This year's program for both the first and second orientation weeks has largely already been decided. In their first orientation week, the international students will take care of practical matters - like opening a bank account and collecting their notebook. They will be given information about the education system at TU/e and can attend workshops offered by the Education and Student Service Center. These will be more numerous than in previous years and there will be some new workshops too. One of these is Study Management, which provides a chance to gain tips on how to prepare for lectures and tackle exams, and to combine studying and social activities. In the Assertiveness & Dealing with Feedback workshop the new international students will learn how they can best deal with feedback from fellow group members and lecturers, and they will learn to manage their boundaries.

In 2017 TU/e intends to introduce a single joint orientation week, for both Dutch and international students, tells orientation coordinator Jeanette Schoumacher. International students must however be in the Netherlands in the preceding week, in order to get themselves tested for tuberculosis. Exactly what the new program will involve is as yet unknown.

This year for the first time, all TU/e students will join together to celebrate the end of the general orientation week, on August 19. A number of acts will be performing and there will be food trucks. The beer cantus was last held two years ago and was replaced in 2015 with the Splash water party. But evaluations have shown that this was not an unqualified success, reveals Central Introduction Committee member Wouter Witkamp. “It was great for a short while. This year we want to involve the entire TU/e community and we want to end with a bang.”

To date, some 500 international students have signed up. This year's general introduction week is expected to be attended by some 2600 participants in total (including orientation moms and dads on hand to offer guidance), some 2300 of whom will be starting their freshman year. These are estimates, the Central Introduction Committee does not yet have definite figures.