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Eurekaweek 2023

Eurekaweek 2023

21 August 2023

Welcome to Erasmus University! The Eurekaweek is the start of your Rotterdam student life. In this special you can read and watch everything about what is happening this week.

At the festival at Lloyd Multiplein on the last day of the Eurekaweek, students rate the past events. “Sailing was fun. We crashed into another boat.”

Eurekaweek is ‘one of a kind, but the best kind to be a part of’
Gepubliceerd op: 25 August 2023
- EM TV
Article type: Video

A total of 150 students are spending the night this Eurekaweek in a kind of pop-up hostel at the Leonidas hockey club run by The Sleeping Agency. “I’m sleeping here because I want to keep on partying a bit longer.”

Waking up with Eurekaweek partygoers
Gepubliceerd op: 25 August 2023
- In Pictures

As the Eurekaweek events draw to a close, the party for first-years is carrying on in the city. After the cantus, Rotterdam bars are full of first-year students on the prowl. “Do you have a boyfriend? Not anymore after tonight…”

‘My guide kissed someone from your group too, right?’
Gepubliceerd op: 24 August 2023
- Student life

Sport does not always go smoothly. That’s totally okay, especially if you can talk about it comfortably.

Falling and getting up in sport: ‘I almost got paralysed. Slay’
Gepubliceerd op: 24 August 2023
- EM TV
Article type: Video

Research shows that friendships are good for your mental health, and it just so happens that the Eurekaweek is the ideal opportunity to meet new people. Students Geert Vliegenthart and Raja Ramlal met their friends during the introduction week. “It’s good to know you’ll always have someone to count on.”

‘Friends are like a totem pole that makes you feel safe’
Gepubliceerd op: 25 August 2023
- Eurekaweek

First-year students photograph couples in the street, dance to Beyoncé and sing Elvis love songs during the alternative programme instead of drinking and singing at the cantus. “I’ve had my dose of partying for now.”

Arts & Culture Night gives students a taste of culture: ‘Singing helps me deal with anxiety’
Gepubliceerd op: 25 August 2023
- Culture

Campus Day is the perfect time for new students to familiarise themselves with the various student associations on campus. Reporter Adinda, a.k.a. association detective, is on a mission to help out new students to find the best-suited student association according to their interests. Let’s see where the clues lead Adinda ‘Holmes’!

Association detective Adinda figures out which club you should join
Gepubliceerd op: 23 August 2023
- EM TV
Article type: Video

How do you describe the cantus? It’s singing and drinking, but you don’t drink when you sing and you don’t sing when you drink. Only after the band sings the German drinking song Trink, Trink, Brüderlein Trink, and the audience has chanted eins, zwei, drei saufen!, the glass goes to the mouth. That, and the low alcohol percentage of the beer, should calm tempers somewhat.

Eclectic setlist and a sneaky polonaise make the cantus a highlight of the Eurekaweek
Gepubliceerd op: 23 August 2023
- Student life

The Eurekaweek is keen to move with the times and do its bit for sustainability. Which is why organisations and partners are not allowed to hand out flyers. Walk around the market for an hour and you will have picked up five new pairs of sunglasses, eight pens, socks for the rest of the week, bottle openers for the whole house and enough condoms to avoid contracting an STD for the rest of your student life.

From sunglasses to stress balls and water bottles: ‘goodies’ given away en masse on Campus Day
Gepubliceerd op: 23 August 2023
- Eurekaweek

Introduction weeks that are all about alcohol – this image is steadily being chipped away. In recent years, the Eurekaweek has moved more towards a week that is not centered on drinking. With events for people who are happy to skip drinking, beer taps opening later, and a ban on drinking games. The Dutch Alcohol Policy Alliance would like to see the university take more of these measures.

Should the introduction week become alcohol-free? ‘Alcohol is a silent killer’
Gepubliceerd op: 22 August 2023
- Eurekaweek

At Comedy Night, first-year students are treated to jokes about cultural differences and what it is like to live in the Netherlands. “Comedy is a passion of mine, so I think it’s cool to meet like-minded people here.”

On the edge of their seats, first-years are made fun of at Comedy Night
Gepubliceerd op: 23 August 2023
- Culture

At the Eat and Greet at the Binnenrotte, EM lets Eurekaweek participants choose: single or in a relationship? Camping or glamping? Barbie or Oppenheimer? They have to guess the preferences of their new friends.

Students get to know each other at Eat and Greet: ‘I was named after Ryan Gosling’s character in The Notebook’
Gepubliceerd op: 22 August 2023
- EM TV
Article type: Video

The Eurekaweek kicked off with the official opening in Ahoy. Around six thousand people watched the entire Rotterdam student life pass by. A common thread throughout the opening was the wellbeing of the new students.

Lots of focus on wellbeing freshmen during opening of Eurekaweek
Gepubliceerd op: 21 August 2023
- Student life

Squeezing through crowded stands and food carts, students from all corners of the globe visit the Eurekaweek’s International Day. The biggest challenge in their first few days in Rotterdam? Housing, money and, of course, bicycles.

Eurekaweek’s International Day: ‘It’s easier to get into the university than to find housing’
Gepubliceerd op: 21 August 2023
- Student life

Making friends

Social media editor Zuzia visits all the Eurekaweek parties with just one goal: finding friendship.

Making friends: easy or a challenge?
Gepubliceerd op: 24 August 2023
- EM TV
Article type: Video

ESN Tuesday: making friends at associations
Gepubliceerd op: 23 August 2023
- EM TV
Article type: Video

Making friends at Maassilo: What is your icebreaker question?
Gepubliceerd op: 22 August 2023
- EM TV
Article type: Video

Making friends at the rooftop party at XIOR
Gepubliceerd op: 22 August 2023
- EM TV
Article type: Video

What to expect this week?

You have your Eurekaweek timetable, but what do all those strange event titles mean? EM editor Feba Sukmana guides you through the week in her own unique way.

Singing along at the Night of the Songs tonight is the perfect ending of the Eurekaweek. Feba tests her vocal cords.

Are you a cool kid, like Feba? Today is for you: sports day!

Tuesday: get to know every student organisation or association, sing your lungs out at the cantus, or join one of the workshops at SKVR.

Monday is the start of your student life, introducing you to Ahoy, the city, Rotterdam nightlife and your fellow students.

Sunday is International Day, so time for a crash course about Rotterdam.

Thorsten's fifth time as a Eurekaweek guide

No Eurekaweek without Eurekaweek guides. Psychology student Thorsten is collecting the shirts. He is a guide for the fifth time this year. His tip? “Have fun yourself! By doing so, you’ll really loosen up your group.”

Thorsten’s fifth time as a guide for Eurekaweek: ‘I’m collecting the shirts’
Gepubliceerd op: 21 August 2023
- Eurekaweek

EM shows you the way!

Lost? No idea how to get from the Mandeville building to CB-2? Or just curious why the Tinbergen building and the T-building are two different buildings? EM shows you the way with this guide and map to never get lost on campus!

Which building is which? Guide to never get lost on campus
Gepubliceerd op: 16 August 2023
- Campus

Know how to get there with this free map from EM
Gepubliceerd op: 16 August 2023
- Campus

Inclusion, well-being and sustainability

This year’s Eurekaweek will focus on diversity and inclusion, says chairwoman Veerle Petersen. Sustainability and student well-being will also be high priorities. “We want everyone to feel welcome here.”