Biological Sciences: General Biology (MSc)
In this programme, unlike the other three tracks within the MSc programme Biological Sciences, students have the freedom to combine courses from all biological Master's of the UvA and other universities. It depends on course admission rules and course capacity if you can be admitted to courses. The same freedom applies to choosing research projects and literature review. All this gives you the opportunity to create your own specific study path.
The first semester is where students in this track follow courses. These are full-time (42 hours of study per week) and consist of roughly 15 contact hours (lectures, exercise classes, etc) per week. For coursework, students can choose among all available courses from the other three tracks in the MSc Biological Sciences, as well as from Biomedical Sciences and Earth Sciences of the University of Amsterdam, and from other universities (this requires approval of the Examination Board). Have in mind that admission to courses depends on their admission rules and capacity.
For detailed information regarding the curriculum and courses, please see the UvA Course Catalogue via the link below or download the study schedule.
Students usually carry out their first research project at one of the biological research institutes at Sciencepark (IBED and SILS), or at closely associated research institutes such as Sanquin Blood Supply Foundation, the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI), or the Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ). For their second research project students can look for research opportunities elsewhere, in the Netherlands or abroad.
The standard programme consists of individual projects:
Students of the Master's programme Biological Sciences have further the option to choose one of three professional majors (60 EC) or minor (30 EC), each designed to train a specific set of skills needed as a secondary school teacher, in policy and communication or elsewhere outside the academia:
General Biology is a track of the Master's programme in Biological Sciences. The Master's programme in Biological Sciences has been legally accredited by the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO). This means that upon successful completion of the programme, students will receive a legally accredited Master's degree in Biological Sciences and the title of Master of Science (MSc).
All students enrolled in Biological Sciences are requested to bring their own laptop, due to the nature of the programme. More information on specific system requirements can be found here.