Electives

The Data Science Major is part of the TU/e Bachelor College. In the TU/e Bachelor College, you put together your own study program, based on your personal interests and ambitions. You can choose to study your field in more depth, build up a wider profile by combining several fields, take on the challenge of an honors program or pursue a teaching qualification.

In most TU/e Bachelor College programs you tailor your program through 15 credits of an interesting USE learning line and 45 credits worth of electives.

For Data Science, however, the preferred USE learning line is the combination of the study components Data Challenge 1, 2, and 3 and is already embedded into your program. This leaves you with 45 credits – up to 9 study components – to select in a way that makes the most sense for you.

Please find an overview of the curriculum of your generation here. 

To obtain your Bachelor of Data Science diploma, your program of examinations must have: 

• Sufficient coherence and depth- connection between the different study components you take, 

• Minimal overlap or no overlap - enough differences between the content covered in the mandatory data science (white) study components and the content of your electives (lilac) study components; enough differences between each elective (lilac) you take. 

  • Consult the overlap list to find an overview of the excluded courses for each major. These courses will not be allowed in your program of examinations since they are known to have overlaps. Note: for BDS students JBI025/26 and 2IL50 are not overlapping.

• At least 45 credits worth of level 3 study components in your total program of 180 credits

  • For Data Science, this means you must choose at least 10 credits worth of level 3 study components as electives. These 10 credits added to your level 3 Major courses will give you a total of 45 level 3 credits. 

• At least 30 credits worth of level 2 or 3 study components as electives (including USE study components), 

  • For Data Science, this means after selecting fulfilling the level 3 requirements above, you can choose a maximum of 15 credits of level one courses. 

We recommend that you choose electives based on your ambitions and interests.You can find an overview of all electives in the PlanApp under 'Course catalogue' and in the Osiris course catalogue. An overview of all coherent elective packages can be found on the education guide. For commonly selected (and by default approved) packages see this overview. Every year first year students are invited to join a presentation on elective at the beginning of quarte 4, attendance is strongly recommended. The presentation will be shared via Canvas.

Discuss your research and choices with your student mentor. Your student mentor has faced the same challenges and will guide you to the procedure of choosing your electives. Discuss your elective plan and your personal program overview (PlanApp) with your student mentor before the end of your first year. We advise you to prioritize completion of first year courses before doing electives. For example: If you failed Calculus, we advise you to complete Calculus in Year 2, Q1 and not begin taking electives until Q3 of Year 2.

Also make sure to visit the Check your Match event, which takes place every year around May, where you can visit booths and ask questions about the elective courses or packages and the USE learning trajectories to the course representatives.

Do you already know what MSc program you want to pursue after your BSc program?
Then it can be convenient to choose the needed pre-master courses as free electives in your bachelor program. However, always discuss this first with the academic advisor of the concerning master’s program and the academic advisor of the bachelor.

When in doubt about an elective, or if a maximum capacity is mentioned, always register for an extra course, to make certain that you can continue with a course.

Once you have obtained 90 credits you can submit your elective space in the PlanApp for approval. You can do this by choosing ‘submit for approval' under the tab 'Options' in the PlanApp. This is only possible from 90 credits and upwards. You will not see this option before that.

Check this Instruction video How to submit or change your elective program.

Note:

• Important: this way of working only applies from cohort 2021 onwards. Earlier generations use the electives form
• Validating is not the same as submitting your elective program for approval. Validation is to check whether you have overlap in time slots or too few or too many or even incorrectly scheduled courses or other issues that you must first resolve before you can submit for approval
• For generations 2021 & 2022 only: USE learning trajectory Data Challenges, add to PlanApp as USE line
• Check the overlap list before you submit your plan. The PlanApp does not check this for you! You can find the overlap list in the PER, page 92-94
• Avoid planning courses in the same timeslot. Exemptions for mid terms and exams on the same time, are not given.