New High-Tech Innovation specialisation: ‘Time for a small celebration’
The Dutch high-tech industry urgently needs specialised technicians. Leiden University aims to help meet this demand with its new specialisation in High-Tech Innovation (HTI), which brings together chemistry, physics, mathematics, computer science, astronomy and project management.
At the end of March 2024, the then government presented Project Beethoven, an ambitious plan to secure the future of the Dutch high-tech industry. The plan responded to concerns raised by ASML and other companies in the microchip sector. The sector urgently needs specialised technicians. If the Netherlands is to avoid falling behind, tens of thousands of high-tech specialists will need to be trained.
Alongside the Brainport region [Eindhoven and south-east Brabant], an investment fund was established, which also focuses on regional development. For the western part of the country, €43 million has been made available for education, infrastructure and housing, presenting a valuable opportunity for Leiden University. ‘Project Beethoven creates urgency and momentum’, says Koenraad Schalm, Professor of Physics. ‘Everyone was incredibly enthusiastic, which really got the creative process going here at the faculty.’
The idea itself was not new: there had long been discussion about combining the various science programmes to create a new multidisciplinary specialisation. This would bring together the Faculty of Science’s strongest high-tech expertise. Project Beethoven proved exactly the impetus the technical researchers at Leiden University needed.
Great opportunity
The Faculty Board, programme directors and other staff put their heads together: this was the chance to establish the long-discussed multidisciplinary high-tech specialisation: High-Tech Innovation (HTI), as the new master’s specialisation was to be called.
‘As a university, we are committed to training new talent, and this new route allows us to step up those efforts’, says Schalm, the programme’s coordinator. ‘Students have long been asking for a programme that combines science with a focus on business.’
There was another important incentive. ‘This was a great opportunity for Leiden to showcase the quality of our teaching. Our high-tech programmes are comparable to those at technical universities, but they are less well-known in industry. You could say we already had a masterpiece and have now been able to bring it into the spotlight.’
‘We already had the core elements for the new specialisation’, says Lies Bouwman, Director of Education at the Leiden Institute of Chemistry (LIC). ‘These include the master’s programmes in chemistry, physics, maths, computer science and astronomy.’ From September 2026, students enrolled in these programmes will be able to choose the HIT specialisation in their second year.
‘The emphasis remains on their own discipline’, says Bouwman, ‘but they also take HTI-related courses from the four other programmes. For instance, chemistry students are not expected to know all about computer science, but they do need to understand the basics. They learn when to draw on other disciplines and how these can complement their work. HTI students learn to speak one another’s language, enabling them to look beyond disciplinary boundaries. It’s precisely this broad perspective that industry needs.’
With HTI, Leiden will train graduates with a broad outlook. Many will go on to work in industry, where business skills are required alongside technical expertise. ‘These include project management, patent management and collaboration’, says Wolfgang Loeffler, Director of Education at Leiden Institute of Physics (LION). ‘We have developed a dedicated course for this within HTI. The professor is also a high-tech entrepreneur, so he has a lot of practical experience. Students also gain hands-on experience during a business internship, which could be at a big company like ASML or at a start-up. They undertake their own research project, so it’s a great opportunity to apply their knowledge in a real-life context.’ The internship is a core component of HTI, and funding from the Beethoven programme has made it possible to appoint a dedicated internship coordinator.
Business community
HTI has a strong connection with industry. How were high-tech companies involved in developing this specialisation? ‘As a faculty, we already had close ties with the business community before starting HTI’, says Victor van der Horst, Beethoven and High-Tech programme manager at the university and co-director of the master’s specialisation. ‘So we had a fairly good idea of what companies are looking for.’
Long-standing partnerships include collaborations with the Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON), the European Space Agency (ESA) and companies based at the Leiden Bio Science Park.
The coordinators continue to invest in relationships with relevant companies. ‘In addition to internship partnerships, we are constantly looking for new collaborators’, says Van der Horst. ‘We’re also setting up an Industry Board, inviting businesses from within and outside the high-tech sector to join. There is a great deal of enthusiasm. It will be a place where they can share ideas and advice to further strengthen the curriculum – in a way that respects our teaching and independence as a university, of course.’
Ready to start
HIT will start this September. The new programme was developed in record time – less than two years. Is that something to be proud of? Typically modest, Leiden’s technical researchers admit they are proud. But the true test will come when the first students attend lectures and work in the labs. ‘We’re starting small, but it’s already generating a lot of interest’, says Van der Horst. ‘Whatever happens, a small celebration will be in order in September!’
Responding to demand
The world is changing and Leiden University is evolving with it. This includes new programmes that prepare students for emerging developments and growing sectors. Examples include:
Bachelor’s in Political Science: National and International Politics
Tom Theuns, Director of Undergraduate Studies at the Institute of Political Science: ‘In this bachelor’s programme, students don’t just study national and international politics separately; they also study how they influence one another. This broad perspective on politics is more relevant than ever. The Netherlands does not operate in isolation but within alliances like the EU and NATO. The news is dominated by Ukraine, Gaza, Iran, Dutch responses, and how, driven by its own national agenda, the US is ignoring international treaties.’
Interest in the new programme, which starts in September, was high at open days, and the target of at least 180 new students appears realistic.
Bachelor’s in Science for Sustainable Societies
Addressing climate challenges requires people who think outside the box and can approach problems from multiple angles. These ‘changemakers’ will be trained in the new Bachelor’s in Science for Sustainable Societies, which combines the theory and practice of physics, social and behavioural sciences and public administration. Programme director Thijs Bosker stresses that combining disciplines is essential to balance human and environmental needs. The programme started in September 2025 with 44 first-year students, and numbers are expected to grow rapidly.
Master’s specialisation in The Politics of Artificial Intelligence
Is AI a blessing or a disaster? This question is the subject of ongoing debate. The new political science programme goes beyond the daily headlines. Matthew di Giuseppe, director of master's degree programmes, explains: ‘Other programmes in the Netherlands focus on AI applications in various sectors or on further AI development, whereas our new specialisation is the only one where students explore how artificial intelligence influences politics. It’s a non-technical programme that asks questions about issues such as AI and political responsibility, control and ethics because it’s important that future leaders think critically about these topics. The programme will start in September 2026, and we are already seeing a lot of interest.’
Beethoven in Leiden
Beethoven Zuid-Holland aims to work with partners from research universities, universities of applied sciences and senior secondary vocational education in the Zuid-Holland region to train an additional 2,000 technical professionals for the high-tech industry by 2030 – 1,000 through regular higher education, higher professional education and senior secondary vocational education and 1,000 through the Lifelong Learning programme. Leiden University will contribute to this and works closely with the Leiden Instrument Makers School, which is also part of Beethoven. Other partners include University of Applied Sciences Leiden and Delft University of Technology.
The total Beethoven budget is €2.51 billion up to 2030. The funding is intended to improve infrastructure and housing, and increase the number of highly qualified people in four high-tech regions: Zuid-Holland, Noord-Nederland, Twente and the Brainport Region near Eindhoven. The sector is expected to require tens of thousands of new, predominantly highly qualified workers by 2032.