Do biomedical innovations not only raise scientific questions for you, but also ethical, legal and social questions? Then the major Science in Society might be for you.

The Master's major Science in Society:

• is meant for students with a broad interest in current affairs, social issues, policy, management and entrepreneurship relating to scientific matters 
• concerns reading and writing policy advisory reports, management aspects such as leadership styles and motivation techniques, and organisational structures
• offers career prospects such as policy preparation adviser with a government department, or a management career in a pharmaceutical company
• consists of 30 EC courses during the first semester and a 30 EC internship during the second semester
• starts once a year, in September
• is offered by the Athena Institute at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam: you will follow the first year of the Master’s programme Management, Policy-Analysis and Entrepreneurship in Health & Life Sciences.

Entry requirements

If you are admitted to a Master’s programme in which this major is available, you are automatically admissible to the major. In your first year you will take the courses of your chosen Master’s programme. To start the major in your second year, you will have to have completed 48 EC of your first year’s courses.

Registration deadline

1 August 

Read more about the study programme and registration

Are you considering a career in secondary or professional education? The major Teaching gives you the opportunity to achieve the first-level teaching qualification within your Master’s programme.

The major Teaching:

• is meant for students with an interest in education
• leads to the teaching qualification ‘leraar voorbereidend hoger onderwijs’ in Geography, Biology, Computer Science, Physics, Chemistry or Mathematics
• consists of 30 EC courses and a 30 EC internship at a school for upper secondary education (havo and vwo) during both semesters
• starts twice a year, in September and in February
• is offered by the Interfacultaire Lerarenopleidingen (ILO), part of the Graduate School of Child Development and Education at UvA. You will graduate as a Master of Science in your own discipline.

Entry requirements

If you are admitted to a Master’s programme in which this major is available, you are automatically admissible to the major. In your first year you will take the courses of your chosen Master’s programme. To start the major in your second year, you will have to have completed 48 EC of your first year’s courses.

Additionally to start the teacher training, you need to have enough subject knowledge. This will be determined during an entrance interview. In general a Bachelor’s diploma related to the subject will suffice.

Registration deadline

For the start in September you have to register before 1 November.

For the start in February you have to register before 1 May

More about the registration

Do you see yourself working as a science journalist at a newspaper or at a popular science magazine? Or do you aspire to be a communication adviser at a biomedical company, a content manager at a science museum or a PR-manager at an environmental organisation? With the Science Communication Master's major specialisation you can combine your interest in the natural sciences with gaining knowledge and skills within the field of science communication. 

The major Science Communication is designed for students who have a broad interest in current events, societal issues and the public debate on the position of the natural sciences in society. It:

• prepares you for careers on the intersection of science, technology and society; professions for which you need a critical, academic attitude and the skills to support a fruitful dialogue between science and society 
• is part of a two-year Master's education programme: you first follow the regular Master's programme of your choice (60 EC) to deepen your expert knowledge, after which you follow the Science Communication specialisation year (60 EC) at the Athena Institute at VU Amsterdam. At the VU the major is part of the Biomedical Sciences Master's programme, but open to all interested students.

Entry requirements

If you are admitted to a Master’s programme in which this major is available, you are automatically admissible to the major. In your first year you will take the courses of your chosen Master’s programme. To start the major in your second year, you will have to have completed 48 EC of your first year’s courses.

Registration deadline

1 August

Read more about the major Science Communication on the VU website (Scroll down to the Science Communication tab)

Biomedical research is developing fast, especially due to the use of 'omics' technologies that generate large data sets, such as Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) and Mass Spectrometry (MS). Big (omics) data analysis and interpretation becomes ever more important, as biomedical research becomes more and more data-driven.

The goal of this Major program is to teach students how to handle, analyze and interpret big omics data sets, in order to investigate biomedical research questions. The programme is intended for those who aspire a research career in a university or research institute, as well as for those who want to do R&D, in for instance a pharmaceutical or life-science company.

The major consists of three 6-EC courses and a 42-EC internship. The content of the three courses will be subsequently: Genomics, Transcriptomics and Proteomics/Metabolomics. During the internship you will work and participate in a biomedical research group, such as in the Amsterdam Medical Centre or the Netherlands Cancer Institute NKI, to work on a research project.

For whom?
This major is intended for students that want to be able to analyze omics big data themselves. This is useful in research and for life sciences companies. For instance, when you are interested in genes that are involved in complex diseases, you may want to analyze all 4 to 5 million sites in the genome where differences between humans exist. This will lead to a big data set. The major is designed to teach students the skills required to analyze, visualize, and interpret such data.

Programme
The Big Biomedical Data Analysis programme starts with three compulsory 6 EC courses that teach you enough skills in scripting (such as Linux bash, R, Python), bioinformatics tools, analyses approaches, statistics and machine learning methods to be prepared for your internships. In addition, various applications of the sequencing and mass spectrometry technologies will be discussed, such as single cell sequencing, ChIP-sequencing, and targeted and non-targeted (LC)-MS approaches. The content of the courses will be: September: Genomics, October: Transcriptomics, November: Proteomics/ Metabolomics.

Internships
The internships are organized according to a new concept. You will work in a biomedical research group or company to participate in their research. Given that the goal of the Major program, a Major internship is typically a drylab project, allowing you train your data analysis skills in research practice. The emphasis of the internship must be on a bioinformatic (big data) analysis, and the central hypothesis must be researched and tested with a bioinformatic approach.

Entry requirements
If you are admitted to a Master’s programme in which this major is available, you are automatically admissible to the major. In your first year you will take the courses of your chosen Master’s programme. To start the major in your second year, you will have to have completed 48 EC of your first year’s courses. The major Big Biomedical Data Analysis starts once a year in September.

To register for this major, please contact major coordinators dr. Martijs Jonker or Selina van Leeuwen (Major-BBDA-fnwi@uva.nl). Please note that there is a restriction on the number of students that can participate.

Registration deadline
1 June

Contact
For questions about this major, please contact major BBDA coordinators dr. Martijs Jonker or Selina van Leeuwen (Major-BBDA-fnwi@uva.nl) or the Majors manager Kelly van Leeuwen (k.vanleeuwen2@uva.nl).

Do you want to make real-world change and prepare for a meaningful career? Collective Futures is a minor for MSc students who want to work on societal challenges in collaboration with impactful organizations and researchers. You will gain professional experience, take present-day action and contribute to systemic change.  

As part of this minor, you will work on a group project addressing sustainability or societal challenges. Together with students from diverse academic backgrounds, you will co-create solutions and develop skills essential for transdisciplinary collaboration. 

For whom? 

This program is for students who are interested to contribute to societal change and want to combine theory and practice. You enjoy working on group projects and are eager to learn about collaboration across different disciplines and backgrounds. You are curious about exploring your career options, and are motivated to develop yourself personally and professionally. Additionally, you are keen to actively participate in a vibrant community and co-organize parts of the program.  

Application and program information 

Collective Futures is a five-month full-time minor that runs in the second semester (Feb – Jul). It is open to all students enrolled in a two-year Master of Science program. Depending on your Master's program and elective space, you can earn 30 ECTS. For more information about the application process, please visit our website: www.collectivefutures.nl. 

Science for Sustainability is a minor for science Master’s students who want to make a connection between their scientific background and the societal challenge to enhance a sustainable future. You learn to combine scientific and transformational knowledge with insights in economics and politics. The final aim is to come to science-based solutions for pressing issues such as climate change, the need to safeguard our environment, and the global demand for energy, water and food. 

Application

To be able to start the minor Science for Sustainability, you have to have completed 48 EC of the obligatory research part of your Master’s programme, including the (first) research project. Additionally,  an interview is part of the application, in order to ensure a good match between your individual learning goals and the aims of the programme.

Read more about the minor Science for Sustainability

Students who already have the second-degree teaching qualification (Dutch: tweedegraads bevoegdheid), for example by having completed the Educatieve Minor in the Bachelor’s programme, can obtain the first-degree teaching qualification by following a reduced 30 EC programme at ILO (Instituut voor Lerarenopleidingen). You can register for the second half of the ‘Major Teaching’.

Registration deadline

For the start in September you have to register before 1 November.

For the start in February you have to register before 1 May.

More about the registration