Astronomy

First year

Second year

Third year

Electives or Minor (30 EC)

Electives or Minor

Students of the Astronomy and combined Astronomy and Physics programmes choose electives or a Minor for the first semester of their third year in consultation with the Study Advisor.

Minor (30 EC) at Leiden University, TU Delft of Erasmus University Rotterdam Click here for more information on minors.

Astronomy electives (30 EC), consisting of a mandatory 6 EC course and 24 EC of electives (see overview below)

Career orientation

Career orientation
During the Astronomy bachelor’s education programme, we support you in making choices that are relevant to your future career. You will be stimulated to think about your ambitions and potential and to reflect on how to reach your goals. By actively exploring the possibilities, you enable yourself to make motivated study and career choices.

We organise various activities to help you think about questions like:

• What are my strong skills and what skills can I still learn?

• In which subjects do I want to specialise?

• What subject will I choose for my Bachelor Research Project?

• Which electives fit my future ambitions?

• What do I want to learn next to my studies?

• Which master's programme will I choose after my Astronomy bachelor's and why?

• Which type of job would I like to do in the future?

Events Click here for the Astronomy career event calendar. This calendar contains an up-to-date overview of all career events relevant to Astronomy bachelor’s students.

First year

• Study career sessions

• Lectures from alumni

• Company visits, dinners and lectures

• Intake with Astronomy Study Advisor

• Information sessions with student counsellor

• Mentors and tutors

• Introduction Science Career Service

• Workshop Study skills

• Workshop Timemanagement

Second year

• Study career sessions

• Lectures from alumni

• Company visits, dinners and lectures

• Bachelor Career Orientation Day via De Leidsche Flesch

• Science Career Event (Bètabanenmarkt)

• Master's information day (Leiden University)

• Minor information market (Leiden University)

• Workshop Entrepreneurship

• Workshop Leiden University Mentor Network

• Workshop Personal profile

Third year

• Study career sessions

• Lectures from alumni

• Company visits, dinners and lectures

• Bachelor Career Orientation Day via De Leidsche Flesch

• Science Career Event (Bètabanenmarkt)

• Leiden University Mentor Network

• Field-specific conferences (Physics@Veldhoven, Fysica, Nederlandse Astronomen Conferentie)

• Master's information day (Leiden University)

• Career Information Meeting Astronomy (CIMAS)

• Leiden Observatory Science Dayy

• Astronomy Taster Day

• Workshop Time & Project Management

• Workshop CV Writing

• Workshop Job interview

LU Career Zone
The Leiden University Career Zone is a website that offers support to Leiden University students and alumni, both during their studies and career. It offers advice, information and tools, including professional tests to draft your personal profile and job aplication tips.

Soft skills
In the Astronomy course descriptions in this e-Prospectus, behaviour-oriented skills are listed for each course. Although these soft skills cannot be measured like course objectives, being aware of the skills you acquire is important. They determine how you approach your work and your life and are therefore highly relevant to shaping your study path and future career.The soft skills you will come across in the Astronomy course descriptions include:

• Problem solving - recognizing and analyzing problems, solution-oriented thinking

• Analytical skills - analytical thinking, abstraction, evidence

• Structured thinking - structure, modulated thinking, computational thinking, programming

• Complex ICT-skills - data analysis, programming, simulations, complex ICT applications

• Project management - planning, scope, boundaries, result-orientation

• Responsibility - ownership, self-discipline, bear mistakes, accountability

• Motivation - commitment, pro-active attitude, initiative

• Self-regulation - independence, self-esteem, aware of own goals, motives and capacities

• Verbal communication - presenting, speaking, listening

• Written communication - writing skills, reporting, summarizing

• Collaboration - teamwork, group support, loyalty, attendance

• Flexibility - adaptability, dealing with change, teachability, eagerness to learn

• Critical thinking - asking questions, checking assumptions

• Creative thinking - resourcefulness, curiosity, thinking out of the box

• Integrity - honesty, moral, ethics, personal values

Contact
Questions about your study and/or career path? Make an appointment with the Astronomy Study Advisor.