Advice for TU/e students in the process of graduating

You are graduating, but you are not really making any headway. You have not talked to your supervisor for ages, your project is not running smoothly, your motivation is plummeting swiftly. Still, you can heave a sigh of relief, for you are not unique in this respect. Nearly all students have such moments during their graduation phase. Although things usually take a turn for the better automatically, if you feel you have to talk about it or need extra support, STU student advisers Lonneke Aalpol and Hedwich van Engelen are ready for you. In addition, there is a Graduation Group, a small group in which graduating students meet on a weekly basis in order to set concrete goals.

Student advisers of the Education and Student Service Center (STU) are specialized in ‘graduation deadlock’. Van Engelen: “It is quite a daunting task, being a project leader without a great deal of knowledge and experience. Still, it is wise to be aware that your graduation project is your own responsibility. Naturally a good supervisor will support the product and the process as part of the academic schooling. However, this also implies that you will eventually be trained to be an independent engineer, researcher or designer. Which means you yourself should provide clarity about what needs to be done. Plan carefully and work with a focused approach. Which experiments need to be carried out over the next few weeks, which articles do you want to read? What must be discussed with your supervisor and what should the feedback be about? Don’t expect your supervisor always to come up with solutions to these questions - in other words: be proactive.”

Read on for general tips on the graduation process and on what you can do and who you can turn to if you're experiencing problems.