Professional Doctorate in Engineering

The Engineering Doctorate (EngD previously Profesional Doctorate in Engineering or PDEng) is a Dutch degree awarded to graduates of a Technological Designer (engineering) program that develop their students' capabilities to work within a professional context. These programs focus on applied techniques and design, in their respective engineering fields. The technological EngD designer programs were initiated at the request of the Dutch high-tech industry. High-tech companies need professionals who can design and develop complex new products and processes and offer innovative solutions. All programs work closely together with high-tech industry, offering trainees the opportunity to participate in large-scale, interdisciplinary design projects. With this cooperation, EngD programs provide trainees a valuable network of contacts in industry. Each program covers a different technological field, for example managing complex architectural construction projects, designing mechanisms for user interfaces for consumer products or developing high-tech software systems for software-intensive systems. Participation in a program that awards the abbreviation EngD requires either a Master's degree in a related field or an accredited B.Sc. degree (at least three years and 180 ECTS) in computer science (or a strongly related scientific or engineering discipline) combined with min. 5 years of relevant academic work experience.

PDEng degrees can be obtained at four technical Universities in the Netherlands, Delft University of Technology, Eindhoven University of Technology, University of Twente, and Wageningen University & Research. Between these universities interscholastic cooperation programs exist like the 4TU Federation and its Stan Ackermans Institute.

The title PDEng is regarded as equivalent to the Engineering Doctorate (EngD), and as of 1 September 2022, the PDEng title in the Netherlands has been renamed to EngD.