Research school disc was founded in 1995 as an interuniversity research institute and graduate school by the Delft and Eindhoven Universities of Technology and the University of Twente. Since this date the school is recognized by the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences (KNAW) with an accreditation currently running until 31 December 2016. Besides systems and control groups from the three technical universities, disc involves research groups of the University of Groningen, the University of Maastricht, the Agricultural Wageningen University and Research Centre, the Free University of Amsterdam, Tilburg University, and the Centre of Mathematics and Computer Science (CWI) in Amsterdam. Currently disc involves around 99 tenured researchers, 25 post-docs and 188 PhD students in 15 disc departments.

disc is the formal successor of the Dutch Network of Systems and Control, which offered a national graduate program in systems and control since 1987.

Since 1995 disc is administered by Delft University of Technology with the scientific directors prof. Huibert Kwakernaak (UT, 1995-1999), prof. Okko Bosgra (TUD, 2000-2004), and prof. Paul Van den Hof (TUD, 2005-2010).

Goals

The ambitions of disc are:

1. To provide a PhD programme of high quality and internationally recognized level;

2. To provide PhD students with a national and international network and to support them in their development towards independent researchers that are part of the international community and whose research is recognized according to international standards;

3. To develop the field of systems and control through coordinated research in both fundamental and technology directed programs, and to represent this field of science in national and international networks, consortia and boards;

4. To use the position of disc as center of expertise for dissemination of knowledge on systems and control theory and engineering in the widest sense.

Particular activities of disc include: graduate school, summer schools, winter courses and Benelux Meeting on Systems and Control. disc is represented in the organization of two national/interuniversity MSc programs and in the 3TU Center of Competence High Tech Systems .