For students, participation in the Honours class gives a distinction to their CVs and demonstrates good planning and organising to fit in all the extra studies and trips – they are not allowed any overlap between their Honours studies and regular mandatory studies. The programme included three challenges with external partner companies that they completed as group projects:
- Westland Horticultural Challenge at Tomato World and World Horti Centre
- Rotterdam Harbour Challenge at Port of Rotterdam
- Spirits at Schiedam Challenge at Sprits Schiedam and Jenever Museum
The Bachelor Honours class has been run every year since 2016 and is designed to offer talented students an extra dive into innovation, entrepreneurship and technology in business. Students have to complete an extra 15 ECTS study credits alongside their regular bachelor programme – that’s up to 420 extra hours of study. This year’s international cohort from the BSc International Business Administration programme and BSc Bedrijfskunde programmes.
Finland technology study trip
The Honours students also completed a ‘Space in Business’ project at the NL Space Campus in Noordwijk, and a week-long field trip to Oulu Business School, University of Oulu in Finland. RSM and Oulu Business School are connected by their membership of the UNIC network of 10 universities in specific post-industrial urban ecosystems, dedicated to unlocking new models of European learning, working and researching. In Oulu, students worked on a 6G-technology project – the successor to the 5G cellular network – and visited companies such as Nokia and VTT. Along with classes from Prof. Wim Hulsink and Dr Rene Olie, this allowed students to explore different business sectors, meet with companies, work on real-life projects, and broaden their networks.
Inspiring stories from alumni
The Honours graduation celebration on 4 June was opened by Dean of Education Dr Mirko Benischke, followed by four previous Honours graduates – and now RSM alumni – sharing their inspiring stories of the Honours programmes that they completed as part of their studies, and about life after graduation, their work and travel experiences. They gave valuable tips to the students and answered their questions. The four alumni were Nassim Naouli, a consultant at McKinsey & Company; Anne Dom, Senior Regional Marketing Manager at Databricks; Ata Engin, Innovation Manager at the Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship; and Neal van der Gaag, Business Analyst in the Finance Department at Coolblue.
Projects that lead to internships
2026 Honours student Milan van den Heuvel said: “What made the Honours programme unique for me was its combination of academic depth and real-world application. The projects with external stakeholders Docklab, SpiritsNL and the Space Business Challenge meant we were pushed to apply theory to concrete innovation challenges. Our Docklab project continued beyond the programme and led directly to my current internship. The Honours programme gave me a much stronger understanding of how technology, policy, incentives and market design interact in shaping innovation.”
Honours student Mohamed Aoun from Tunis was surprised by the choice of Finland for the study trip. “Exploring a relatively unknown industry, culture, and country taught me a lot more than just academic lessons about the Oulu Cluster. Understanding the mentality of Finnish people and their history opens up a whole new way of thinking about business and how to do great work. Also seeing the northern lights for the first time with the class was pretty fun!
“Everyone in the cohort can agree that this programme gives the experience of studying at RSM an entirely different meaning. It seems like every piece of coursework serves one of two purposes: either we are asked to creatively assess and study a topic which we personally choose, or we are introduced to sectors that are not glamorous nor in the public eye but that are in vast need for young talent like us to exploit.
“For one of my assignments I was able to study an entrepreneur who I now see as a role model, and visit an industry in Finland which I probably would have never understood without this trip.”
Stella Li, RSM’s Programme Manager for the Year 2 bachelor students, said that after eight years of being involved in the Honours programme, it’s still a highlight of her work. “The small group setting creates a personal learning environment with space for meaningful interaction and genuine connections. Celebrating what students have achieved at the end of the programme is always a special moment and very rewarding.”
