Dear reader,

I hope you enjoyed reading the last post! As promised, I’ll give you some more insight in the research and the reason why I will be going to Brazil. But before I can do that, I need to give you a better understanding of the HZ University of Applied Sciences and the international ambitions of the Energy- and Process Technology study program.

The HZ University of Applied Sciences is a relatively small university in the south-western part of the Netherlands. With some 4.500 students (both national and international), the university is keen about its personal connection to each student (as a student from outside the region, I can say from my own experience that the school soon feels like home!) and its strong international orientation.

This international orientation is shown by the number of study programs that are internationally offered and in the international components in each study program (even the Dutch only programs).

In order to create  more possibility’s for international students the HZ University wants to make all unique study programs accessible for international students, this means that the Energy- and Process Technology has to change in order to accommodate international students in the best way possible.

This means that the changes in the study program have to be made with the future student in mind, but also the possibilities for these students abroad. This is accomplished by giving them an extra dimension on a specific subject that is related to their current study program.

In the exploration for possible subjects, I came across the Centre of ExpertiseBiobased Economy (Dutch site). This is a knowledge centre with specializes in the transition to a biobased economy, and is a collaboration between the HZ University and Avans University of Applied Sciences. As part of the LivingLab Biobased Brazil, the centre has strong connections with universities, government agencies and company’s in Brazil.

Using the knowledge and connections of the Centre of Expertise, I’m going to conduct a series of interviews with Brazilian students, program coordinators and businesses to understand their affection with study/students abroad and the possible collaborations between Brazil and the Netherlands.

Next week I will be telling you some more about my trip to Brazil.

Until then,

Thijs

Introduction to me and my research

Dear reader,

Before I begin about the current state of my research and the experiences I have while traveling to Brazil, I shall make a small introduction about my research subject and myself.

If you have read my introduction on the Living Lab Biobased Brazil page, you probably know that my name is Thijs Hoek. My origins lay in the middle of the Netherlands, close to the city of Zwolle. Because I have an great interest in every big and technical, I have made the choice to follow the study Energy and Process Technology at the HZ University of Applied Sciences in Vlissingen (Flushing), The Netherlands. If you look at the map of the Netherlands, you will notice that Vlissingen is not exactly close to my home town, acutely it’s quite far away (about 200 km long directional).

Distance between my hometown and Vlissingen

This distance means a travel time of 5 hours between home and school, so I moved to Vlissingen and enjoy the student life there. But every weekend I try to get home to visit my family and friends, because they are the most important in life. Besides studying, working and traveling to and from home, I really like to capture my surroundings by photographing it or just sitting somewhere with friends and enjoying the moment. Especially the sea surrounding Vlissingen always gives my time to reflect and think.

Some examples of the sea surrounding Vlissingen

Because some of my friends are quite venturesome, we often talk about our possibility’s abroad. During those talks it struck me that my study program didn’t had solid connections abroad, but the possibility’s where out there! So I started researching what could be the possibilities for me and my fellow students at Energy and Process Technology.

During this research I had some discussions with study coordinators and lectures at the study. These saw the same opportunity’s as me, but they were never (officially) examined. Due to my interest in the subject and the possible outcomes for the study, they give me the chance to conduct an official research to the international possibilities for the study during my minor slot in the study program.

And so I started researching the possibilities!

Next week I will tell you more about the outlines of my research and the way I got connected to Brazil.

Until then,

Thijs