With about 300 registrations, CuriousU meets the objectives, says Tsigki. ‘But, I think it's more important that we have a challenging and innovative program. I have only just started working at the UT, but I see that steps have been taken every year. With our offer we distinguish ourselves from all the other summer schools. The UT is a technical university, but the courses are also interesting for students without a technical background. The offer is multidisciplinary. We also see this in the registrations. Students come from all over the world to follow courses here. This year we welcome 42 nationalities.’
Showcase
CuriousU is a visible face for the UT, thinks Tsigki. The three hundred mainly bachelor students are introduced to the campus and that can lead to registrations for the UT masters. ‘But that's not the main objective,’ she says. ‘We mainly want to be a showcase: show how beautiful internationalization is and how you can share and shape education together. That sense of community is characteristic of CuriousU.’
With that, she also says that profit is not the most important objective of CuriousU. ‘The summer school is an investment because we show how unique the campus is and how our education is organized. But we are healthy, we expect to make a small profit. That is necessary, because it keeps us healthy and guarantees our continuity.’
This continuity is mainly found in the refining of the program. Tsigki: ‘We first focus on the fifth edition. In September we will meet with the organization again to see what could be improved. We want to find even more connections with what the students from different parts of the world want. For that we need to bring more diversity into our courses. And maybe we will adjust the format of CuriousU. We are thinking of a more challenge-based education. Because that also fits with the UT as a whole.’
