Book Sale Q3 is open!

The books of quartile 3 are open for sale until the end of the 3nd quartile. You can buy the books via the following link: WO4YOU. From this quartile onward, delivery is completely free; no shipping costs apply.


Do you have an innovative idea that can make a real impact? Join the TU/e Contest 2026 and start
turning your idea into reality!

The TU/e Contest is a five-month competition and learning platform that offers you a hands-on
entrepreneurial experience. Want to grow professionally while addressing grand societal challenges?
Team up and develop your concept with guidance from experts in education, business, and society.

Who can join?
Students from all TU/e departments (and beyond) are welcome to join the TU/e Contest. Whether
you’ve been working on a project in your free time, during a course, within a student team, as part
of the Honors Academy, or have a brand-new idea, you are invited to participate. Students from
outside TU/e can also participate, as long as at least one team member is a TU/e student or recent
alumnus.

Register now for the TU/e Contest 2026!
Until February 6, 2026, you can secure your spot by completing the registration form:
https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/ucqsLe4GQU

Questions?
Not sure yet whether your idea is worth exploring? Or questions about the conditions of entry? All
practical information for potential participants can be found at tue.nl/contest-registration
Do you want to join the TU/e Contest but don’t have an idea to explore (yet)? Contact the coaches
via tuecontest@tue.nl

The TU/e Contest is an initiative of TU/e innovation Space, supported by TU/e’s Knowledge Transfer
Office (KTO – part of The Gate). In 2025, the TU/e Contest celebrated its 11th edition with 160
participants and over 25 partners.


On Friday februari 6th, NNV (Dutch physics association) organises a symposium! The symposium is about the Dutch energy systems and their vulnerabilities. The symposium will feature a speaker specialized in Energy and Climate, as well as an open panel discussion about the various challenges and potential solutions the energy networks are facing. There will also be workshops about these topics if you are interested in learning more.

The symposium takes place at the ministry of Climate and Green Growth, Bezuidenhoutseweg 73 in The Hague, from 9.30 until 17.00 uur. The costs (including tea/coffee, a lunch and a drink) are €22,50 for students and NNV members, and €30 for everyone else. If you are interested, you can sign up by sending an email titled “E&K-symposium” to bureau@nnv.nl. If you want more information you can visit nnv.nl


PLANCKS is an exam-based physics competition for bachelor’s and master’s students and will take place in Eindhoven May 21st-25th 2026. It is a four-day event event organized for undergraduate and graduate students who have performed best in the preliminary rounds of the Physics Olympiad. It will be filled with excursions, social activities, alongside a symposium and the contest itself. The event is organized by the International Association of Physics Students (IAPS) in collaboration with a committee from the hosting country. The committee will consist of people from all over the Netherlands.

What does it get you?

Besides a fantastic and unique experience, you get the chance to become good friends with the international community of IAPS. PLANCKS has a history of impressive speakers (such as Stephen Hawking) and sponsors. Organizing this major international event provides a great opportunity to gain experience in programming, sponsorship, and networking.

We are looking for some extra committee members for the following roles.
– Vice-Chairman
– Treasurer
– Acquisition
– Participant contact
– General committee member
If you are interested, please fill in the following form: forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=R_J9zM5gD0qddXBM9g78ZDUmmKz6Fg5OrKsPLMEpXYlUN0hERThQTExNRlowVFlPM1E0RlZLWUtWMC4u. For any further questions, please mail PLANCKS@tue.nl.


The books of quartile 2 are open for sale until the end of the 2nd quartile. You can buy the books via the following link: WO4YOU


The WebCie is aware of an issue relating to the calendar. It currently does not show many activities, so please check the activity list for all activities!


This year, our very own Marie Curie is organizing the annual interuniversity physics competition for physics students, hosted in Nijmegen! It will take place on Saturday, November 8th. Teams of four students will have to work together to win a ticket to the international physics competition (PLANCKS), which will be held in Eindhoven this year!

In addition to the competition itself, there will be a speaker and possibly dinner and drinks. You can register via the https://marie-curie.nl/list/411/. If you haven’t found a team of four yet, send us an email at pion@marie-curie.nl. Be quick, because registration closes on November 2nd! More information about location and times will follow.

With chess-like regards,
PION 2025


The current situation at the university has led us to do an exhaustive check of our system and we can conclude that our systems have not been compromised. Additionally, our systems are almost completely seperate from the university. By combining these two facts can we thus conclude that our systems and any data we might posses are still secure. If you have used the same password for your TU/e account and your VdWaals account then you could take a precationary measure by changing your VdWaals password.

If you now think “That is precisely what a hacked site would say!”, then firstly, congratulations on not trusting something blindly on the internet. Secondly, you can check with either a WebCie member or the board for confirmation of this message.


Dearest travellers of Van der Waals,

The Study Tour Abroad (STA) registrations have officially been opened as of December 5th, 2024. This year, Van der Waals will travel to far Japan, in a trip that is bound to be unforgettable! You have until December 19th, 23:55 to register, so make sure to be quick! Note that only members of SVTN “J.D. van er Waals” can register.

You can register for the STA by:

  1. Filling in the registration form and sending your signed form to flinn@vdwaals.nl. The registrations form can be found here.
  2. Making a deposit of €300 to NL86INGB0008035504. The maximum capacity for participants is 24, and if more than 24 people register, a lottery will take place on December 20th. Members that are lotted out in the lottery process will then have this amount transferred back to them.
  3. Sending a copy of your passport along with your signed registration form to flinn@vdwaals.nl. If you do not yet have a passport, make sure to apply for a passport as soon as you are certain of your participation (you will be notified immediately after the lottery on December 20th).

Missed the info lunch but want to have more information about our trip to Japan? Be sure to check out the presentation here.

The administrative regulations STA 2025 Japan that are in accordance with the registration form can be found here.


Project Interuniversitaire Olympiade Natuurkunde

On November 16th, PION, the annual physics student olympiad, returns! This year’s competition will be held in Enschede, open to all physics students across the Netherlands. Compete for a chance to represent the Netherlands at PLANCKS 2025 (Physics League Across Numerous Countries for Kick-ass Students), the European physics olympiad hosted next year in Barcelona. For more information on the competition you can check out the website: https://pion.arago.utwente.nl/.

Sign up with a team of up to four students here: https://mijn.arago.utwente.nl/i/1003. If you need help finding teammates, just send us an email at pion2024@arago.utwente.nl, and we’ll connect you with others. The deadline for subscribing is the 9th of November at 17:00 pm.

Don’t miss out on this exciting opportunity to test your skills, meet fellow physics enthusiasts, and maybe even earn a ticket to Barcelona!