One big benefit of the Erasmus Mundus program, says assistant professor dr. ir. Martijn Anthonissen, is that graduates have a diploma from two universities: “A ‘double degree’ looks very good on your CV.”
Besides the TU/e, applicants can choose Technische Universität Kaiserslautern (Germany) and the Johannes Kepler Universität Linz (Austria). The subjects taught are not identical everywhere, although they logically have an identical intrinsic setup. The first year is of a theoretical nature and involves many lectures, and in the second year students graduate.
“The Erasmus Mundus looks quite similar to the Computational Science and Engineering (CSE) track, which can be followed in full at the TU/e. Students of CSE can thus also take part in the program”, explains Anthonissen. The assistant professor at W&I is one of the driving forces behind the Master’s program in the TU/e Department. This study was started on 1 September 2005. Dr. Hennie ter Morsche filed the original application for the program and set it up jointly with prof. dr. Bob Mattheij. For this Master’s study international cooperation was sought with Kaiserslautern and Linz, with which there were contacts already in connection with scientific cooperative relationships.
The program does not boast large numbers of students yet, however. Anthonissen: “In September three students graduated at the TU/e. Three or four graduated in Linz and two in Kaiserslautern who also studied at the TU/e.”

Competitors
As a result of its international cooperation the Eindhoven university has not only acquired partners but also direct competitors. Why should students select Eindhoven to pass one of their years of study? Anthonissen cannot answer that one straight away. “The other universities also have very good programs. One of the reasons for choosing the TU/e might be that there are many enterprises in the immediate surroundings. Usually, though, students have personal reasons for the location of their choice.”
This is true also for Patricio Ivan Rosen Esquivel. Originally from Mexico, this student wanted to gain cultural experience. On the Internet he came across information that would lead to his choice for the Erasmus Mundus program. Esquivel decided on Eindhoven because he found the cultural differences between Germany and the Netherlands more interesting than those between Austria and Germany.
In the meantime Patricio has completed one year in Kaiserslautern and is starting on his second year at the TU/e. “I thought it was fun to form part of German society. It is interesting to see different people engaged in mathematics, so I am really looking forward to the year ahead of me.”/.

Patricio Ivan Rosen Esquivel.