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