RSA CE&C 2015-2021

36 During the review period, TU/e also founded the Advanced Research Center Chemical Building Blocks Consortium (ARC CBBC) with Utrecht University and the University of Groningen (UG) in 2019. This national research center developed an advanced research program aimed at chemical building blocks for novel sustainable energy and materials. ARC CBBC is a public- private organization in which academic (UU, TU/e and UG as founding fathers), industrial (AkzoNobel, BASF, Nouryon and Shell) and governmental partners cooperate on themes related to functional materials and specialties, coatings, and energy carriers. The academic members are elected and, of the 40 ARC CBBC members, eight originate from the department. The department aims to achieve societal impact primarily through high-quality education and research in an intertwined manner. The quantity and quality of the graduates of the department therefore serves as an important parameter for societal relevance as well. In its most recent assessment, the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO) judged the bachelor’s and master’s programs of the department as “good” (the highest score) on all assessment criteria (intended learning outcomes, teaching learning environment, assessment and achieved learning outcomes). Because of the transition to English as the main language in all educational programs, the department was able to increase the number of students at both the bachelor’s level (from 317 in 2015 to 353 in 2021) and master’s level (from 180 in 2015 to 270 in 2021), which is the opposite of the demographic trends in the Netherlands, and could maintain a very significant inflow of students (see Table 5 in Appendix A). Table 8 provides information regarding the duration and success rate of PhD trajectories in the department. The total annual inflow of PhD students remains constant, resulting in a continuously high number (>200) of PhD students. About 50% of students graduate in four years while the average time needed before graduation is 4.5 years. Scientific staff in the department are aware of the importance of timely graduation and actively steer this during e.g., PhD progress meetings and annual reviews. However, external factors do not always help with this. In the case of delays due to experimental limitations for which the PhD student cannot be held responsible, illness or serious personal reasons, the department is supportive in granting a well-substantiated extension of the contract. Table 8: Information on the duration and success rate of the PhD program. Enrollment Success rate (graduated in …) Starting year Enrolment (M/F) Total Year 4 or earlier Year 4.5 or earlier Year 5 or earlier Year 6 or earlier Year 7 or earlier Not yet finished Dis­ continued 2013 21 / 11 32 17 / 53% 23 / 72% 24 / 75% 29 / 91% - - 3 / 9% 2014 32 / 13 45 20 / 44% 29 / 64% 33 / 73% 40 / 89% - 3 / 7% 2 / 4% 2015 36 / 7 43 21 / 49% 30 / 70% 37 / 86% 40 / 93% - 2 / 5% 1 / 2% 2016 35 / 12 47 23 / 49% 36 / 77% 40 / 85% 41 / 87% 1 - 2 / 4% 4 / 9% 2017 39 / 14 53 24 / 45% 35 / 66% 38 / 72% 1 - - 14 / 26% 1 1 / 2% Total 163 / 57 220 105 / 48% 153 / 70% 172 / 78% 188 / 85% 1 21 / 10% 1 11 / 5% 1 Data taken into account until June 1, 2022. Societal impact is also achieved through the creation of new and reliable knowledge and technology and its successful implementation in society. This is achieved, among other ways, through collaboration with industrial partners, scientific colleagues and other societal organizations in bilateral constructs or larger programs. Typical examples of such programs include the ARC CBBC, the Institute for Sustainable Process Technology (ISPT), the Dutch Polymer Institute (DPI), the Materials Innovation Institute (M2i), NanoNextNL, CatchBio and Chemelot InSciTe. The research groups work with a larger number of global partners in the