Strengthen the TU/e community and develop yourself outside the curriculum.

TU/e XTRA

TU/e XTRA wants to show all the students at the TU/e the variety of extra-curricular activities that are present at the Eindhoven University of Technology. 

Organise, Manage, Innovate.

What fits you?

Have a look at this short video that showcases what TU/e XTRA promotes and why it is relevant!

What is TU/e XTRA

Doing something besides your study can greatly help you in developing yourself, both within your study as within your career path. Within the TU/e community there are a large variety of associations, teams and communities where students can develop themselves on both a technical and soft skill level.

Within an association you can become active by organizing, managing and/or innovating. But how? You may ask.  This webpage presents to you 3 ways to do this within your community. Have a look around to understand what fits you best, and how you can become active in the future!

Organise within a committee

Help your association to organize a great variety of events and activities and make the TU/e community better. Work together with other students so many can enjoy your work. Join a committee so that you can spend a few hours a week setting up the most exciting activities and events on campus.

  • Organise fun and educational activities
  • Collaborate with different people
  • Contact different companies
  • Learn how to make budgets
  • Work on promotional material
  • Develop your soft skills

Manage as a board member

Get the best out of your association and your student time. Work with a small group of other students to achieve great things and take your association to the next level. Do you want to lead your association, and do you have more time at your disposal, then a board year is right for you.

  • Manage an association
  • Lead committees
  • Manage the bookkeeping
  • Expand the vision of the association
  • Represent your association
  • Be responsible for external affairs
  • Expand your professional network

Innovate as a student team

Move the future closer to the present. Work together with your team to achieve the newest high-tech solutions or become the world champion in your field, working together in close relationship with the high-tech industries in and around Eindhoven.

  • Innovate with new ideas
  • Apply your theoretical knowledge
  • Work in multidisciplinary teams
  • Lead your team to great successes
  • Work with sponsors & companies
  • Participate in contests & challenges

Why join?

Why now?

The past 1,5 year, Corona has caused a dent within the TU/e community. A large amount of physical student activities had to be cancelled or moved to an online setting. With the pandemic hopefully coming to an end soon, next academic year will all be about rebuilding the TU/e community. We need you for that! Being an active member greatly helps the TU/e community. Our campus can only be lively again with the help of many students who each put in a few hours.

Why for you?

Being active within an association or student team helps you make new friends and is always a lot of fun. Besides it being fun, and great for the TU/e community, extra-curricular activities will help you with with your career developments. Don't believe us? Listen then to the people with experiences below to understand the importance of these activities!

How can I come into action?

If you want more information about doing something extra during your student time don’t feel afraid to reach out to us via Instagram. Throughout the year a variety of events will be organized to know more about the extra-curricular activities present within the TU/e. If you already know in which association you want to become active or which student team you want to join you can also reach out to the association or student team.

How much time does it cost?

Being active does not mean that you cannot graduate nominally. A committee can easily be done next to your study as it only takes a few hours a week. A board function can range from a few hours to a full-time function depending on the size of the association. A student team generally means more work than a committee member although it is possible to study besides your work within a student team.

Decision tree

Find your match! Have a look at the decision tree to know what kind of extra curricular activity is fitting for your taste.

Student & alumni stories

Ever wondered what the experience is like being part of extra curricular activities besides your study as a student? Read all about the student & alumni experiences and what you can achieve by doing something XTRA besides your study. Click on each student or alumni to read the full interview and get a grasp the entire experience.

Former board member s.v.i.d Lucid

Marijn van der Steen

"I feel you learn to become more entrepreneurial as doing a board year is similar to running a mini company. You learn to talk and act professionally to different groups of people and to collaborate with them."

Active member at GEWIS and IMPACT

Lora Simic

“If you are doubting whether you should join or not, go see it and try it out. Maybe you will find your place there. If you don't like it just look elsewhere. There are plenty of associations so you will definitely find somewhere you belong.”

Board member of Japanese association Kinjin

Rowin Versteeg

"Mail the association you are interested in and ask them to join an activity. Most associations will be happy to let you in. If you are interested in multiple associations, join an activity for each and see which one you would like the most."

Member of Tantalus and part of Groep-één

Isidoris Kotinis

"I was hesitant to join committee because I was afraid of the commitment as I wanted to have freedom. Then I realized that as long as you make expectations clear and communicate how many hours you would like to invest then you will benefit a lot."

Event manager at Innovation Space & active member at Cosmos and TGD

Zaki Fairuzzaki

“In the Netherlands, there’s an association for everything. You’ll hopefully connect with some people that have similar interests as you and I recommend it. Because why not?"

You get the chance to make the difference

Robert-Jan Smits: "Go for it!"

To participate in extracurricular activities at the TU/e is an offer you can’t refuse !

 Being a member of a student board, a committee or a student team greatly enhances the skills that will help you to be successful in your career. It will provide you with hands-on experience in leadership, effective communication, negotiating, dealing with situations, taking account of diverse interests.  And you will also discover important things about yourself: what do I like, what are my strengths?

 But what’s at least just as important is that it’s great fun. You will make friends for life. You will feel the reward of achieving goals collectively and celebrating those achievements together. And you will be at the heart of student life, at the heart of the TU/e community.

 The Corona crisis has shown us more than ever that the extracurricular activities of students are crucial for the social fabric of our university, and for the wellbeing and success of students. You get the chance to make the difference, not only for yourself, but also for others.

 So my advice is: go for it! There is such an abundant range of opportunities to engage in extracurricular activities at the TU/e – there’s something for everyone. It’s an offer you can’t refuse.

Teun Smulders - Recruiter ASML

In addition to your hard skills, your soft skills are extremely important to be successful in your job. In most positions they are even more important than your hard skills. By doing extra-curricular activities you work on the development of these relevant skills, such as planning, stakeholder management, having difficult conversations, learn to deal with setbacks and giving and receiving feedback. Extra-curricular activities are relevant for your personal development. They help you to learn what you like, what your strengths are and how to distinguish yourself!
At ASML, we give our people the freedom to experiment - to do their job how they see fit. So when you’re in the driver’s seat of your career, hard skills might get you started, but your soft skills will accelerate and allow you to go in the direction you aspire.

 Hard skills might only get you started!

How can I come in action? 

So how can I join a committee, become board or become part of a student team? This is arranged by the association or student team you want to become active at! If you are not  So have a look at the community page to find the association/student team you want to or are already part of and contact them for more information! Go to community pages.

If you want more information about doing something extra during your student time don’t feel afraid to reach out to us. We have an instagram page where you can be updated about everything we do throughout the year. You can reach out with any question to us via Direct Message on instagram as well.

Links