In the fall of 2025, I had the opportunity to spend three months at Universidad de Loyola in Sevilla, completing my internship project while enjoying life in one of Europe’s most vibrant student cities. For my project, I investigated the optimisation of electrical energy hubs under different grid tariff structures. I researched both current and future tariff systems and built an optimisation model to determine how a battery could operate most cost-effectively. I also analysed how collaboration between companies within an energy hub can improve overall performance. I had an amazing professor with whom I had weekly meetings to discuss my progress, and finished my report as a paper, which might even be published at a conference.

I stayed in a student residence with sixteen roommates, which was chaotic at times but always full of energy. There was always someone around to hang out with or join in on a spontaneous adventure, and living with other students made it much easier to feel at home quickly. Spain felt familiar in many ways, yet there were also some cultural surprises. The most striking difference was the eating schedule: lunch at 14:00–15:00 and dinner around 22:00 is quite different from the Dutch 6 o’clock dinner. I’m glad I had learned a little bit of Spanish before leaving and took more classes during my stay, which really improved my experience in blending in. Having some Spanish-speaking roommates also helped a lot in improving my Spanish.
Furthermore, Sevilla is a popular destination for Erasmus students, so outside of studying there were endless activities and weekend trips to join. I visited many cities in the region and even travelled to Morocco and Lisbon during my stay. Having so many international students around made it very easy to meet people and set up a new social life in no time.
All in all I had an amazing time in Sevilla, and I am very grateful for Stichting 3E for supporting my experience abroad!

Loek Vlooswijk