Study and Career Orientation
Contact
Education Office Biology
Email: assistentopleiding@biology.leidenuniv.nl
Description
During the master several meetings and activities concerning Study and Career Orientation will be organized in collaboration with the Science Career Service. Through lectures, information meetings, individual and / or group assignments, students are encouraged to plan a future professional career.
Learning goals
Goals:
Study and Career Orientation aims to get students to think about his or her choices during the masters degree in biology and to encourage students to plan their future career. Topics covered include:
Thinking about your own career wishes and potentials;
Orientating yourself in the job market and examining job opportunities for biologists;
Developing your skills such as writing your CV, writing a job application letter and presenting yourself;
Being aware that a social/professional network can help you;
Preparing yourself for interviews and application procedures including psychological tests and assessments.
End terms:
After having followed this course, a student can, on the basis of their personal profile and individual and group orientation, make a motivated choice for a future career.
Schedule
Various meetings and activities per year. The timetable can be found under ‘files’
Blackboard
More information about Study and Career Orientation can be found on Blackboard ‘Teaching programme BSc and MSc Biology’ / Master
More info
Programme (120 EC)
The MSc specialisation consists of:
The programme includes some compulsory components and can be expanded with a wide choice of elective elements. The mandatory components in the 1st semester aim to provide students with the theoretical and practical background needed for an efficient start of the Research Project at the end of this semester. The Research Projects are the actual core of the MSc programme. Students will be member of a research group of their choice and work full time on a specific project. Each project will be finished with a MSc thesis written in the form of a manuscript for an international scientific journal. At least one but preferably two Research Projects are part of the study programme.
The Specialisation Research Project has to be done within the theme of the specialisation at the CML, Naturalis, the IBL, other departments of the Faculty of Science, the LUMC or NIOO. Prior to the start of the Research Project, the Board of Examiners has to approve the individual study plan of the student and the Research Project agreement.
Compulsory components
Each MSc-programme consists for at least 36 EC of theoretical components and the Research project(s) contribute at least 60 EC. The specialisation Research Project should be minimally 36 EC, and a second Research Project should be at least 30 EC. A single research project cannot exceed 60 EC. A “Fish specific animal experimentation course (2 EC) or a “Bird specific animal experimentation course (2 EC) is obligatory in case of a research project that involves handling or experimental use of fish species or birds species.
Electives/optional elements
The optional part of the programme can consist of either additional courses, or an extension of the duration of a research project. A list of approved elective courses is available in the e-guide. For courses outside the Leiden University biology programme, prior approval of the Board of Examiners is required.
Note: No more than 12 EC of optional theoretical elements of level < 400 are permitted and at most 15 EC of non-biology courses.
Approval of programme
The individual study programme consisting of choices of courses and one or two research projects must have prior approval of the Board of Examiners.
Short description of the courses
Courses cover a broad range of relevant subjects and provide in-depth theoretical knowledge as well as training in practical skills and advanced research tools. The course Orientation on Biodiversity and Sustainability provides a state of the art overview of the scientific research and research methods used in the departments participating in this MSc specialisation.
The course “Genomic Architecture” aims at training students to become “genome-enabled” biologists by giving an overview of the structure, function and evolution of genomes as tools for biomonitoring, and an introduction into bio-informatics. The interface between biodiversity and sustainability is taught in ‘Ecosystem Services’ and ‘Human Impacts on Biodiversity’. In addition, students are trained in ‘Advanced Statistics’ and ‘Methods in Biodiversity Analysis’, providing the methodological tools for their training in scientific research during the Research Project(s).
A variety of additional courses from other MSc specialisations in Biology and from other MSc programmes at the Faculty of Science can be chosen as electives. For details (description, literature, exam dates and further calendar events) about the different courses see the e-prospectus and Blackboard.
