TU Delft Student News

This afternoon, the Cabinet announced further additional measures to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.

All current measures at TU Delft remain in force and are extended to 6 April; nonetheless the university remains fully committed to offering as much education as possible online.

In addition, as per the new measures, all on-campus catering will be closed with immediate effect.
At the risk of stating the obvious, on the insistence of the Cabinet, we request that everyone keeps an appropriate distance from one another, with a  distance of 1.5 m as a guideline.

All latest updates and information are regularly published on the TU Delft website.

As announced, TU Delft is taking far-reaching measures to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus. The health of our students and employees is our priority. At the same time, we feel a great responsibility to continue to educate our students.

The latest update on the TU Delft website regards:

• All education being offered online as much as possible in the coming period (a dedicated site is now live to support lecturers in implementing this)
• An updated travel policy whereby, until further notice, students are not allowed to (book) study-related trips – read the full details on the website.

TU Delft is busy implementing extended measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus and a lot is happening within the community. Follow the ‘Delta’ live blog to keep up to date.

The latest news on the adopted measures and further developments will continue to be published on the TU Delft website.
There you can now find new FAQs and information about:

• incurring extra costs due to the exceptional circumstances of the current situation
• whether students can still come to campus (see Question 3)
• what do about attending PhD conferral ceremonies (see Question 10).

In addition to the extended measures previously announced (see update of 12 March at 19:00), please note that from tomorrow, 13 March 2020 until at least 31 March 2020, there will be no on-campus education at TU Delft; this includes exams. 
In the coming period, education will be offered online as much as possible. Further instructions will follow. You are advised to keep an eye on Brightspace.

Due to the latest measures adopted by TU Delft to oppose the spreading of the coronavirus, the interactive theatre performance TIME OUT, scheduled on 17 and 18 March, has been cancelled.

For information and tools to help you deal with various challenges you can encounter in your busy study life, including tips on stress and self-management and on who to contact for further advice, please visit the Career & Counselling page on the student portal (scroll down the page to see the full range of options).

Read the latest update related to the coronavirus; this contain the extended measures TU Delft is taking following the Dutch Government’s decisions and guidelines announced this afternoon.

Cheating, plagiarism, discrimination, inappropriate behaviour… How can you deal with those situations? Should you speak to someone directly? That’s not always easy. In the new TU Delft Code of Conduct you can read about how to act in sometimes complex situations according to the values we consider important at the university. The code also contains the TU Delft Declaration of Integrity, which gives you information about the rules of conduct everyone is expected to adhere to. You will also learn what is specifically expected of you as a student.
Would you like to know more? Take a look at tudelft.nl/integrity where you will find the code of conduct and the Integrity Roadmap, a tool that shows you the paths you can take if you are faced with an (ethical) dilemma.

We all experience stress now and then. It is part of our lives and has a function as it helps us to perform. There’s nothing wrong with working hard and having ambition; go for it! But what if it is too much? You probably know about mindfulness apps and self-help books. Maybe even use them. They do however only control the symptoms. The underlying question is much more important: why do you experience stress? And why is it so hard to talk about it?

Interactive Theatre Play
On 17 and 18 March, you can attend the interactive theatre play Time Out. In this play, professional actors start a dialogue about the early signs and possible solutions. It will help you recognize signals of a burn-out and lowers the threshold to talk about the subject. It will truly be a heart- and eye opener.

Afterwards, make sure to join the cafe. There, you will have the possibility to talk about the play, have a drink and get more information about dealing with stress.

Do You Need a Time Out?
Come by on 17 or 18 March! Attend the play especially made for Bachelors on 17 March, performed in Dutch, or join the one directed at Master students on 18 March performed in English.

Free entrance
19:30 – 21:00 Time Out Theatre play
21:00 – 22:00 Cafe
Aula Auditorium

This theater play is brought to you by ESA, X TU Delft, ORAS, Studium Generale and Stichting TIME OUT.

On Sunday evening 1 March TU Delft announced measures in the context of the current developments surrounding the coronavirus. We urge students and employees with respiratory complaints, coughing, shortness of breath or fever to stay at home as a precaution.

This has raised a lot of questions about how exactly to deal with compulsory educational matters such as practicals and compulsory tutorials. In particular, the question of which obligation carries more weight: the educational obligation or the coronavirus measure. We would like to underline that the coronavirus measure is and remains the overriding measure until further notice.

Solutions will be sought for students who are unable to comply with educational obligations as a result of the measure referred to above. Teachers have been asked to come up with suitable solutions wherever possible.

With regards to not being able to sit exams and interim exams, a discussion has also taken place with the chairs of examination committees, who have indicated that they understand the necessity of the measure and will go along with it. The examination committee already has sufficient powers to facilitate solutions in the event of a study delay.

It is important that students make it known in advance if they are unable to comply with educational obligations as a result of the measure, so that this can be taken into account. They must also keep an eye on what their study programme communicates on this matter.

For regularly updated FAQs and information on precautionary measures, please visit the dedicated page on the TU Delft website.

The area health authority GGD does not currently impose any extra restrictions on TU Delft. Nevertheless, at TU Delft we choose to urge anyone with respiratory complaints, coughing, shortness of breath or fever to stay at home as a precaution – regardless of where you have been and with whom you have been in  contact. We consider this measure necessary in view of our open and international character, in combination with the reality of a student infected with the coronavirus. If you have any of the aforementioned symptoms, please report them to your family doctor by telephone, stay at home and follow your doctor’s instructions.

Existing hygiene measures at TU Delft will also be expanded to include an extra measure, namely that we ask everyone not to shake hands.

Both measures apply to students, staff and visitors to our campus or our events. Finally, TU Delft is counting on students and staff to take responsibility, to help each other and to speak to each other whenever necessary.

The most important measures you can take to prevent the spread of the coronavirus are:

• Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water on a regular basis
• Use hand alcohol if water and soap are unavailable
• Cough and sneeze in your elbow, not in your hand
• Use paper tissues and throw them away immediately
• Do not shake hands

Stay at home if you have symptoms such as coughing, shortness of breath, fever and/or lung problems and contact your family doctor by telephone.

For regularly updated FAQs and information on precautionary measures, please visit the dedicated page on the TU Delft website.