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BSc and MSc students

Internships and thesis projects

Students from university (WO), higher professional education (HBO) and intermediate vocational education (MBO) have the opportunity to do an internship or a thesis project at DIFFER. Unless otherwise specified, the internships are only available for students with a nationality of an EU-member state and/or students from a Dutch university.

Why choose DIFFER?

At DIFFER we do ground-breaking fundamental scientific research to develop novel future energy technologies, together with (inter)national university groups and industrial partners. Our research focuses on two major energy themes: research into fusion energy as a clean, safe and sustainable energy source, and research into solar fuels for the conversion and storage of sustainable energy. We take a multidisciplinary approach to energy research  and combine physics, chemistry, engineering and materials science, with experimental, modeling and theory groups working closely together.

At DIFFER you get the opportunity to work on the worldwide transition to sustainable energy, one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century. Your thesis work is part of the scientific programme of the institute, and is visible to partners from science and industry.

Internships and thesis projects

All our research groups offer the possibility of a tailored BSc- or MSc-project that fits both your focus and the group's research program. Our projects are open to students from many different disciplines, but they are an especially good fit for students from (Applied) Physics, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Materials Science, Computer Science, Computational Sciences and Mechanical Engineering.

What do we have to offer?

  • You get the exciting opportunity to contribute to the worldwide transition to sustainable energy.
  • You work at the highly sustainable DIFFER institute, located in a new building at the campus of Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), in the heart of Eindhoven.
  • You are an integral part of our internationally visible research program, which allows you to build a network with our in-house experts and with our partners from Dutch and international universities, polytechs and high-tech companies.
  • Eindhoven lies in the Brainport area: the technological heart of the Netherlands. It is a great student city, with good sports facilities, lots of green space, excellent shops, full of terraces in summer, an exciting (student) nightlife and of course well connected via public transport.
  • We offer HBO- and MBO-students an internship allowance. Under certain conditions WO-students can get a compensation for travelling expenses or housing costs.
  • Coming to DIFFER from abroad? Find out more about how to prepare on Study in Holland.

Open positions

Please visit the Vacancies page to see our open positions. Or contact one of the group leaders and inquire about the possibilities for a tailored project.

Examples of former projects

https://repository.tudelft.nl/islandora/object/uuid%3A08a173ca-af8e-479e-93c0-bd3c17068802 (Jorge Rosas Saad, MSc graduation project, TU Delft)

https://research.tue.nl/en/publications/3d-printed-heat-pipe-array-for-fusion (Nick Maasen, PDEng, TU Eindhoven)