Student BASE: a new heart for talent on the High Tech Campus
Student BASE is a place in the making where education, companies and societal partners will structurally connect.
Published on January 20, 2026
Bart, co-founder of Media52 and Professor of Journalism oversees IO+, events, and Laio. A journalist at heart, he keeps writing as many stories as possible.
On the High Tech Campus Eindhoven, a new initiative is gradually taking shape. Student BASE will physically materialise in the first quarter of 2026 at ALFRESCO on The Strip, but the foundations for its content are already firmly in place. Behind the scenes, agreements are being made, partners are being connected, and expectations are being articulated. Precisely this moment - before the space actually opens - is seen as the right time to tell the story and invite new parties to get involved.
According to Hilde de Vocht, ecosystem manager at High Tech Campus Eindhoven and the creative force behind Student BASE, the initiative is about much more than square metres. Together with Bert-Jan Woertman, one of the driving forces behind the hub, she is working on a place where education, industry, and startups will come together in a structured way. “The future of our Campus stands or falls with our ability to attract and grow talent,” she says. “Student BASE will become the beating heart where education, industry, and startups meet. In doing so, we not only strengthen the Campus ecosystem, but also help build the international competitiveness of Brainport.”
That ambition is not emerging out of thin air. The technology labour market faces a structural shortage of talent, while students seek real-world experience, multidisciplinary projects, and opportunities for entrepreneurship. Student BASE aims to bring those worlds together in a hybrid learning and innovation environment spanning around 1,000 square metres, based on open innovation. Five pillars, ranging from Challenge Labs and Living Labs to Talent Tracks, Start & Scale Support, and an Impact Studio, form the substantive framework.
From theory to the coffee machine
For Clement Goossens of Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), Student BASE addresses a familiar bottleneck in the academic trajectory. Innovation, he stresses, rarely happens in isolation. “Innovation happens at the coffee machine,” Goossens says. “At lunch, you see everyone. Physical presence matters. You need to run into each other and let ideas collide.”
The connection between TU/e and the Campus already exists, but according to Goossen,s it could be less incidental. “We can find each other through parties like Euflex or via strategic teams, but it could be stronger and more structural.” Student BASE offers, in his view, a ‘base’ where students, lecturers, and companies can always turn to for internships, part-time jobs, guest lectures, and student teams. “A relevant side job is always valuable. It helps students build a network and increases the chance that they stay here.” Not without reason, increasing the ‘stay rate’ further is one of the concrete targets.
One entry point, less noise
For Defence, too, the added value is clear. Bas Klis, involved in Defence innovation projects, is already working with TU/e, Fontys, and Avans on around ten ongoing projects. The issue is not ambition or resources, but efficiency. “We have an enormous number of challenges on the shelf,” Klis says. “But time is our critical factor. If I have to call twenty people for every project, it simply won’t work.”
Student BASE can reduce that fragmentation. “If there is one place where students from different backgrounds come together, we can much more easily put a question on the table. I no longer have to search for who to call.” According to Klis, this not only saves time but also improves quality. “When everything is brought together, you can match better, and you’re less likely to overlook someone.”
For Defence, the focus is explicitly on projects related to its core business, such as process optimisation or organisational issues. “The ambition is there, the funding is there. If this runs more efficiently, ten projects could just as well become twenty or thirty.”
Multidisciplinarity as a starting point
At the Fontys Talent Factory, this way of working has been standard practice for some time. Marc Veldkamp sees Student BASE as a logical next step. “Technology is moving so fast that no single individual has all the knowledge,” he says. “Co-creation with companies and knowledge institutions is not a luxury, but a necessity.”
Fontys saw the number of projects grow rapidly from five to thirty-five per semester, precisely by deliberately mixing disciplines. “Segmentation in education is still strong. While innovation arises when you remove walls and share the same coffee machine.” According to Veldkamp, Student BASE fits into a broader shift: “We increasingly see students not just writing a thesis, but building a portfolio around real-world challenges from industry. That makes students happier and the output more relevant.”
The talent engine
When so many parties come together, matching becomes crucial. Jonathan Conep of Euflex sees Student BASE as a reinforcement of that role. “At the university alone, there are 13,000 students, but the connection with industry is still too thin,” he says. “Our goal is to close that gap by connecting students to employers at an early stage.”
Euflex acts as a ‘talent engine’, with side jobs, part-time work, and traineeships as stepping stones. “A relevant side job helps students prepare better: their CV, network, colleagues, and language skills. And it helps companies bind talent early on.” That has a direct impact on the stay rate, Conep emphasises: “The earlier students integrate, the greater the chance that they stay.”
An invitation to the ecosystem
Student BASE will be located at the centre of the social and professional heart of the Campus, where hundreds of tech professionals meet every day. The Campus is working on a sustainable model with contributions from programmes, sponsorships, and in-kind support. The first pilots will start soon. Hilde de Vocht: “From the BASE we will actively programme and organise events at the intersection of education, industry and society: for students with companies, for companies with students, for professionals and students, for professors, teachers and professionals — you name it.”
External parties are also explicitly invited. “We are definitely not going to think up or organise everything ourselves. That’s why we say: people and companies with an idea, a plan, and, above all, the energy to act are welcome to step forward. Anyone who wants to contribute and help build is more than welcome.”
The ingredients are there. And the invitation is open. Student BASE aims to be a place where learning, starting up, and scaling up come together — not as a project, but as a natural part of the Brainport ecosystem.