Please note: this course description is not fully up-to-date for the academic year 2023-2024. Updates will be published shortly.
Admission requirements
Only students who are admitted to the master’s programme Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology specialisation Sociology of Policy in Practice can take part in this course.
The Study Adviser grants permission to conduct field research once the following conditions are met:
The student's Research Proposal must receive a pass grade (6-10) from its individual supervisor. The assessment form should be sent to the Study Adviser
The individual supervisor must approve the language proficiency of the student, as applicable to the field research envisaged
The Ethics form has to be filled out completely and sent to the Study Adviser
A Letter of Liability has to be filled out completely and sent to the Study Adviser
In case of field research abroad, the student has to register in the Study Abroad portal (in uSis). In this portal, it is especially important to fill out the contact details on which you can be reached while abroad
Course Description
A Policy in Practice Research Internship offers a student the opportunity to work on an individual three-month research project with a NGO, government agency, small or large-scale company, museum or knowledge institute, either in the Netherlands or abroad. The institute CADS offers Policy in Practice Research Internships, for which a supervisor based at CADS is responsible for liaising with the internship provider. CADS currently offers Research Internships in four thematic areas: Sustainability & Development, Inequality & Diversity, Heritage & Material Culture and Digitalisation & Social Change. These lists are frequently updated. Clicking the hyperlinks embedded with each of these thematic areas gives access to a CADS webpage which has a listing of relevant Research Internships. Please note that students will always need to develop an individual research project in the context of such a Research Internship. While students are expected to work closely with societal partners, drafting a research proposal, doing fieldwork and writing the thesis are supervised by the CADS based supervisor.
Self-organised Policy in Practice Research Internships
In addition CADS, under strict conditions, allows students to propose self-organised Policy in Practice Research Internships (requests for the academic year to come need to be submitted by June 15th). Such a Research Internship should proceed from a clearly defined problem, formulated by the internship provider. This problem needs to be stated in a letter, which has a detailed outline of the Research Internship proposed (150-200 words), and also mentions the kind of support/ contacts the organisation involved is willing and able to provide (150-200 words). In addition, students who propose a self-organised Research Internship, also need to submit a letter of motivation, which argues how it fits their Master CADS. Self-organised research internships are subject to an assessment procedure, and only accepted if these comply with the requirements of the Master. CADS reserves the right to reject self-organised Research Internships proposed. Applications for self-organised Research Internships, encompassing the request by the internship provider and the motivational letter from the student, need to be submitted by June 15, so ahead of the start of the Master, to the Coordinator of Studies. Also for self-organised Research Internships holds that students will always need to develop an individual research project. Students are expected to work closely with societal partners, but drafting a research proposal, doing fieldwork and writing the thesis are supervised by the CADS based supervisor.
Financial matters
A master’s field research can be a costly endeavour for the student, as it will usually involve travel and the costs of additional accommodation. These expenses are not covered by the tuition fee for the master’s programme
Arranging an Internship can be a costly endeavour for the student, as it will usually involve travel and the costs of additional accommodation. These expenses are not covered by the tuition fee for the master's programme.
To ease the financial strain a number of funds may be applied for:
Funds made available by external partners in the context of some research projects listed under ‘Research Opportunities’.
Scholarships and grants offered by Leiden University.
Funds from the home country (in case of international students).
Also check the Dutch study grant/loan provider DUO for additional information.
If planning research outside The Netherlands, also check the university's website for other practical matters regarding studying abroad.
Schedule
January-March
Assessment Method
For the duration of the three-month research period, three mandatory Fieldwork Reports must be written (each 1,000-3,000 words).
Report 1: Operationalization in the field, to be submitted to your supervisor after 3 weeks in the field)
Report 2: Reflection on the fieldwork experience, to be submitted to your supervisor after 6 weeks in the field
Report 3 (final): Preliminary Analysis/Interpretation of the data.
The fieldwork is graded based on performance in the research setting.
Registration in My Studymap
Students are not required to register for this course since it's by individual appointment with the supervisor.
Contact
Master's programme coördinator Dr. J.A.M.M. Jansen