50業子

Empower communities worldwide with innovative, sustainable solutions by combining engineering expertise with sociocultural knowledge.

Promoting well-being in underserved communities and reducing inequalities is not just an act of charity. If you really want to create sustainable, impactful solutions that empower communities to achieve better health, stability, and self-sufficiency, you need to take on a scientific approach – an approach that requires knowledge of engineering as well as sociocultural dynamics. Do you feel called upon to tackle complex humanitarian challenges all over the world, and develop socio-technological solutions by working together with people on location? For example, by contributing to disaster-resilient housing, developing solutions for safe water access or providing refugee camps with sustainable power solutions? Then the brand-new Master’s in Humanitarian Engineering at the University of Twente might just be what you are looking for.

In this two-year, English-taught master’s, you will develop an eye for the needs of underserved and marginalised communities in order to find and adapt technical solutions to suit their needs. Because without awareness of the local context, stakeholders and resources, engineering solutions may fall short of being effective or sustainable. So next to building technological knowhow, you will learn to integrate cultural, social, and economic factors into your design process, ensuring that the technologies are both practical and impactful.

New Master’s starting in September 2025:

The brand-new Master’s in Humanitarian Engineering starts in September 2025. From then on, you can start your studies each year in September. If you need to follow a Pre-Master’s first, you can also start in September and continue with the Master’s later on.

Is Humanitarian Engineering the right degree for you?

The Master’s in Humanitarian Engineering is an interdisciplinary master’s programme, which means that students from many different backgrounds can join.

You might for example have a background in Civil Engineering and work on meaningful projects on disaster-resilient housing or infrastructures. Or you might have completed a Bachelor’s in the field of Biomedical Engineering and want to contribute to health-related projects in low-income countries, like building medical devices suited for low-resource settings. Or perhaps you are an electrical engineer and you are devoted to improving the connectivity or energy resources for off-grid communities.

Even if you have a background in social sciences, you could – in some cases – still be admitted into the Master’s in Humanitarian Engineering, as knowledge in social sciences is also highly relevant in developing appropriate solutions addressing the underserved. You might then, for example, focus on engineering projects combined with sustainable and responsible entrepreneurship. In that case, you can only be admitted into this Master’s through a Pre-Master’s, or additional requirements might be requested, because this is an engineering programme, after all.

Career perspectives:

The demand for engineers with a commitment to social impact is growing as pressing global challenges such as climate change, natural disasters, poverty, hunger, conflicts and population displacement increase. So, with a Master’s degree in Humanitarian Engineering you have excellent prospects for a meaningful career in various fields, both nationally and internationally.