Case studies

A perfect meeting of science and visualisation is the study of black holes. Simulating and visualising black holes helps us better understand gravity in its most extreme form. University lecturer Bijoy Bera is working with SURF's visualisation team on a VR application that lets you virtually experience this physical phenomenon.

European university alliances are on the rise. Meanwhile, 21 Dutch higher education institutions are participating in this European Commission initiative. CHARM-EU, the alliance to which Utrecht University belongs, has nine institutions from seven countries. How do you organise IT, with all these different systems, legislations and ways of working?

Green Village is a unique field lab in the Netherlands. In this ‘living lab’ on the campus of TU Delft – with housing, infrastructure and residents – scientists and companies test new technologies, systems and products in a realistic environment. The Green Village Data Platform, designed and developed by SURF, plays an important role in this.

How can students truly take charge of their own learning process? Since 2018, Windesheim's Information Manager Anton Meijer and Business Architect Hans Kok have been working on an educational model where the student is at the centre. But how does this work in practice?

Nimeto, the creative vocational school in Utrecht, has undergone a complete transformation. The school building was renovated and expanded, and the Wi-Fi network renewed with SURFwireless to ensure reliable connectivity.

How do you develop a flexible, learning qualification training pathway for lateral entrants in logistics? Three ROCs, an examination supplier, an examination consultancy and a software developer joined forces. They co-created a modular training path based on learning to qualify, supported by an e-portfolio. How did they do it?

You won't find solutions to issues with conflicting interests with a straightforward approach. With design thinking, the focus is on imagining the possible and how to get there. How do you teach students imagination? And what educational resources fit the bill? Mark Jacobs of the university of applied sciences Inholland created the Design thinking Open Resources Platform.

Securing e-mail traffic involves a lot. For instance, educational institutions must ensure that their users can send and receive e-mails securely. Failure to do so can cause problems. Ed van Gasteren, IT service manager at the University of Amsterdam, knows all about it. He explains how the UvA uses SURFmailfilter to bundle and secure outgoing mail flows.