Elective Courses and External Learning Activities

At the department of Industrial Design, electives form the connection between the knowledge and skill base developed in the core and generic engineering courses and practice, projects and professional domain. They offer a controlled context to develop your overall competence of design. In addition to the electives offered by the department, electives may also be taken at other TU/e departments. Select the electives that best match your learning goals and contribute most to your intended development, as derived from your professional identity and vision as described in your Personal Development Plan.

If you choose more than three courses at other departments (with the exception of the USE Learning Trajectory), you have to request a formal approval from the Examination Committee. The teacher coach can provide support in the decision-making process. In some cases, electives are offered as coherent course sequences of two or three electives, such as the USE Learning Trajectory. Choosing electives can support expanding the overall competence of design.

The Curriculum Overview on the Curriculum page or the Forms and Files page provides an overview of all bachelor electives offered by Industrial Design, arranged per Area of Expertise. Here, and on the PlanApp, you can find out when and how you can best schedule your electives.
Osiris provides all information relevant to each specific elective, just type in the course code: timeslots, teachers, quartiles the elective is taught etcetera.
For important deadlines regarding elective planning (registration dates), please check theYear planning on the Forms and Files page.

You may choose a total of 45 ECTS in electives as part of your curriculum from both inside the ID department and from other departments at the TU/e. When you would like to choose more than 15 ECTS of electives outside the Industrial Design department, you have to motivate your choices and get approval of the Examination Committee.

If you do an exchange or a pre-approved minor, you don't need to go to the EC for approval, even though they are considered outside the ID department activities. However, if you decide to follow courses outside of ID on top of the exchange or preapproved minor, you need to file a request to the EC to get approval. In this case it is advised to contact your academic advisor.

If you have registered for more electives than you can attend, please cancel your registration in Osiris. There is only a limited number of seats available per elective. If the registration deadline has passed, please send an e-mail to the Center for Student Administration (CSA ID) (check the Contact page) and they will cancel your registration for you.

When less than 16 students have registered for an elective at the close of the registration period (5 working days before Q1 and 15 working days before Q2, 3 and 4), the elective might be cancelled. The students involved will be contacted by the educational office so they can register for another course.

General
The elective space has some level requirements that are good to be aware of, especially when choosing TU/e electives as your B31 option. Your complete elective space, including your external learning activity (B3.1), contains 45 ECTS. In these 45 ECTS, you need at least 20ECTS of level 2 or 3 courses. You need to have at least one level 3 course (5 ECTS) in your elective space.

B3.1 options
As an exchange and internship are considered a level 3 learning activity, this requirement is already fulfilled when you choose that option.

If you choose a (free) minor it is advised to not only follow introductory courses, but also to deepen your knowledge.

If you choose TU/e electives you must pay close attention to whether you meet the above requirement regarding the levels of electives.

DZC10 Design for Games and Play: Game Design, DZC20 Design for Games and Play II: Learning and Persuasion in Games and DZC30 Design for Games and Play III: Playful Interactions are part of the Play and Learn ID coherent package, but you can also attend these electives separately. The ‘USE’ electives are part of ID’s learning trajectory Designing for People, Sports and Vitality, but you can also attend one of the courses as a separate elective (if you have registered for a different USE learning trajectory). 

In addition to the ID electives you can select electives from other TU/e departments. Browse through the Osiris course catalogue for inspiration (remember to check the entrance requirements!). The 'proposed electives' list on the Forms and Files page gives a selection of electives that could be interesting for you as an ID-student.

Please note: check the list of courses that overlap for electives that cannot be chosen.