Study programme

Sport and Performance Psychology

Besides specialist courses in sports and performance psychology, you'll get to work closely with organisations for performance improvement. You might intern at a soccer academy, a national sports association, or with a practising sports psychologist. Starting in January, you will work on your Master's thesis project.

Semester 1
In addition to the Master’s internship and Master’s thesis, the track consists of the following specialist courses:

Essential Sport and Performance Psychology

New Horizons in Sport and Performance Psychology

Interventions in Sport and Performance Psychology

Methodology: Analysing, Presenting, and Scientific Writing (MAPS)
Semester 2

Internship

In this master’s programme, you do a practical internship with an organisation for performance improvement. For example, a soccer academy, a national sports association or a practising sports psychologist.

Master's thesis

Master’s thesis research in which you specialise in a certain area and carry out research on it.

Starting in January, you will work on your Master’s thesis project. You will be asked to choose a topic from a list that you will receive in the first semester. You will be supervised by one of the teachers of the Work & Organisational Psychology team based on a step-by-step thesis planning guide. Previous topics include mental recovery, physical exercise and recovery, personality and (sport) performance, implicit theories of ability, psychological interventions to improve motor performance, doping use and cheating in sports, and psychological characteristics of parents and performance-related psychological factors in children.

COURSES SEM 1 SEM 2 SEMESTER 1 SEMESTER 2 EC

Essential Sport and Performance Psychology

Period 1

6

In this course students study fundamental factors that have been the subject of sport and performance psychology research for a long time. The main goal is to find out the current state-of-the-art, and what this means for applied work in the field.
New Horizons in Sport and Performance Psychology

Period 1

6

In this course students study factors in sport and performance psychology that are relatively new or unexplored, and are expected to become more important in the next ten years. The knowledge base for these themes, or the way science thinks about them, is still developing. The goal of this course is to learn what is known at the moment and to form ideas about how themes will develop in the future.
Master's Internship Sport & Performance Psychology

Period 1

Period 2

Period 3

Period 4

Period 5

Period 6

18

In this master’s program you do a practical internship with an organization for performance improvement. For example, a soccer academy, a national sports association or a practicing sport psychologist.
Interventions in Sport and Performance Psychology

Period 2

6

In this course students learn how to translate theoretical knowledge into practical applications that can be used in the field. Scientific support for popular interventions will be discussed, and students will develop their own intervention for a specific treatment goal and target audience. The goal of sport and performance psychology interventions can be to solve specific problems, but also to make people that are already functioning well perform even better. Furthermore, interventions can be aimed at group factors such as communication or cohesion
Methodology: Analysing, Presenting, and Scientific Writing (MAPS)

Period 2

6

This course deals with all aspects of the research cycle: writing a research proposal, designing a study, analysing data, and interpreting the results. The course prepares students for the empirical master thesis.
Master's Thesis Sport & Performance Psychology

Period 3

Period 4

Period 5

Period 6

18

Master’s thesis research in which you specialize in a certain area and carry out research on it.

See more information in the Course Catalogue

Additional information

Degree
Workload
In all courses you will have weekly lectures and other forms of teaching sessions.

The interventions in sport and performance psychology course mainly contains practicals, working group sessions, and a number of professional skills trainings.

Besides these contact hours, a large part of your program consists of self-study and working on assignments, that can either be focused on practical application or on theoretical elaboration.

Lectures and other types of meetings are scheduled on campus on 2 to 4 days of the week. Attendance is compulsory for all courses.

Lectures: 2 hours per week

Tutorials: 8 hours per week

Practicals: 4 hours per week

Self-study: 22 hours per week

You can gain so much knowledge and get many opportunities to develop yourself as a sport- and performance psychologist Read more about the experience of Nadesja

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)

What is the main difference between the UvA’s Work and Organisational Psychology (WOP) Master’s tracks?

The main difference between the WOP Master’s tracks is the focus of each track. The main focus of each track is reflected in the 2 or 3 mandatory specialist courses. The Master’s track Coaching & Vitality in Organisations focuses on (positive) occupational health psychology. The two core courses are Interventions in Occupational Health Psychology and Coaching. The Master’s track Human Resource & Career Management focuses on personnel psychology. The two core courses are Human Resource Management & Psychological Assessment and Career Management. The Master’s track Consultancy & Organisational Development focuses on organisational psychology. The two core courses of this track are Organisational Change and Consultancy and Conflict and Cooperation. Finally, the Master’s track Sport and Performance Psychology focuses on improving performance at work or in sport. The 3 mandatory specialist courses of this track are Essentials in SPP, New Horizons in SPP and Interventions in SPP.
How long is the internship and can you do your internship abroad?

The internship lasts a minimum of 504 hours. This is equivalent to approximately 3 months on a fulltime basis. Some students choose for a longer internship. You can do your internship abroad. You have to find your internship by yourself. However, we have contacts with internship companies and publish vacancies to which you can apply.
How can I plan the period of my internship and these?

From January onwards you can start your internship and/or thesis if you meet the entry requirements of the courses. Depending on your m-thesis project and internship opportunities available to you, you can choose the following schedules: doing your internship and these both parttime at the same time, doing your internship and these fulltime after each other or a combination of fulltime and parttime.
Can I attend lectures, problem-based learning sessions, and/or tutorials/practicals online?

Study programme

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