with TU Delft decided to move the collection close to the university campus (currently the building of the former museum are transformed intolofts), Science Centre Delft shows visitors current TU Delft research projects are available, includingEco Runner andNuna.
Beijerinck enKluyver archive hosts a collection of documents, exhibits and memorabilia of two scientists historically connected with the university.
Mineralogy-geology museum is a part of TU Delft Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences and contains around 200,000geological,mineralogical andcrystallographical items divided into numerous sub-collections. The oldest items date back to 1842 when the TU Delft (thenDelft Royal Academy) was established.
TU Delftbotanical garden dates back to 1917, whereProof Garden for Technical Plantation (Dutch:Cultuurtuin voor Technische Gewassen) was established by Gerrit van Iterson Jr., TU Delft graduate and assistant toMartinus Beijerinck.[21] Gerrit van Iterson Jr. was the first director of the garden until 1948. Creation of botanical gardens at TU Delft was partially a result of the increasing needs of systematized development oftropical agriculture in then Dutch colony ofDutch East Indies.[21] Over 7000 different species of plants, includingtropical andsubtropical plants,herbs, andornamental plants cover the area of almost 2.5 ha.[21] Furthermore, more than 2000 unique species are preserved in university'sgreenhouses. All facilities of TU Delft botanical garden are open to the public.
Building 28 is the main building of Computer Science on campus. It hosts research groups of Intelligent Systems and Software Technology departments, educational and research labs, student study areas, meeting rooms, and the support staff of Computer Science.
Along with Delft,UNStudio developed the 'Echo' building on the TU campus for interfaculty lecture halls and project rooms, student study areas, Computer Science (Cybersecurity section and Sequential Decision Making section) research offices, and meeting rooms. It is an energy-producing building within the campus of Delft which aims at energy conservation to delve into the future.[22] Echo won the prestigious World Prix Versailles (Campuses category) in 2023.[23]
In September 2016, TU Delft inaugurated a new campus inThe Hague.[24] The MSc programme Engineering and Policy Analysis (EPA), which teaches students to operate at the intersection of technology and policy when tacklingwicked problems, was relocated to this new site to capitalize on its proximity to government ministries, international bodies, and multinational organizations.[24][25]
TU Delft operates the 5th floor of the Wijnhaven Building at Turfmarkt 99 in The Hague, with the rest of the building being occupied byLeiden University.[26] Originally theMinistry of the Interior's headquarters at Schedeldoekshaven 200, the Wijnhaven Building, named after the historicWijnhavenkwartier, was converted intoCampus The Hague in 2016.[27]
In 2023, TU Delft announced plans to further expand its footprint in The Hague by launching a joint university facility with Leiden University atSpui, set to open in 2025.[28] This new location is expected to accommodate around 600 TU Delft students in the city centre of The Hague.[28]
TU Delft comprises eight faculties.[29] These are (official Dutch name and faculty abbreviation are given in brackets; departments by faculty are listed):
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There are also two Research Institutes:
Since 2004, the TU Delft education system is divided into three tiers: thebachelor's degree,master's degree, anddoctorate. The academic year is divided into two semesters: the first semester from September until January and the second semester from the end of January until July. Most of the lectures are available throughOpenCourseWare.
As of 2016[update], TU Delft offers 16BSc programmes.[30] TU Delft students obtain their degree after a three-year study. The test project finalizes the BSc studies. All BSc programmes are taught in Dutch, except forAerospace Engineering, Applied Earth Sciences, Nanobiology, and Computer Science, which are taught entirely in English, and Electrical Engineering which is taught in a mixture of both.
TU Delft offers around 40MSc programmes.[31] The MSc studies take two years to complete.
TU Delft uses theEuropean Credit Transfer System, where each year MSc students are required to obtain 60 ECTS points. An honours track exists for motivated MSc students, who obtained a mark of 7.5 or higher (inDutch grading scale) and did not fail any courses. This track, associated with 30 ECTS points, is taken alongside the regular MSc programme and must be related to student's regular degree courses or the role oftechnology in society. The honours track must be completed within the time allowed for the MSc programme.
MSc programmes are also offered through the3TU federation,Erasmus Mundus programmes,IDEA League joint MSc programs and QuTech Academy.
Doctoral studies at TU Delft are divided into two phases. The first phase, lasting one year, serves as a trial period during which the doctoral candidate must prove capability for performing research on a doctoral level. The candidate must pass the evaluation performed at the end of the year by his/her promoter in order to continue doing research the following three years. The research the candidate performs must be finalized by submitting adoctoral thesis. The thesis is evaluated by a doctoral committee composed of TU Delft professors and external opponents. Once the thesis has been revised and comments have been taken into account, the candidate gives a formal doctoral defense.
In contrast to US graduate school, other duties such as following lectures and giving TAs form only a small portion of the programme.
Thedoctoral defense is of ceremonial nature and is held in the senate room. It lasts exactly one hour, during which the doctoral candidate must answer all questions from the committee. Sometimes the candidate is accompanied by one or twoparanymphs, who theoretically might help defend a question asked by a committee member. The defense is ended by thepedel, who enters the room and says in LatinHora est (It is time), stamping the universitystaff on the floor. The committee then moves to a separate room to decide whether to grant the candidate a doctorate or not. Then the committee returns to the room where the defense was held, and if the doctorate is granted the promoter presents thelaudation praising the newdoctor. The entire ceremony is chaired by therector or a representative.
TU Delft also offersProfessional Doctorate in Engineering.
TU Delft has three officially recognizedresearch institutes: Research Institute for the Built Environment,[32] International Research Centre for Telecommunications-transmission and Radar,[33] andReactor Institute Delft.[34] In addition to those three institutes, TU Delft hosts numerous smaller research institutes, including the Delft Institute of Microelectronics and Submicron Technology,[35]Kavli Institute of Nanoscience,[36] Materials innovation institute,[37] Astrodynamics and Space Missions,[38] Delft University Wind Energy Research Institute,[39]TU Delft Safety and Security Institute,[40] and the Delft Space Institute,[41] Delft Institute of Applied Mathematics is also an important research institute which connects all engineering departments with respect to research and academia. A complete list of research schools is available on TU Delft website.[12]
Important part ofDutch university system are research schools. They combine education, training and research for PhD candidates andpostdoctoral researchers in a given field. The main goal of the research schools is to coordinate nationwide research programs in a given area. Research schools of TU Delft cooperate with other universities in the Netherlands. Research schools are required to have anaccreditation ofRoyal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. TU Delft is taking the lead in ten research schools, and participates in nine. The full list of research schools affiliated with TU Delft is available on TU Delft website,[12] see for exampleTRAIL Research School.
During anacademic year the TU Delft publishes a weekly magazine:Delta,[42] which aims at the student and employee community of the university. The newspaper is predominantly in Dutch, with the last few pages published in English.TU Delta is distributed freely in paper form over the campus and is also available for free on the Internet. Articles focus mainly on current university affairs and student life. The weekly agenda including PhD promotions, inaugural lectures, etc. is also published therein.
Also, approximately four times a year, the TU Delft publishes a magazine devoted only to research conducted by the university, calledDelft Outlook.[43]Delft Outlook is published in English, while the same content is published in Dutch inDelft Integraal magazine. Both magazines present interviews with TU Delft researchers, university officials.Columns by some university professors are published therein, as well as alumni letters and excerpts from recently published PhD theses.
TU Delft is governed by theexecutive board (College van Bestuur),[3] controlled and advised bystudent council,workers council, board of professors, board of doctorates, assistant staff office, committee for the application of the allocation model, operational committee, advisory council for quality and accreditation,deans of each TU Delftfaculty, and directors of TU Delftresearch centers, research schools andresearch institutes.[44]
Executive board is chaired academically by theRector Magnificus. The currently appointed Rector Magnificus, Tim van der Hagen, has held the position since 2018.[45] He replaced Prof. Ir. Karel Ch.A.M. Luyben[3] who was rector for the period 2010 to 2018. Previous Rectors of TU Delft include Prof. K.F. Wakker (1993–1997 and 1998–2002), Prof. J. Blauwendraad (1997–1998) and Prof. J.T. Fokkema (2002–2010). Executive board is accountable to theSupervisory Board, appointed by theMinister of Education, Culture and Science. One of the many tasks of executive board is the approval of management regulations.
Board of professors advises in the matter of academic quality, deciding on the selection of guest lecturers,research fellows as well as revising proposals submitted for royal honors for professors. Board of doctorates appoints supervisors forPhD students, forms promotion committees, determines promotional code, and confers PhD and doctorateHonoris Causa degrees. Committee for the application of the allocation model reports to the executive board regarding allocation model. Further, it controls output data supplied to the executive board. Operational committee is composed of members of the executive board and thes. The committee collaborates on the issues of general importance, related in part to the specific interests of the faculties, and strengthens the unity of the university overall.
Student life at TU Delft is organized around numerousstudent societies andcorporations. They can be generally categorized intoprofessional societies, social societies and sport societies. More than half of TU Delft students belong to an officially recognized society[1].
There are two student parties at TU Delft: ORAS[46] (Organisatie Rationele Studenten) and Lijst Bèta (successor of AAG).[47] AAG (Afdeling Actie Groepen) started as an action group of students in the 1960s, willing to have more impact on the quality of education at the then Polytechnic Institute Delft. ORAS became active in the early 1970s as a counterbalance to AAG. After already taking a break from the yearly elections in 2008, AAG did not participate anymore in the elections of 2010 due to disappointing results.[48] In 2011, a new party was established, Lijst Bèta, that got 2 out of the 10 seats in the student counsil.[49] Since then, Lijst Bèta and ORAS compete each year for seats in TU Delft's Students Council (Studenten Raad). Further, all student organizations of TU Delft are associated with The Council of Student Societies Delft VeRa (De VerenigingsRaad) and The Society for Study and Student Matters Delft VSSD (Vereniging voor Studie- en Studentenbelangen Delft).
Apart frombachelor andmaster student organizations,PhD students of TU Delft have their own organization called Promood (PhD Students Discussion Group Delft) (Promovendi Overleg Delft), which represents TU Delft PhD students at the university. It is also a member of Dutch PhD Students Network (Promovendi Netwerk Nederland).
Each faculty of TU Delft has its own set of professional student organizations. Numerous societies are present at the university,[50] many of them with rich traditions, customs and history. For example,aerospace engineering department hostsFoundation for Students in Airplane Development, Manufacturing and Management (Stichting Studenten Vliegtuigontwikkeling, -bouw en -beheer), whilecivil engineering departmentSociety for Practical Studies. International professional student organizations are also present at TU Delft, including European Association of Aerospace Students.
Apart from professional student societies, students organize themselves only for the purpose of enriching their social life. Many of the societies have sectarian roots, like aCatholicWolbodo Student Society,Katholieke Studentenvereniging Sanctus Virgilius Delft, that during the course of the years lost the religious affiliations and accepts students from any denomination. Besides societies which have their roots in religion, there are also general (with no religious bonds) societies. One of these isSint Jansbrug. These societies accept anyone who studies at the TU Delft or any other higher education facility in the Delft area. Also organization that has its roots inRover Scout movementDelftsche Zwervers (at the same time the oldest student scouting group in the world) is present or local branch of the EuropeanAEGEE.
Student sports are organized around clubs, that focus mostly on single discipline. Those include rowing societyD.S.R.V. Laga and rowing clubProteus-Eretes (both with manyOlympic medals won by the members of the club) orAmerican football clubDelft Dragons.
TU Delft researchers developed many new technologies used today, includingGLARE, afibre metal laminate used inAirbus A380skin and Vision in Product Design design method.Cees Dekker's lab at TU Delft demonstrated in 1998 the firsttransistor made out of singlenanotube molecule. TheDelta Works plan was, in part, a child of TU Delft graduates, includingJohan Ringers and Victor de Blocq van Kuffeler. TU Delft was a precursor of theOpen design concept.
In architecture, TU Delft is famous forTraditionalist School in Dutch architecture. TU Delft was a home to many prominentmicrobiologists includingMartinus Beijerinck, who in 1898 discovered viruses while working at TU Delft, andAlbert Kluyver, father of comparative microbiology, which resulted in the creation of so-called Delft School of Microbiology.
Some recent projects being developed at the university include:
The majority of TU Delft's students are male. In 2021, among all students of the university (MSc andBSc level) 30% were women. The biggest imbalance between men and women is seen in theMechanical engineering faculty, while the smallest is seen atIndustrial Design andArchitecture departments.[58] Despite many efforts of the university to change that imbalance, the number of women studying at TU Delft has stayed relatively constant over the years.[58]
| 2009 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|
| PhD Students (total) | 2,027 | 3,144 |
| PhD Students (men) | 1,474 | 2,135 |
| PhD Students (women) | 547 | 1,007 |
| MSc and BSc students (total) | 16,427 | 26,658 |
| MSc and BSc students (foreign) | 2,236 | 6,821 |
| MSc and BSc students (women) | 3,351 | 8,248 |
| BSc students (total) | 10,857 | 13,782 |
| MSc students (total) | 5,524 | 12,876 |
| Student Population | 18,454[citation needed] | 27,080 |
Since 2002, the number of students admitted to TU Delft has increased rapidly (from approximately 2,200 in 2002 to almost 3,700 in 2009).[60] The same applies to the total student population (from approximately 13,250 in 2002 to almost 16,500 in 2009).[60] In 2022, nearly 27 thousand students were enrolled.[59]
The number of international students has also increased steadily.[60] In 2021, 29% of all students at TU Delft came from abroad; nearly three quarters of those came from Europe.[61] The largest proportion of international students at TU Delft in 2022 come from China (14%), followed by India (11.4%) and Belgium (7.4%). The faculties with the highest percentage number of international students study atAerospace Engineering (46%) andElectrical Engineering, Mathematics, and Computer Science (38%).[62]
Due to TU Delft's presence, the city of Delft has one of the biggest populations ofIranians in the Netherlands. It resulted in one of the biggest Iranian protests against the Iranian government in Europe,[63] with many protests organized at TU Delft campus by Iranian TU Delft students during2009 Iranian Election Protests.
As of 2015,[update] TU Delft is a home to 437 faculty, with more than 3,375 academic staff.[64] The responsibility of TU Delft professors is lecturing, guiding undergraduate and graduate students, as well as performing original research in their respective fields.
Many notable people were TU Delft faculty. In science,Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, a 1913Nobel Laureate inphysics, a discoverer ofsuperconductivity, was a former TU Delft faculty member, working as an assistant toJohannes Bosscha. Discoverer of thePrins reaction Hendrik Jacobus Prins, co-founders ofNational Research Institute for Mathematics and Computer ScienceHendrik Anthony Kramers andDavid van Dantzig, developer of theiodide processJan Hendrik de Boer, discoverer of theparticle spinRalph Kronig, discoverer of theEinstein–de Haas effectWander Johannes de Haas and discoverer ofhafniumDirk Coster, all were at some point the faculty members of the university. Faculty members of Delft School of Microbiology were the founder of modern microbiologyMartinus Beijerinck and the father of comparative microbiologyAlbert Kluyver.
In engineering, the inventor ofpenthode andgyratorBernard Tellegen andBalthasar van der Pol developer ofVan der Pol oscillator, were TU Delft faculty. CurrentlyVic Hayes, and the father ofWi-Fi, is affiliated with theFaculty of Technology, Policy and Management.STS-61A of theSpace Shuttle Challenger crew memberWubbo Ockels was professor ofFaculty of Aerospace Engineering, Delft University of Technology. TU Delft faculty geologist wereBerend George Escher,Johannes Herman Frederik Umbgrove, discoverer ofBushveld complexGustaaf Adolf Frederik Molengraaff and discoverer of gravity anomalies above the sea levelFelix Andries Vening Meinesz.
Since TU Delft is a home to amajor architecture school in the Netherlands, many important architects were a faculty of the university, including Hein de Haan, founder ofTraditionalist School inArchitectureMarinus Jan Granpré Molière,Bent Flyvbjerg, co-founder ofMecanoo architects bureauFrancine Houben, co-founder ofMVRDV architects bureauWiny Maas andNathalie de Vries, co-founder ofTeam 10Jacob B. Bakema andAldo van Eyck, as well asHerman Hertzberger andJo Coenen. Some notable designers were faculty of TU Delft, includingPaul Mijksenaar, developer of visual information systems forJFK,LaGuardia andSchiphol airports.
Political figures that were faculty of TU Delft include formermayor of LisbonCarmona Rodrigues, formermayor of Sarajevo Kemal Hanjalić, and the first Dutch prime minister of the Netherlands afterWorld War IIWim Schermerhorn.
Two TU Delft alumni were awarded Nobel Prize and one recipient has been affiliated with TU Delft:Jacobus van 't Hoff was awarded first Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1901 for his work withsolutions.Simon van der Meer was awarded Nobel Prize in physics in 1984 for his work onstochastic cooling and one has been affiliated with TU Delft,Heike Kamerlingh Onnes in 1913 for studies related to liquefaction of helium in the quest for the lowest temperature on Earth.
Some of the mathematicians includeJan Arnoldus Schouten, contributor to thetensor calculus. Chemists and TU Delft alumni includeWillem Alberda van Ekenstein, Dutch chemist and discoverer ofLobry-de Bruyn-van Ekenstein transformation. TU Delft alumni and computer scientists includeAdriaan van Wijngaarden, developer ofVan Wijngaarden grammar and co-designer ofALGOL. Famous TU Delft alumni electrical engineers includeJaap Haartsen, developer ofBluetooth.
Political figures that studied at TU Delft includeKarien van Gennip, Dutch secretary of state for economic affairs,Anton Mussert, Dutch politician of World War II era and founder ofNational Socialist Movement in the Netherlands,Abdul Qadeer Khan, father ofPakistan nuclear program, and Dutch politicianWim Dik. Famous TU Delft alumni architects includeErick van Egeraat,Herman Hertzberger and Hein de Haan. Dutch designers that graduated at TU Delft includeAlexandre Horowitz, designer ofPhilishave, andAdrian van Hooydonk, Dutch automobile designer and head of design atBMW.
TU Delft alumni executives includeJeroen van der Veer, formerCEO ofRoyal Dutch Shell,Ben van Beurden former CEO of Royal Dutch Shell,Frits Philips, fourth chairman of the board of directors ofPhilips andGerard Philips, co-founder of Philips.Laurens van den Acker is a Dutch automobile designer and the vice president of Renault Corporate Design.
Other interesting TU Delft alumni includeLodewijk van den Berg, Dutch-Americanpayload specialist onSTS-51B mission andPrince Friso of Orange-Nassau, member of theDutch royal family. Other interesting figures that studied at TU Delft were mathematicianDiederik Korteweg, responsible forKorteweg–de Vries equation, who studied at TU Delft before moving toUniversity of Amsterdam and painterMaurits Cornelis Escher who studied at TU Delft for a year.Thomas Jan Stieltjes, co-developer ofRiemann–Stieltjes integral studied at TU Delft but never passed his final exams. The internationally renowned graphic designer and industrial designerPiet Zwart studied at the university 1913–1914.
TU Delft alumni who are currently a faculty of other universities includeWilhelmus Luxemburg, Dutch mathematician andCalifornia Institute of Technology professor, as well asWalter Lewin, Dutch physicist and formerMIT professor, andAlexander van Oudenaarden, Dutch biophysicist, a director of the Hubrecht Institute.
In 1906 TU Delft obtained the right to award PhD degrees. This also marked the date since when the university was able to awardhonorary doctorates. Between 1906 and 2006 exactly 100honoris causa degrees have been awarded. Honorary doctoral degrees are awarded to people that presented extraordinary contributions in their respective fields. Some of the most recognized recipients of TU Delft honorary doctorate include:
| University rankings | |
|---|---|
| Global – Overall | |
| ARWU World[65] | 151–200 (2024) |
| CWUR World[66] | 263 (2023) |
| CWTS World[67] | 109 (2023) |
| QS World[68] | 49 (2025) |
| Reuters World[69] | 60 (2019) |
| THE World[70] | =56 (2025) |
| USNWR Global[71] | =187 (2025) |
| Global – Science and engineering | |
| QS Chemistry[72] | 36 (2024) |
| QS Engineering & Tech.[73] | 13 (2024) |
| QS Natural Sciences[74] | 47 (2024) |
| THE Computer Science[75] | 45 (2024) |
| THE Engineering[76] | 16 (2024) |
| THE Physical Sciences[77] | 61 (2024) |
TU Delft was 49th worldwide in QS WUR 2025,[78] 48th worldwide in THE WUR 2024, 169th worldwide in USNEWS 2022-2023, and 151-200th worldwide in ARWU 2022. It was the 78th best-ranked university worldwide in 2022 in terms of aggregate performance across THE, QS, and ARWU, as reported byARTU.[79]
TU Delft was 43rd worldwide in the THE World Reputation Rankings 2022.
It was also the 15th most international university worldwide in 2023 according to THE.
TU Delft is ranked a top university for Engineering and Technology worldwide, being positioned for this subject at 13th place in 2024 byQS World University Rankings.[7]
According to theQS World University Rankings 2024, TU Delft ranked 3rd worldwide forarchitecture, 3rd formechanical andaerospace engineering, 3rd forcivil andstructural engineering, 11th forchemical engineering, 12th fordesign, 13th forenvironmental sciences, 14th forelectric andelectronical engineering, 14th formaterial sciences, 19th forgeophysics, 22nd forearth andmarine sciences.[8][9][10][11][80][81][82][83][84]
TU Delft has formed partnerships with leading universities across Europe for student exchange and combined degree programs.
TU Delft has partnered with many universities worldwide for exchanges.[86]
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