Study programme
Psychology (Research MSc)
Programme outline
The primary focus of the Research Master’s programme is on developing critical, scientific thinking skills and teaching scientific knowledge and skills that are crucial for conducting high-quality psychological research. To this end the programme offers a series of advanced courses on scientific writing and presenting, research methods, statistics, and programming. Central to the Research Master’s programme are two separate research projects (Internship and Thesis), which may contribute to publications in international scientific journals.
This leads to the following study programme:
- Specialised courses in at least two fields of psychology - 36 EC
- Courses on research methods and statistics - 21 EC
- Scientific Writing and Presenting - 6 EC
- Programming in Psychological Science - 6 EC
- Research Internship - 18-24 EC
- Research Thesis (incl. 4 ec Thesis Proposal and 1 ec colloquia) - 27-33 EC
- Total - 120 EC
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Specialised courses
The Research Master’s programme is firmly embedded in the psychology research programme at the University of Amsterdam, with specialised courses in an elective major – minor structure. These specialised courses are taught in informal, highly interactive small groups settings.
Students will attend six specialised courses in at least two areas of psychology (i.e., three courses in their major, two in their minor, and one elective), to be selected out of the following six specialisations:
- Clinical Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Methodology and Statistics
- Brain and Cognition
- Social Psychology
- Work and Organizational Psychology
Each of these fields organizes a total of at least three advanced courses (6 EC each) over two years dealing with recent developments in theory and research in the field of the specialisation.
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Methods and Statistics Courses (21 EC)
Over a two-year period, students complete advanced courses on research methods and statistics dealing with current developments and practices in psychological research. All students should attend the course Good Research Practices (6 EC) and Statistics 1 (3 EC). Furthermore, students attend a total of 12 EC in advanced methods and statistics. Students may choose these courses depending on their interests and relevance for their research project and specialisations.
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Research projects (51 EC)
The programme includes two research projects: The research internship and the Master’s thesis, each supervised by a senior staff member. In the first master’s year, students conduct a research internship in close collaboration with a supervisor. The internship is composed of a research proposal and a final report. In the second master’s year, students conduct their thesis relatively independently. The master’s thesis report is written in the form of a publishable journal article. At least one of the projects has to be an empirical study.
The research internship can be conducted either in the field of the chosen major or minor. The thesis has to be conducted in the field of the chosen major.
Students may carry out one of the two research projects abroad. Staff members of the Psychology Research Institute have extensive international networks and the study adviser and the department’s international office can give information and advice on how to organize this.
The researchers and the topics of the six programmes can be found below at the Psychology Research Institute. An overview of the high-quality technical research facilities (3T MRI scanner, EEG, eye tracking and TMS) can be found on the behavioural science labs website.
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Scientific Writing and PresentingPeriod 16
Students will be trained in writing and presentation skills in the first block of the first year of the programme in the course ‘Scientific Writing and Presenting’ (6 EC). This course is required for all students and is designed to improve student's scientific communication skills in writing scientific articles and giving research presentations.
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Restricted-choice electives: Specialised course 1Period 16
Over two years, you choose six different specialised courses: 3 courses (18 ec) in your major, 2 courses (12 ec) in our minor, 1 course (6 ec) in your major, minor or other specialisation or (research) master's programme. Specialized courses are offered in Semester 1.
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Good research practicesPeriod 26
This course focuses on the threats to the validity and reliability of empirical research and recently proposed solutions (e.g., pre-registration) aimed at increasing the robustness and transparency of psychological science.
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Restricted-choice electives: Specialised course 2Period 26
Over two years, you choose six different specialised courses: 3 courses (18 ec) in your major, 2 courses (12 ec) in our minor, 1 course (6 ec) in your major, minor or other specialisation or (research) master's programme. Specialized courses are offered in Semester 1.
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Programming for psychological sciencePeriod 36
Students will be trained in computer programming skills. In the first part of the course students learn general programming concepts and to work with the programming language R. R will be used in several other courses. In the second part students will further develop their skills in either R or Python
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Statistics 1Period 43
his course will begin with the fundamentals of GLM using some matrix algebra and R, to provide a framework in which we will work and learn. We will then cover several techniques that all belong to the GLM. There will be a strong focus on understanding the basic idea of each analysis technique (including the main equations that underlie the model) and on interpreting the output of R.
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Restricted-choice electives: Methods & Statistics coursesPeriod 4Period 5Period 612
Over two years, you choose 12 EC in advanced methods and statistics courses. Methods and Statistics courses are offered in Semester 2.
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Research Master InternshipPeriod 4Period 5Period 618
In the first master’s year, students conduct a research internship in close collaboration with a supervisor. The internship is composed of a research proposal and a final report and is 18 to 24 EC.
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Restricted-choice electives: Specialised course 3Period 16
Over two years, you choose six different specialised courses: 3 courses (18 ec) in your major, 2 courses (12 ec) in our minor, 1 course (6 ec) in your major, minor or other specialisation or (research) master's programme. Specialized courses are offered in Semester 1.
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Restricted-choice electives: Specialised course 4Period 16
Over two years, you choose six different specialised courses: 3 courses (18 ec) in your major, 2 courses (12 ec) in our minor, 1 course (6 ec) in your major, minor or other specialisation or (research) master's programme. Specialized courses are offered in Semester 1.
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Research Master's Thesis ProposalPeriod 34
You will use the first two months for writing your research proposal under the supervision of your supervisor, using the predefined research master’s thesis research proposal form.
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Start thesisPeriod 32
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Restricted-choice electives: Methods & Statistics coursesPeriod 4Period 5Period 6—
Over two years, you choose 12 EC in advanced methods and statistics courses. Methods and Statistics courses are offered in Semester 2.
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Research Master's Thesis + colloquiaPeriod 4Period 5Period 6—
In the second master’s year, students conduct their thesis relatively independently. The master’s thesis report is written in the form of a publishable journal article. At least one of the projects has to be an empirical study. The thesis is 22 to 28 EC. The colloquia is 1 ec.
