RASL - Rotterdam Arts & Sciences Lab

What RASL - Rotterdam Arts & Sciences Lab does

RASL (Rotterdam Arts and Sciences Lab) is a collaborative Dutch higher-education platform founded in 2017 that connects four Rotterdam institutions — Codarts Rotterdam (performing arts), Willem de Kooning Academy Rotterdam (visual arts and design), Erasmus University College (EUR), and the International Bachelor of Arts and Culture Studies (EUR) — to deliver transdisciplinary education and research at the intersection of arts and sciences. The organization does not operate as a commercial entity; it functions as a coordination layer across its partner institutions, offering the five-year RASL Dual Degree programme that combines a bachelor at Codarts or WdKA with a bachelor at EUR, a RASL Minor open to students from Codarts, WdKA, Erasmus University, and Delft University of Technology, and recurring Summer and Winter Studio workshops that convene artists, academics, scientists, and societal partners.

The core technology underpinning RASL is a transdisciplinary education methodology codified through collaborative curriculum design, faculty exchange, and structured workshop formats rather than proprietary software. Research outputs include the GAMPSISS project on gameful music performances (with TUDelft's Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management), the Erasmus+ consortium project 'Exploring Transdisciplinary Education combining Arts & Sciences' involving seven European universities, and the PEARL and POPLIVE affiliated research initiatives. Public outputs include the publication 'This Is Not A Gardening Book' and the 35-minute documentary 'RASL: Re-Imagining Tomorrow.'

RASL's business model is non-commercial: it operates under Dutch public higher education funding through its partner institutions, does not charge separate program fees for most offerings, and depends on Erasmus+ grant funding and institutional budgets. Summer Studios and workshops are offered free of charge with limited spaces. The go-to-market is event-driven, relying on open days, Dual Degree Experience Days, secondary-school counselor outreach, and symposiums. The primary 'customer segment' is prospective higher-education students seeking to combine artistic training with academic studies, with a secondary segment of academic faculty and researchers from consortium institutions engaged in transdisciplinary pedagogy development.

Name

RASL - Rotterdam Arts & Sciences Lab

Legal name

Rotterdam Arts & Sciences Lab (RASL)

Website

https://rasl.nu

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

RASL (Rotterdam Arts & Sciences Lab) is a collaborative Dutch higher-education platform uniting four Rotterdam institutions (Codarts, WdKA, EUC, IBACS) to deliver transdisciplinary arts-and-sciences education and research through Dual Degree programs, Minors, and Summer/Winter Studios.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education / Transdisciplinary Arts and Sciences

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Virtual/Blended Exchange (COIL) Partnerships (EDAIABAH)

Keywords

• Transdisciplinary education
• Arts sciences collaboration
• Dual degree program
• Higher education research
• Arts conservatory training

Headquarters

HQ city

Rotterdam

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Public Higher Education Funding: As a collaboration between publicly funded Dutch universities and art academies (Erasmus University Rotterdam, Codarts, Willem de Kooning Academy), RASL operates under the Dutch public higher education system. Students pay standard tuition fees for degree programs at the respective institutions.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

RASL is a collaborative educational platform offering a five-year Dual Degree Programme that combines artistic training at Codarts or Willem de Kooning Academy with academic studies at Erasmus University. It also delivers the RASL Minor program for transdisciplinary work and runs annual Summer Studios and Winter Studios. Supporting offerings include the GAMPSISS research project on gameful music performances and the Erasmus+ consortium project on transdisciplinary education methods.

Product overview

RASL (Rotterdam Arts & Sciences Lab) is a collaboration platform connecting four Rotterdam educational institutions (Codarts Rotterdam, Erasmus University College, International Bachelor Arts & Culture Studies at EUR, and Willem de Kooning Academy) to advance transdisciplinary education and research. The core offerings include the Dual Degree Programme (a five-year combined bachelor), the RASL Minor, Summer and Winter Studio workshops, research projects (GAMPSISS, Erasmus+ transdisciplinary education), and public events. The programme enables students to develop skills at the intersection of arts and sciences to address complex societal challenges.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• RASL Dual Degree Programme A five-year combined bachelor programme in which students simultaneously pursue artistic training at Codarts Rotterdam or Willem de Kooning Academy and academic studies at Erasmus University, choosing either the International Bachelor Arts and Culture Studies or Erasmus University College pathway.
• RASL Minor An interdisciplinary minor programme in which students from Codarts, WdKA, Erasmus University, and Delft University work collaboratively on self-selected matters of concern within the framework 're-imagining tomorrow through arts and sciences'.
• RASL Summer Studio A multi-day transdisciplinary workshop welcoming artists, academics, scientists, designers, and societal partners to explore new research methods and develop collaborative practices crossing boundaries between arts and sciences.
• RASL Winter Studio A multi-day transdisciplinary workshop series such as 'The Language(s) of Water' that explores themes through arts and sciences collaboration across cultures, languages, and disciplines.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and supporting.

• Erasmus University RotterdamcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEUR provides two programs for the Dual Degree: International Bachelor Arts and Culture Studies (IBACS) and Erasmus University College (EUC). The Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication and Erasmus School of Philosophy are key research partners.
• Codarts RotterdamcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCodarts provides artistic education in dance, music, and circus arts. Codarts faculty and students participate in RASL research projects including GAMPSISS, and hosts the Dual Degree for performing arts students.
• Willem de Kooning Academy RotterdamcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWdKA provides visual arts and design education. The Creating 010 Research Center at WdKA contributes to RASL research activities and hosts faculty members like Vivian Sky Rehberg.
• TU Dublin (Technological University Dublin)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the Erasmus+ 'Exploring Transdisciplinary Education combining Arts & Sciences' project, contributing to the development of transdisciplinary education methods across the consortium.
• Moholy-Nagy University of Arts and Design (MOME)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBudapest-based art university partner in the Erasmus+ consortium developing transdisciplinary education methods and hosting exchange activities.
• Roskilde UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDanish university partner in the Erasmus+ consortium contributing academic perspectives on transdisciplinary education.
• Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSwiss arts university partner in the Erasmus+ consortium contributing to transdisciplinary practices research.
• Delft University of TechnologymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTUDelft's Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management contributes to the GAMPSISS research project, providing expertise in gaming, gamification, and policy analysis for the gameful music performances research.
• MARIN (Maritime Research Institute Netherlands)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerSocial partner in the 2022 Summer Studio, contributing expertise on water and maritime issues for the 'Moving Shorelines' workshop on urban water climate.
• Blue21supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerSocial partner in the 2022 Summer Studio focused on floating city concepts and sustainable urban development.
• Rotterdams WeerwoordsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerSocial partner in the 2022 Summer Studio, contributing weather and climate perspectives to the water climate workshop.
• Het Nieuwe InstituutsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner contributing the Zoöp organizational model and expertise on multi-species perspectives for the 2024 Summer Studio.
• Hotel ModernsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerRotterdam-based theatre company leading the opening workshop of the 2024 Summer Studio on theatrical maquettes and visual performances.
• Roma3 UniversitysupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerItalian university partner for the 2022 Winter Studio 'The Language(s) of Water' combining different cultures, languages, and sounds in an interdisciplinary workshop.
• Zuid.Boijmans Van BeuningensupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerMuseum partner collaborating on Dutch Design Week 2023 exhibition showcasing outcomes from the RASL Summer Studio on 'Supporting Structures'.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts and Design: Sweden's largest university of arts, crafts and design, with research crossing art, design, and societal questions. Directly comparable to RASL's Willem de Kooning Academy-facing streams and transdisciplinary research outputs.
• Zürcher Hochschule der Künste (ZHdK): Swiss multi-disciplinary arts university with strong Transdisciplinary Studies focus. Already a RASL Erasmus+ consortium partner, but independently operates a comparable arts-sciences teaching model and research profile.
• Le Fresnoy - Studio National des Arts Contemporains: French national studio combining contemporary artistic production with new technologies and sciences. Highly comparable to RASL as a hybrid arts-research educational platform organized around cross-disciplinary collaboration rather than traditional degree streams.
• IRCAM (Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique): Paris-based research institute pairing music and performing arts with computational, acoustic, and cognitive sciences. Closely comparable to RASL's Codarts-facing research streams (e.g., GAMPSISS) and its combined arts-sciences research mandate.
• Aalto University - School of Arts, Design and Architecture: Finnish university integrating art, design, science, and technology under one school. Shares RASL's transdisciplinary education philosophy and research-practice orientation, with a comparable emphasis on cross-school collaboration.
• Bauhaus-Universität Weimar: German university fusing art and design with civil engineering, media, and natural sciences. Comparable to RASL in its structural integration of arts and sciences faculties and its project-based pedagogy.

Broad incumbents

• School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC): Major US arts school pairing studio practice with liberal arts and interdisciplinary research. Similar in fusing arts training with academic inquiry, though operating at a much larger scale and in a different funding/regulatory environment.
• Royal College of Art: UK's only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, with interdisciplinary research across design, humanities, and sciences. Larger and more established than RASL but pursues a comparable research-led, cross-disciplinary pedagogical model.

Emerging players

• Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg: German performing-arts university with research initiatives connecting music and theatre to scientific and societal themes. Comparable to RASL's Codarts-led performing arts-sciences research (e.g., GAMPSISS, PEARL).

Regional players

• Design Academy Eindhoven: Dutch design school with social- and research-oriented programmes. Operates in the same Dutch higher-education ecosystem as RASL and shares its project-based, societal-issue-driven pedagogy, though focused on design rather than arts at large.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rasl-rotterdam-arts-sciences-lab

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about RASL - Rotterdam Arts & Sciences Lab