Category: Featured article
CLUSTER General Assembly 2021 virtual at KTH
The first 2021 Steering Committee (SC) together with the annual General Assembly of CLUSTER was held virtually at KTH, Stockholm from 18th to 19th of March.
Since the previous SC, the newly created Working Groups on sustainable development in engineering programs and on the European Universities Alliances have met twice. The existing Working Groups have also been actively working during this time span and their activities were reported.
The main focus of discussion was the relationship between the CLUSTER network and future partners outside of Europe such as African universities. For this matter the role & admission of associate members is planned to be re-discussed and the creation of a new Working Group about relations with Africa was decided.
Current and upcoming activities of the Consortium were intensively discussed during the General Assembly such as the idea of creating a side event at COP26 to present CLUSTER activities, of giving the Industrial Engineering and Management department a new strategy, of celebrating the 30th anniversary in 2022. The students’ implication in the network CLUSTER SC and the future agreement for the SEEEP doctoral training program with China were among the important subjects of this General Assembly.
The next Steering Committee will be held at Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium, from 28th to 29th of October 2021.
CLUSTER Steering Committee II 2020 virtual at Polito
The second 2020 Steering Committee of CLUSTER was held virtually at Politecnico di Torino from 29th to 30th of October.
Prior to this Steering Committee additional working group meetings were organised, such as a meeting of the students’ representatives and a meeting of the communication working group for the 30th anniversary celebration.
The main focus of discussion was the relationship between the CLUSTER network and the 6 European university alliances in which all members of CLUSTER are involved and their relative positioning. Moreover, the creation of a new working group on sustainable development in engineering programs was decided.
Current and upcoming activities of the Consortium were intensively discussed during the Steering Committee such as a virtual 30th anniversary, the students’ implication in the network, the future agreement for the SEEEP doctoral training program with China or the role & admission of associate members.
The next Steering Committee and the annual General Assembly will be held at KTH in Stockholm from 17th to 19th of March 2021.
Urban Greenhouse Challenge: Reforest
Tomsk Polytechnic University, a CLUSTER associate member, launches the international competition of student projects for innovative greenhouse complexes in urban environment – Urban Greenhouse Challenge: Reforest. The competition is held as part of the celebration of the 125th anniversary of Tomsk Polytechnic University and will take place from October 2020 to June 2021.
It is the first time when a Russian university takes over the baton from the Dutch academic partners and opens the Urban Greenhouse Challenge: Reforest. Tomsk Polytechnic University is delighted to invite the students and the experts of all CLUSTER universities to participate in the competition and contribute to the rapid reforestation. Prize fund is $10 000.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Challenge will be held online.
Learn more on the website reforest.tpu.ru.
The registration is open until 28 February 2021.
Postdoc Career Programme at TU Darmstadt – Calls are open
As one of the leading universities of technology, located in Rhine-Main-Area in the heart of Germany, Technical University of Darmstadt offers a stimulating and cooperative research environment for young researchers. Our Postdoc Career Programmes are directed at international doctoral students in the final stage of doctorate and international postdocs looking for a second postdoc.
TU Darmstadt ongoing calls Career Bridging Grants and ´Future Talent´ Guest Stay Grants are open until closing date 15th of November, 2020.
Learn more: Announcements for Postdocs at TU Darmstadt.
CLUSTER Universities’ Initiatives to cope with the Covid-19 situation
In view of the current corona situation, CLUSTER universities are making great efforts to deal with this situation, always driven by the paradigm of safeguarding the health and well-being of their students, staff and faculties and fulfilling their social responsibility. Immediate measures include adapting their training and research activities to this new situation, the development and implementation of e-learning courses and hackathons, virtual team building measures and psychological hotlines. In addition, the CLUSTER universities are using their technological know-how to contribute to the successful fight against Covid-19, e.g. by providing temporary hospitals or respiratory equipment. An overview of the measures taken can be found here:
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
CLUSTER associated members:
Creating Multidimensional Experiences, 3 to 21 August at Aalto University
The Aalto University and Aalto Ventures Program would like to warmly invite students to participate in the virtual summer course ‘Creating Multidimensional Experiences’ which will be held from 3rd to 21st August 2020 at Aalto University, Otaniemi Campus, Espoo, Finland.
About the course
Registration
Individual registrations for the course can be done through the website. Institutional pricing is available for groups of 5 or more participants.
Application Deadline
Application Deadline: June 30th, 2020*
*Application done and submitted before the date
Coronavirus update & Cancellation policy
We have recently decided that our summer course will be organized online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We will follow the most up-to-date guidance from both sources during the summer. In the unfortunate event that we need to cancel summer course due to ongoing regulations, we will fully refund the payment of the course.
For related questions, please feel free to contact Ms. My Nguyen (my.2.nguyen@aalto.fi) at Aalto Ventures Program.
CLUSTER 2020 General Assembly Goes Virtual!
In light of the recent COVID-19 developments, CLUSTER will host its annual General Assembly on April 3, 2020 from 10-12am CET as a virtual meeting. Among the most important items on our agenda are the election of the next CLUSTER president, the inauguration of the CLUSTER Student Organisation (CSO), and the report on the current CLUSTER presidency by TU Darmstadt. While we regret the cancelation of the CLUSTER 30th Anniversary Symposium and all other in-person events scheduled to take place in Darmstadt between April 1 and 3, the health and safety of our colleagues, staff, and students are naturally our highest priority.
Cluster Steering Committee II and 10th SEEEP Workshop 2019
The second 2019 Steering Committee of CLUSTER and was held at Technische Universiteit Eindhoven from 24th to 25th October.
Prior to the CLUSTER Steering Committee, addional working group meetings were organized, like the Student Representative Meeting on the 24th October, the InComm Project Meeting from 22th to 23th October and the Task Force Mobility Meeting on the 24th October.

The Consortium was hosting students from all member universities at an CLUSTER Students’ meeting, to hear student views, exchange ideas about new CLUSTER initiatives and discuss the future organisational structure of a CLUSTER Students’ organization.
Moreover, the 10th Workshop of Sino-European Engineering Education Platform (SEEEP) was held held at Technische Universiteit Eindhoven as well from 22th to 23th October. The topics of the Workshop were: “Engineering Education: best practices and lessons learned”, “Entrepreneurship & Innovation within the Sino-EU context” and “SEEEP experience sharing and education internationalization”.
Other topics on the agenda were the initiation of a new joint research proposal in the field of artificial intelligence and the planning of the CLUSTER Symposium on 2nd April 2020, which is aimed to celebrate the 30-years anniversary of the network.
With the change of TUDa’s President Hans Jürgen Prömel to Tanja Brühl, the Presidency of CLUSTER will be now led by TUDa’s new President Tanja Brühl. We sincerely congratulate and welcome our new President on her new position as CLUSTER’s President and believe that she will contribute a lot to CLUSTER’s development and improvement. We would like to express our thanks to TUDa’s and CLUSTER’s former President Hans Jürgen Prömel for his valuable input over the past year and wish him all the best for the future.
International Week 2019, 9-11 December, Tomsk
Tomsk Polytechnic University is delighted to invite you to our International Week in Tomsk, Russia on December 9-11, 2019! The aim of this event is to deepen insights, expand fruitful networking and make new acquaintances for everyone involved. “Discover Russia” is the theme of the International Week. Another aim of the Week is to meet with representatives of international offices of universities of Asia, Europe and Russia to introduce the system of Russian higher education and the universities of Tomsk for improving effectiveness of international cooperation.
Based on this we would like to give you the possibility to
- present your home university and institution at an international mini-fair during the Week
- listen to key note speakers within the international Week´s subject areas
- take part in interesting work-shops
- give a lecture to Russian students
Please let us know which subject you are lecturing about. We encourage interdisciplinary lectures within the subject areas or in some other area of expertise that you would like to introduce.
Please see the Invitation and Preliminary Program for the International Week in Tomsk.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Tomsk Polytechnic University directly.
For more information you can also go to the official website of TPU International week 2019.
We are looking forward to your registration before November 10, 2019