Admission requirements
All bachelor students are obliged to do a bachelor research project as the final part in the bachelor programme, in principal during the second semester of the third year. Students may deviate from this in consultation with the Study Adviser.
Orientation
-Visit the internship market on 20 September 2024 for orientation and internship possibilities (more information & invitation via email and Brightspace in June/July)
-Read the BSc research project booklet (BrightSpace>Opleiding Biologie>’BSc research project ’)
Prior to the start a research project agreement form must be filled out in ProjectMAP together with the supervisor, and approved by the Internship coordinator. ProjectMAP is the online administration tool for IBL research projects (agreements, evaluations and assessments).
-Go to https://science-stage.universiteitleiden.nl/ and log in with your ULCN account. You can also log in via BrightSpace (BrightSpace>Opleiding Biologie>’BSc research project’)
-Go to ‘Aanvragen’ and click on the tab BSc research project.
Description
The bachelor research project is the first acquaintance of students with independently designing and performing scientific research. All aspects of scientific research, from reading relevant literature and formulating a research question until the reporting and presenting of the results will be addressed. During the research project, the student is a member of a research group and participates in the common scientific activities of the research group (such as work discussions) and lectures in the host institute (for instance IBL spotlight seminars).
During the course Academische Vaardigheden: General Research Skills (GRS) familiar skills, such as formulating a research idea, experimental design, statistics, data analysis, and report writing, are highlighted again and applied during the Research Project.
GRS starts prior to, and then runs parallel to the research project. The topics attended to in GRS keep pace with the timing of the research project.
The bachelor research project is in principle carried out at one of the biological institutes of Leiden University (IBL, CML, Naturalis), LUMC, Hortus, or other institutes of the Faculty of Science. External research projects, e.g. in companies, other organisations, or abroad need to be discussed first with your Student Adviser, and then approved by the Board of Examiners.
Research projects at IBL/CML/Naturalis are carried out by students in pairs. External research projects can be carried out in pairs or individually.
Course Objectives
At the end of the course, the student is able to:
1. Acquire in-depth knowledge about a current research project, concepts and approaches in a particular biological research area.
2. Carry out relevant literature research
3. Use relevant methods and techniques to conduct experiments.
4. Formulate a research question and hypothesis.
5. Design and implement a research study under supervision.
6. Critically evaluate the results of scientific publications.
7. Actively report and present research results to a scientific audience.
Timetable
Monday 3 March to Friday 4 July 2025, fulltime (90 working days, ca. 17 weeks).
In MyTimetable, you can find all course and programme schedules, allowing you to create your personal timetable. Activities for which you have enrolled via MyStudyMap will automatically appear in your timetable.
Additionally, you can easily link MyTimetable to a calendar app on your phone, and schedule changes will be automatically updated in your calendar. You can also choose to receive email notifications about schedule changes. You can enable notifications in Settings after logging in.
Questions? Watch the video, read the instructions, or contact the ISSC helpdesk.
Note: Joint Degree students from Leiden/Delft need to combine information from both the Leiden and Delft MyTimetables to see a complete schedule. This video explains how to do it.
Mode of Instruction
Consultation and feedback (daily supervisor at least once a week; responsible supervisor at least once a month).
Writing a scientific essay/project report.
Assessment method
The final mark for the BSc-research project is calculated as follows:
Research proposal 10%
Practical work 40%
Report 40%
Final presentation 10%
Reading list
Scientific literature according to supervisor's instructions.
Registration
Part 1:
Register in MyStudyMap as explained below:
Choose the correct version of the 'course':
In case your project is at CML, choose 4023BRPCM
In all other cases, choose 4023BST07
As a student, you are responsible for enrolling on time through MyStudyMap.
In this short video, you can see step-by-step how to enrol for courses in MyStudyMap.
Extensive information about the operation of MyStudyMap can be found here.
There are two enrolment periods per year:
Enrolment for the fall opens in July
Enrolment for the spring opens in December
See this page for more information about deadlines and enrolling for courses and exams.
Note:
It is mandatory to enrol for all activities of a course that you are going to follow.
Your enrolment is only complete when you submit your course planning in the ‘Ready for enrolment’ tab by clicking ‘Send’.
Not being enrolled for an exam/resit means that you are not allowed to participate in the exam/resit.
Part 2:
Registration in ProjectMAP.
Instructions:
Go to ProjectMAP and log in with your ULCN account
Go to ‘Aanvragen’ and click on the tab BSc research project.
Contact
Contact via bio-internshipscoordinator@biology.leidenuniv.nl.
Remarks
Bachelor Research Project booklet: BrightSpace>Opleiding Biologie>’Bachelor research project’
More information about how to look for an internship: BrightSpace>Opleiding Biologie
Software
Starting from the 2024/2025 academic year, the Faculty of Science will use the software distribution platform Academic Software. Through this platform, you can access the software needed for specific courses in your studies. For some software, your laptop must meet certain system requirements, which will be specified with the software. It is important to install the software before the start of the course. More information about the laptop requirements can be found on the student website.