After an evaluation last autumn it was decided to strike the museum in the city center off the list as a fixed location for defense ceremonies. However, this does not mean that no ceremonies can take place there anymore by definition: “If a Department would really like to do so, for instance because of someone’s research topic or because of a special relationship with the Van Abbe, anything can be discussed.” Roumen thinks that this is also true for other locations outside the Auditorium and the university campus, “although we are not going to approve of anything just like that.”

With its ‘departure’ from the Van Abbe the TU/e is not withdrawing from the inner city in the least. Indeed, the university still celebrates its foundation day in the Heilig Hartkerk (Paterskerk) at Tramstraat, while the big Catharinakerk remains the place for larger lustrum celebrations. For defense ceremonies in the field of automotive the castle in Helmond continues to be in the picture and if it is up to Roumen, De Zwarte Doos on the university grounds could also become an excellent permanent location. This week saw the first defense ceremony taking place in De Zwarte Doos.

“Still, what I should like most would be to have our own ceremony hall on campus”, says the university secretary. Last year, students at Architecture, Building and Planning got stuck into a project concerning a special defense ceremony hall for the TU/e. “They presented their designs to the Executive Board, where reactions were very enthusiastic”, says ir. Jan Schevers from that Department. Still, no continuation of the project has materialized so far, says the project manager./.