Praktika Delfto Technologijos Universitete Nyderlanduose

Rūta Ubarevičienė

I am near the end of my PhD studies thus it was my last chance to use the opportunity of the Erasmus+ practice. I have chosen to do this practice in the research group I was familiar with from before. It is the department of OTB – Research for The Built Environment, Faculty of Architecture and The Built Environment, Delft University of Technology, in the Netherlands. I was sure to be working in a highly professional and supportive academic environment on the research topics that are of mutual interest. Interestingly, during my visit period, it was announced that the research group I was hosted in, was assessed to be “one of the few most influential research groups in the world” and making “an outstanding contribution to society” by renowned international experts. Everybody was thrilled to hear the news and it was celebrated with a big cake!

The atmosphere at the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment is extremely vibrant and creative. Almost every day you can attend various seminars, workshops and discussions, and many of them include free lunch (well… a sandwich). For example, during one of the lunch breaks I have joined a discussion on work pressure. It has started with a relaxing tai-chi gong session, followed by interactive discussion and closed with a live guitar music.

I believe I have never been working in more inspiring environment, where each day is highly productive and no less entertaining. During the practice period, I have achieved much more than I expected. This includes not only work but also the cultural and social environment. It was amazing to see how TU Delft thrives on international diversity, generating unique and innovative solutions to many of today’s challenging problems. Erasmus+ practice was a perfect chance for me to strengthen and create contacts with the most outstanding researchers in my field. I believe that it will lead to our collaboration in a future. One more advantage of this practice was an early and colourful spring in the Netherlands.