[7] The plan included establishing a University College with relevance in engineering education; establishing a Graduate School to manage the graduate programs; increasing the student body and annual PhDs awarded by 50 percent; increasing knowledge "valorisation" (practical usage) to a campus-wide score of 4.2; increasing the international position of the university to the top 100; and improving the campus, including adding a costly science park.

[8] As a public university of the Netherlands, TU/e's general structure and management is determined by the Wet op het Hoger Onderwijs en Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (Law on Higher Education and Scientific Research).

The executive board (EB) monitors the academic departments and service organizations, in addition to the local activities of the Stan Ackermans Institute.

In a 2003 European Commission report, TU/e was ranked as third among European research universities (after Cambridge and Oxford, tied with TU Munich and thus tied for the highest ranked Technical University in Europe), based on the impact of its scientific research.

They employ the majority of the academic staff, are responsible for teaching the students, and sponsor the research schools and institutions.

The TU/e has connections with sister institutions in different countries, for example:[21][22] The TU/e also provides education to foreign students and graduates.

As of 2011/2012, the TU/e had Erasmus agreements with universities in 30 countries across Europe in a range of subjects for student exchanges.

[24] The TU/e plays a role in the academic, economic and social life of Eindhoven and the surrounding region.

It provides skilled labor for local businesses and partners with technology companies in the area.

The university was founded primarily to address Philips's need for local employees with higher levels of education in electronics, physics, chemistry and later computer science.

The university was forced to seek closer ties with the city of Eindhoven, resulting in the Brainport initiative, a move to draw high tech industry to the region.

The university started expending more effort in making practical use of its research and providing support for local companies and startups.

These research schools are a source of knowledge for tech companies in the area such as ASML, NXP and FEI.

[33] The agreement between these three cities from three different countries formed a region that is among the highest in the European Union in terms of investment in technology and knowledge economy.

Some examples include: Another student racing program is the Automotive Technology InMotion team, a collaboration between the TU/e and Fontys University of Applied Sciences.