About us
What is the SBE?
The Stichting Buitenlandse Excursies was founded in 1983 to organise study trips for students in chemistry and chemical engineering at the University of Groningen. The goal of these study trips is to introduce students to the chemical industry and research in foreign countries, aswell as acquaint them with other cultures. In order to join the study trip, the students carry out a case study for a company. Most study trips consist approximately of 20 students, both from chemistry and chemical engineering.
The SBE attempts to organise a study trip annually, both within Europe as further abroad. In the past study trips to England, Sweden & Finland, Germany, Italy, Iceland, the USA, Chile and Japan have been organised.
The SBE 2025
Introduction
We will go on a three week study trip to Japan at the end of July! There, we will visit a bunch of companies and excellent universities. And we will explore the nature and culture of our destination. To fund the trip you will perform a case study, usually at a company in industry. This case study could be either a literature or a practical study, depending on the company you are connected with. Next to the case study there is an additional personal contribution of maximally 950 euros. That will allow us to take you on an all expenses paid trip.
Dates and Schedule
The date for the trip has been set for the 15th of july until the 2nd of august. It is important to note that this is not set in stone yet and might vary a little! Therefore it is important that you keep a few days (~3 to 4) before and after free as well. This has to do with the fact that it might be cheaper to fly one day than the other.
For the location we have chosen to go on a trip through Japan. We will fly to Tokyo and from there we plan to travel to Kyoto and Osaka before returning to Tokyo. We will have free days to explore the cities and we will take day trips to Hiroshima and Odaiba island.
It is important to note here that these locations may vary! This is dependent on costs, and also the doability of visiting so many locations in three weeks. If we find out that this schedule is too dense as it is now, we will change it. We are aware of the fact that traveling is tiring and we want to keep everyone as happy as possible :)
Case studies
You will perform a case study for a company in industry to fund your participation. You will perform this case study with another student and both put in 120h of work (this equals 3 weeks full time work). Whether you need to perform the case in three weeks or can distribute the work over more weeks is dependent per case, but often the companies are quite flexible with the scheduling (important: not per se with the deadline).
The case will be supervised by a professor from the Faculty of Science & Engineering to help you, and to ensure good quality to the company.
It is most likely possible to receive extracurricular ECTS for your participation in the case. We will arrange this for you. If you are interested in curricular ECTS (e.g. to replace an elective), you will have to (try to) arrange this yourself with the Board of Examiners.
It might be a requirement to hand in a letter of recommendation in the application procedure for the case. If this is necessary, we will make sure to inform you about this on time, and on what is specifically expected from such a letter.
Once you have finished the case study, you might have to travel to the company and present your work there, but again, this is also dependent on the company you are working with. After this there is not much to do anymore, except for enjoying the trip :)
Costs
The majority of the trip is funded by the case study, however, there is an extra contribution. This contribution has been set to a maximum of 950 euros, for which it is possible to pay in terms. It is possible to set up the terms specific per individual. If this is of interest to you, please send us an email. This contribution may sound like a lot of money at first, but with this we will be able to cover the following costs for each participant:
Travel expenses are fully covered
Accommodation for the entire three weeks
Allowance for 3 meals a day for the entire duration of the trip
Some extra fun activities
Visits to companies and world class universities
Merchandise
A lot of fun!!!
This means that for 950 euros in total you will eat, sleep and travel through Japan for three weeks! If it turns out that the actual expenses are less than budgeted, we will strive to reimburse (part of) the individual contribution.
Note that there may be costs associated with the trip that are not covered, such as any drinks you would like to have in the evenings, or if you choose to eat more expensively than the allowance allows.
Application procedure
Unfortunately, there is a possibility that not everyone who signs up can go on the trip. Therefore we have an application procedure, to make sure that everyone has an equal opportunity to join, which is evaluated based on (in increasing importance); your academic track record, relevant experience, fit to the available cases, and most importantly your motivation.
This means that you will have to deliver your CV, a motivation letter and your transcript of records (both BSc and MSc). We do not expect you to write a very long and formal motivation letter; ideally just one A4 page (max 2) on, for example, why you want to join the trip, why you are interested in specific cases (if you have a preference) or anything else related to why you think you would be a good candidate (both for the case study as for being a participant in the trip itself). It also helps us tremendously if you tell us specifically which cases you are not interested in, and which cases would definitely be a deal breaker for you.
The applications are already open. You can apply by sending an email to sbe@rug.nl with your CV, motivation letter and transcript of records attached. If you are uncomfortable with the idea of the members of the SBE seeing your grades, you can black out your grades. The goal of the transcript of records is to see which courses you did and did not pass. The deadline for applications has been set on the 10th of January for now. If this changes we will communicate this in due course. After this we will go through all of the applications and make our decision and inform you as soon as possible.
Please note that there is no first come first serve, but our decision will be based on the application itself.
Some important dates to put in your agenda:
10th of January: closing applications
15th of July: start of the trip
Contact info
If you have any questions or recommendations for the trips, feel free to send us an email at
sbe@chemische-binding.nl or talk to us in the hallway. If you want to stay in the loop, join our whatsapp group! https://chat.whatsapp.com/D4PyCSVlYBzDz8h0PB2Jbr