Margot from Austria

Personal information

• Name: Margot Moeslinger
• Age: 27
• Country of origin: Austria
• Current residence: Leiden, the Netherlands
• Likes to go hiking or skiing in the mountains, cycling along the dunes, play piano and chat with friends over a good cup of coffee

Hi! My name is Margot and I study Industrial Ecology. I am from Austria and originally came to the Netherlands during an exchange semester to study Sustainable Development. I fell in love with the country and the way courses where taught at the faculty. I therefore decided to enrol in the master’s degree IE as a follow-up degree to the International Relations degree I obtained before that. Two and a half years after coming to the Netherlands I am currently in my last semester of IE. 

I have always been very torn between social sciences and learning more about natural sciences and technical sciences. I find it great that this programme connects the different fields. Climate change is a very complex field. You can’t solve climate change issues with only one discipline. There is such a large body of knowledge in our classroom. I gain a lot from the interaction with other students. The master provides students with a toolbox to tackle climate change and focusses on analysing material and energy flows through society and in industry. We have a lot of practical group projects in this master programme. For instance, I designed a sustainable energy supply for a neighbourhood in Amsterdam for one project and did a life-cycle assessment (LCA) for an offshore-floating solar company during another project.

Both Leiden and Delft are student cities and there are loads of things you can do as a student: you can join a student, study, music or sports organisation, or participate in many activities: from volunteering to pub quizzes and trips to neighbouring cities or countries. Public transportation is comparatively pricy, so better get used to riding a bike to wherever you need to go.

As a student from the Industrial Ecology master programme I was able to apply for the EU EIT Climate-KIC Master Label Programme. It offers me a unique opportunity to apply my knowledge. During its five week long summer school, for example, I learned how to develop a sustainable start-up. You become part of a community that creates solutions for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Upon successful completion, I will receive a Climate-KIC certificate in addition to my regular degree.

In the beginning it was a bit of a challenge to learn about things from completely different disciplines but this is exactly what makes this master special and lets you think outside of the box. What I learned in the master IE can be connected well to my previous studies, highlighting the connection between environment, technology and society. This master offers a good opportunity to customize your electives and to focus on your skills and interests as you can choose courses both from Leiden University and TU Delft.

After I graduate I would like to continue in the field of Circular Economy, either by continuing with my start-up in aquaponics (called GrowOffice) and/or work with the European Commission in Brussels.

I highly recommend any prospective student to follow the alignment programme and the online preparation courses offered before choosing a master, to be prepared for the interdisciplinarity of the programme right from the start. This master’s degree offers you a lot of opportunities and it depends on you what you do with it!