From Pune Tech Hub to ASML Netherlands: My TU Delft Scholarship Journey

🕑 11 min read

Alumni voice: Sneha D., M.Sc. Management of Technology, TU Delft (2023–2025). Currently Graduate Engineer, ASML Veldhoven. Written for Kadamb Overseas.

I grew up in Pune’s Baner neighbourhood — classic Indian tech family. My father is a senior project manager at Infosys Pune, my mother is a Ayurveda doctor at her own clinic. Pune is the kind of city where every kid either becomes an engineer, a chartered accountant, or a doctor. I became an engineer (B.E. Electronics and Telecommunications from Pune University, CGPA 8.8, class of 2022) — but I wanted to get out of pure engineering before it got too late. I wanted to do a Masters in Management of Technology (MoT) — the interdisciplinary bridge between engineering and business strategy. My story is about why I chose TU Delft over UCL London, and why Dutch beats British for tech-business careers in 2026.

The UK vs Netherlands Dilemma — Where I Started

By March 2023, ten months after finishing my undergrad, I had three offers on the table:

• University College London (UCL) — MSc Technology Management, 1 year, tuition £35,000 = ₹37 lakh + living ₹25 lakh = total ₹62 lakh
• London School of Economics (LSE) — MSc Management and Strategy of Information Systems (MISI), 1 year, tuition £34,000 + living = ₹60 lakh total
• TU Delft — MSc Management of Technology, 2 years, tuition €20,000/year × 2 + living €14K/year × 2 = total ≈ €68,000 = ₹62 lakh list price

On list prices alone the three options were oddly similar. The UK options were 1-year fast tracks; TU Delft was 2 years. My family’s thinking — and I’ll admit I was defaulting to this — was “UCL is higher brand, UK is closer to India culturally, 1 year is faster to start earning.” My father had spent 4 months convincing my extended family that the UK was the right call. My mother, who had visited Amsterdam and Delft in 2019 on a short medical conference trip, was subtly pushing me toward the Netherlands.

Finding Kadamb — A Pune-Based Recommendation

Pune actually has several study abroad consultants — big chains with offices in Deccan and JM Road. I’d visited two of them in February 2023. Both pushed me hard toward the UK (specifically toward UCL and one toward University of Manchester for MSc Management). Neither mentioned the Netherlands at all as a comparable option. When I asked one of them about TU Delft, he said, “Dutch companies don’t pay as well.” That turned out to be completely wrong.

My cousin’s husband’s younger sister (complicated Indian relation) had done her Masters at TU Eindhoven in 2021 via Kadamb Overseas in Ahmedabad. She messaged me Saumitra sir’s WhatsApp number in March 2023, with a one-liner: “He’s not Pune-fancy but he knows Netherlands better than the Pune guys do. Talk to him before you commit to UCL.” I messaged Kadamb, got a 40-minute consultation scheduled for March 21, 2023.

Kadamb’s Counter-Analysis — Why Netherlands Beats UK on Tech-Business Careers

Saumitra sir’s argument in that first call was structured and specific. I took notes and I still have them:

• UK 1-year MSc Technology Management — Graduate Route visa gives 2 years post-study work permit but you need to secure a Skilled Worker visa sponsor within those 2 years to stay. UK Skilled Worker visa sponsorship for non-EU workers has become restrictive post-2023 salary threshold hikes (£38,700 minimum). Estimated conversion rate from UCL MSc to permanent UK work for international students: 35-40%.
• Netherlands 2-year MSc at TU Delft — “Zoekjaar” (orientation year) visa gives 1 year post-study to find work. Once you find a job at minimum threshold (€3,500/month for under-30, roughly €42,000/year), you get a highly skilled migrant permit. Conversion rate from TU Delft Masters to permanent Netherlands work: 70-75% for STEM, 65% for MoT.
• Salaries — Netherlands graduate-level salaries at ASML, Philips, Shell, and major tech companies start at €55-65K for a TU Delft MoT graduate vs £38-45K for a UCL MSc Technology Management graduate. Netherlands has the 30% ruling — for highly skilled migrants, 30% of salary is tax-free for up to 5 years. UK has no equivalent tax break.
• Career trajectory — TU Delft’s Management of Technology is a unique degree: it’s not pure MBA, it’s not pure engineering. It’s specifically designed for engineers who want to move into tech strategy, product management, innovation consulting. ASML, Philips, Booking.com, ING, KPN all hire from this program in large numbers. UCL’s Technology Management is a newer programme, less industry-embedded, heavier on consulting-track (PwC, Deloitte) which is already saturated for Indian applicants.

He also flagged — and this was the first time I’d heard of them — two specific Netherlands scholarships: Orange Tulip Scholarship (OTS) via Nuffic Neso India and Justus & Louise van Effen Scholarship (EJS) specifically for TU Delft. Total potential scholarship stack ≈ €35,000, which would cut my TU Delft cost by roughly half. The UK consultants had offered me zero UK scholarships — not because none exist, but because UK scholarships for Indian students at £10-15K level are cosmetic relative to £35K tuition, not decisive.

My Family’s Reaction — Three Weeks of Awkward Silence

I broke the news to my father on March 28, 2023 — I told him I was going to commit to TU Delft. He was disappointed. He had already told multiple cousins and colleagues that I was going to UCL. My mother was thrilled (she’d wanted this). My father didn’t disown me or anything — nothing that dramatic — but dinner conversations were thin for about three weeks. What eventually turned him around was Saumitra sir himself. He spoke to my father on Zoom for about an hour on April 12, walking him through salary data, PR pathway, 30% ruling tax benefit, and ASML/Philips/Shell placement history for TU Delft MoT graduates. By end of April my father was on board.

TU Delft Application — The Motivation Interview

TU Delft’s MoT program is competitive — about 120 international seats, 9:1 applications-to-admits ratio for 2023 intake. Application package was: transcripts, CV, motivation letter, GRE (optional — I submitted 326), IELTS (I submitted 7.5), two recommendations. Saumitra sir’s specific insight: TU Delft runs a motivation interview for borderline candidates. My academic profile was strong (8.8 CGPA) but my “why business from engineering” narrative had to be crisp, non-generic, specific.

I was called for a motivation interview on May 16, 2023 — 30-minute Zoom with a TU Delft faculty member. Kadamb had prepped me with 15 likely questions and mock-interviewed me the day before. The actual interview’s hardest question: “You’re an electronics engineer. Why not do MS Electronics Engineering and become a better engineer, rather than dilute into management?” My prepared answer: “Because the pace at which semiconductor industry business models are shifting in 2023 — cloud economics, AI hardware competition with Nvidia, ASML’s EUV monopoly, TSMC-Samsung dynamics — requires engineers who understand business. I want to work at ASML or similar fabless/fab semiconductor companies where technology strategy matters as much as technology itself.”

Admission decision: June 7, 2023. Accepted to M.Sc. Management of Technology, Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, TU Delft, September 2023 intake.

Orange Tulip Scholarship — The Nuffic Neso India Application

Orange Tulip is a specific scholarship offered by Nuffic (Dutch organisation for internationalisation in education) through their India office, Neso India, located in New Delhi. For TU Delft, the award amount is €15,000 one-time for Year 1. Application is separate from admission — and deadlines are often 3-4 weeks after TU Delft admission arrives, which trips up students who aren’t aware of it.

I applied for OTS on June 15, 2023. Results arrived July 22, 2023: Orange Tulip Scholarship awarded €15,000. I then applied for the Justus & Louise van Effen Scholarship — TU Delft’s own scholarship for top international students — in late July 2023. Award amount for me: €20,000/year × 2 years = €40,000, conditional on maintaining 7.5/10 GPA in first year. I narrowly missed that GPA threshold in Year 1 (I had 7.3) so I kept only Year 1’s €20K. Total scholarships received: OTS €15K + van Effen €20K = €35K ≈ ₹32 lakh. This cut my total TU Delft cost nearly in half.

Dutch Visa — IND is the Smoothest in Europe

Netherlands student visa process via IND (Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst) is famously efficient. TU Delft submits your application to IND as your “sponsor” — you don’t apply yourself. Turnaround time: 2-4 weeks. My application was submitted August 8, 2023, approval came August 21, 2023. I picked up my residence card (VVR) after arrival in Delft at the Expatcenter in late September 2023. Compare to the UK student visa (3-6 weeks, more documentation, biometric appointments at VFS) or the US F-1 (consular interview, 214(b) rejection risk). Dutch system is genuinely frictionless.

Delft Life — Bike Culture, Indian Student Society

Delft is a university town of 100,000 people, 40 minutes by train from Amsterdam, 15 minutes from The Hague, 10 minutes from Rotterdam. Quintessentially Dutch — canals, brick buildings, 90% of students commute by bike. I bought my first bike (second-hand from a senior Indian student for €85) in October 2023.

TU Delft’s Indian Student Society (Stichting Indian Student Association Delft — ISAD) has about 180 active members. They organise Diwali, Holi, and a yearly Pongal event. I got involved as a volunteer in Year 1, became a board member in Year 2. That community is genuinely the reason I did not have a hard adjustment period — unlike some of my TU Delft classmates who went to smaller Dutch towns like Enschede with fewer Indians.

One difficulty I’ll be honest about: Dutch direct communication style. Dutch people say “no” straight, and “this is bad” straight, and “I disagree with you” straight. Indian softness around feedback is not a thing. My first group project in October 2023 I had a Dutch classmate tell me, in the middle of a team meeting, “Your slide design is amateur and we should redo it.” I was offended for about two hours. Then I learned this is just how Dutch people communicate — it’s not personal, it’s literally their culture. Once you accept it, Dutch workplaces become easier, not harder, because you always know where you stand.

Academic Program — Interdisciplinary, Thesis on Semiconductors

TU Delft MoT is 2 years, 120 ECTS credits. First year is core courses (technology management, business processes, emerging technologies, law and ethics of tech). Second year is specialisation + 6-month Master thesis. I specialised in Technology Strategy and Entrepreneurship. My thesis: a research project on ASML’s EUV (extreme ultraviolet) lithography monopoly and how TSMC’s and Samsung’s supply chain dependencies shape semiconductor industry roadmaps through 2030.

The thesis was a case study research project, not an engineering thesis. I interviewed 14 semiconductor industry practitioners (9 at ASML, 3 at Philips, 2 at TNO research). This is where my ASML internship opportunity came from.

ASML Internship → Full-Time Offer

My thesis supervisor had a network at ASML Veldhoven (ASML’s Netherlands headquarters, 110 km southeast of Delft in the North Brabant region). He introduced me to an ASML strategy team in October 2024 for my thesis-industry interviews. That led to a 4-month paid internship at ASML (January–April 2025) as Strategy Analyst Intern. Internship stipend: €2,100/month.

Near the end of my internship (March 2025), my internship manager told me the ASML Graduate Programme was recruiting for Cohort 2025 and I should apply. I applied on April 3, 2025. Three interview rounds over 6 weeks. Offer received May 28, 2025: ASML Graduate Programme — Business Strategy track, two-year rotational programme. Base salary €62,000 + 13th month + 30% ruling tax benefit + ASML employee benefits.

Start date: September 1, 2025, right after my TU Delft thesis defence (August 25, 2025). I’m six months into the programme as I write this. Current rotation: Strategic Product Management, working on next-generation lithography roadmap planning.

Looking Forward — 5-Year Residency, Dutch PR, EU Citizenship

Netherlands’s permanent residency pathway is 5 years of continuous legal residence + Dutch civic integration exam (B1 Dutch + NT2 test) + stable income above minimum threshold. My timeline: September 2023 was my first residence card issuance. I can apply for PR (Permanent Residence) from September 2028. After PR + additional 5 years, I’m eligible for Dutch citizenship — approximately 2033. The EU citizenship benefit is significant: visa-free travel + work rights across 27 EU countries + the ability to settle in Berlin, Zurich, Lisbon, Copenhagen without any visa. That’s a quiet wealth accumulation option that the UK does not offer anymore post-Brexit.

I’m keeping the option open of working in Netherlands for 5-7 years, then transferring within ASML to their Germany or Taiwan offices, or moving laterally into semiconductor strategy roles at TSMC (Hsinchu) or Samsung (Seoul). The Netherlands is a base, not necessarily the final destination.

Kadamb’s Role — Critical Insights

1. The UK vs Netherlands reframe. Two Pune consultants would have sent me to UCL. Kadamb was the only consultant who said — with specific numbers — that for tech-business careers Netherlands in 2025 beats UK. That single reframe is the reason I’m at ASML on €62K + 30% ruling instead of at Deloitte London fighting for Skilled Worker sponsorship at £42K taxed at 40%.
2. Orange Tulip Scholarship identification. No other Pune consultant mentioned OTS. Without it I’d have paid €15K more in Year 1.
3. van Effen Scholarship strategy. I narrowly missed Year 2 GPA threshold but Year 1’s €20K was critical. Saumitra sir had explicitly told me in July 2023: “Prioritise grades in first semester, this scholarship renewal depends on 7.5 GPA.” I should have listened harder — my Year 2 GPA mishap was on me, not Kadamb.
4. My father’s Zoom conversation on April 12, 2023. A consultant who is willing to talk to YOUR parent for an hour to explain YOUR career choice is not something the Pune chain consultancies would do. That single act got my extended family to stop pushing back on the Netherlands decision.
5. TU Delft motivation interview prep. Kadamb had the question bank. The UK-focused consultants wouldn’t have.

Cost Breakdown — Two Years

Item	Cost (₹ lakh)
TU Delft tuition (2 years @ €20K/year)	36
Living cost Delft (2 years @ ~€1,150/month)	25
Visa + flights + settlement + Dutch health insurance	2.5
Kadamb Overseas fee (2023)	0.85
Gross outlay (before scholarships)	64.35
Less: Orange Tulip Scholarship (€15,000)	-13.5
Less: van Effen Scholarship Year 1 (€20,000)	-18
Less: ASML internship earnings (4 months)	-7.5
Less: TU Delft TA earnings (2 semesters)	-3.2
NET COST to family	≈ ₹22 lakh
UCL counterfactual total cost	62
Savings vs UK path	≈ ₹40 lakh
First-year ASML earnings (with 30% ruling tax benefit, in hand)	50

My Advice to Indian Students Stuck on UK vs Europe

1. UK is losing its post-study work appeal faster than most Indian consultancies admit. Post-Brexit Skilled Worker visa salary thresholds rose to £38,700 in April 2024. A majority of UK 1-year Masters graduates from Indian cohorts cannot meet that threshold within 2-year Graduate Route window — they end up returning to India with ₹50-60L in loans and no ROI. Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, and Denmark have more graduate-friendly immigration policies right now. Do not apply to UK 1-year MSc programmes on autopilot. Do the math.
2. Netherlands is a specifically underrated destination for engineering + business + tech-strategy careers. ASML, Philips, Shell, Booking.com, Adyen, TomTom, ING — Netherlands has more major global technology companies per capita than any country outside the US. TU Delft, TU Eindhoven, Erasmus Rotterdam, University of Amsterdam are all world-top-100. English-taught masters are widespread. Salaries + 30% ruling + PR pathway + EU flexibility stack up to a better outcome than UK for most STEM profiles in 2026.
3. Consult a consultant who has actually placed students in the country you’re considering. Pune consultants pushing me to UCL had never placed a student in Netherlands. Kadamb in Ahmedabad had placed 20+. Geographic proximity of the consultant matters less than outcome track record. Ask directly: “How many students have you placed at TU Delft in the last 3 years, and can I speak to 2 of them?”

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— Sneha D.
M.Sc. Management of Technology, TU Delft (2023–2025)
Graduate Engineer, ASML Veldhoven (Business Strategy track)

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Related reading:

• Study in Netherlands — Kadamb Country Hub
• Orange Tulip Scholarship Netherlands — Complete Guide
• TU Delft Masters — Admissions and Tuition Guide
• Netherlands Student Visa from India
• Netherlands vs UK for Indian Students — 2026 Comparison