Study Association for Applied Physics "J.D. van der Waals"

The Study Association for Applied Physics “J.D. van der Waals”, or in short Van der Waals, is the study association for all Applied Physics students at Eindhoven University of Technology. The association was founded on October 6th in 1960 and was named after the famous Dutch physicist and Nobel Prize winner Johannes Diderik van der Waals. Van der Waals tries to represent the interests of the Applied Physics students in a couple of ways. By organizing different excursions, lectures, study trips and an annual symposium, we try to broaden the view of the students regarding the several fields in physics. Besides organizing educational activities, they also host weekly Borrels, sport tournaments, parties and other recreational activities. In this way, the association is the starting point of many friendships. The association is greatly dependent on its active members. Approximately one fifth of the thousand members of Van der Waals participates in a committee, which means they organize all types of activities. Students obtain a lot of organizational and communication skills when they participate in a committee, which are great skills to have besides the analytical expertise. However, students do not only participate in a committee to obtain certain skills, but also because it is great to organize activities with your fellow students!