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You've built your engineering expertise in a specific discipline. Now the projects in front of you span more: mechanics talking to software, sensors driving control loops, AI changing how things get designed. The part-time Master System Design helps you make that leap. From deep specialist to T-shaped systems engineer who can see, design, and lead across disciplines.
Three or four years, one fixed teaching day per week, and project work you can shape around your job. You stay in Eindhoven's Brainport region. Close to the high-tech industry that needs engineers like you.
One fixed day on campus, plus around 12 hours of self-study and project work. Three working days alongside the master is the sweet spot for most students.
Many students bring real projects from their own job into the master. And graduate on a problem their employer actually wants solved.
Direct entry for engineering bachelor graduates. Most students bring a few years of work experience, but it's not a requirement to enrol.
This programme was built with working engineers in mind. The teaching day is a full day so it fits a working week. The first-year project lets you choose a problem close to your daily practice. Coaching is flexible. You and your study coach decide how often you meet based on your situation. And the three-year structure (sometimes four) gives you the space to combine the master with your job, your family, and the rest of your life.
You move from executing engineering decisions to questioning and shaping them. You learn to define problems yourself, defend your design choices, and make calls that your colleagues haven't been able to make.
Every year-long project is a real design challenge. Many part-time students choose a problem from their own workplace. Turning what was a frustration into a master-level design solution.
You learn to use modelling, simulation, and digital twins to test designs virtually before you build them. Skills you can put to work next Monday.
Year one lays the foundation: four core modules and a project that runs the full year. Year two deepens your track, and most students start scoping their graduation project. Year three is your graduation year, ideally on a problem your employer wants to solve.
Most part-time graduates don't switch jobs after the master. They grow into bigger roles inside the same company: system architect, technical lead, innovation manager. Some do move on, often to a senior role they couldn't reach without the master. Either way, you graduate with a stronger network across Brainport's high-tech ecosystem and a credential that opens doors at NLQF level 7.
Make sure to check all admission requirements.
The Master System Design is accredited and recognised at NLQF 7 (equivalent to EQF 7). The same European level as a research master, with the same international standing. The difference is in how you learn. A research master (WO) is built around scientific research. This applied master (HBO) is built around doing: you work on real company challenges from your first week, training as a designer who uses existing technology to push the limits of what it can do. That is not a lesser version of a master's degree. It is a different one, and for many people, the more useful one. Coming from a research university? You are welcome here, especially if you want to put your knowledge to work straight away.
More informationDiscover our campus: beautiful and well-equipped study spaces, trendy coffee corners, and pleasant campus squares. Everything for your growth and enjoyment!
Use our tuition fees indicator and understand the monthly living expenses for international students in the Netherlands, ranging from EUR 900 to EUR 1,100.
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English
September
Master
Part-time
3 year(s)
Eindhoven
Wondering what's to come after applying for this programme? Go over the entire admission process.
Please note! If you wish to apply for housing through Fontys, the housing application deadline is June 15.
Around 20 hours per week. That's 4 hours of lectures, 8 hours of self-study, and 8 hours of project work.
Both are full master's degrees at the same European level (NLQF 7, equivalent to EQF 7), but with a different focus. A research master (typically at a university) is academically oriented, with strong emphasis on scientific research. This applied master trains you as a designer: someone who uses existing technology to push the limits of what it can do. You learn to apply, integrate, and innovate. Turning knowledge into working systems. Different paths, different perspectives, same level of qualification.
Yes. You can complete the programme in two years.
Two things mainly: technical depth in system design that you can't easily build on the job, and a recognised master's qualification at NLQF 7 (equivalent to EQF 7 — the same European level as a research master). Many students do the master either because they want to keep growing intellectually, or because a master's is becoming a formal requirement for the role they want next.
Two research groups, both grounded in industry practice are connected to this master.
The lecturers who teach your courses and supervise your projects don't just teach, they research. Both research groups work directly with high-tech industry, so what you learn in class is connected to the same problems companies are paying to solve right now.
System Design & Realisation Researches how complex high-tech systems are designed and built. Their projects often touch on what part-time students recognise from their own work: integrating subsystems, managing trade-offs, getting from concept to working prototype.
Automotive Energy Innovation Tackles the energy and mobility challenges of the next decade. Battery systems for heavy transport, smart routing for logistics fleets, and the broader shift to electric drivetrains. If you work in or near automotive, you can join ongoing research projects directly.
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