The decision to separate the introduction events again stems from last year’s evaluation. It turned out that many master’s students felt somewhat lost and out of place during the introduction week, community manager and co-organizer Esther Lutterman explains. “We heard similar signals from other parties.”

Organizing a separate event for master’s students to get to know the campus and Eindhoven is going to help them settle in more easily, the organizers believe. In addition, it’s more streamlined organizationally, adds Intro Project Manager Roeland Schelfhout. “Especially in terms of coordination with the Brainport region.”

Student festival

Master’s students who are new to the city and would like to join the party can choose to participate in the regular Intro as “bachelor's students,” says Lutterman. “They’ll be placed in a group with Intro parents, as usual. Only we haven’t decided yet whether they’ll be mixed into a group with bachelor’s students or placed in separate master’s groups.”

The Master Kick-Off takes place in the week following the Intro, with familiar elements such as the Company Tour and the Master Challenge. During that same week, a new event will be introduced this year: the Vibes Student Festival, organized by the Eindhoven hospitality industry. The festival is open to all bachelor’s and master’s students in Eindhoven, including those from universities of applied sciences (HBO) and senior secondary vocational education schools (MBO). Last year, a similar party was held in the evening but on a smaller scale. “In addition to a large evening party, there will also be an afternoon program, a food corner and an alternative program,” says Lutterman.

KOE field

There are also a few changes to the introduction week for bachelor’s students. The grand opening on Monday will be moved to the evening, just before the party, so that it can kick off immediately afterwards. And the party itself will be moved, out of necessity, to the KOE field this year, because there is not enough space on the Flux field due to construction work on Gemini-Zuid.

Another new element is the rebranding of the Tranquilo Track, the alternative evening program. The name gave the impression that it was a very calm and relaxed program, members of the Central Introduction Committee (CIC) explain during the Kick-Off meeting. As if students should only join this track if they wanted to take a break, whereas, according to the members, it is actually a very diverse program. Hence the new name: “Tangent Track.”

Calculus

That name is a play on words, just like this year’s theme: “Sine me up.” These are both references to something all first-years will encounter: the (infamous) calculus course. “It refers to sine, cosine, and tangent,” explains CIC member Mike Zanderink. “I already suggested that all Intro kids should call each other cosine this year, but that idea hasn’t really caught on yet.”