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Look forward to an intensive two-year programme that trains you to become a researcher in education and child development. The programme consists of 120 EC credits.

What will you learn?

  • Theoretical knowledge of child development in different contexts 
  • The ability to understand advanced academic publications in your field of specialisation 
  • Statistical skills  
  • Skills to design, conduct and report about new research questions and hypotheses, based on a large variety of previous studies 
  • Experience with our department's extensive experimental research facilities 
  • Year 1

    You will start with the introductory course Intervention Research and the course Methods and Statistics in Education Research. In addition, you choose two elective courses in the first year, and follow the second statistics course Multilevel Data Analysis and the course Academic Skills. You will also work on your Research Internship on a preferred topic, under the supervision of one of the research master staff members. 

  • Year 2

    In the second year, you follow the statistics course Structural Equation Modelling and choose three elective courses. Over the course of the second year, you will work on your final research master thesis. 

    If you chose the clinical route you follow courses in diagnostics and treatment instead of two elective courses. After completion of the research Master's, you follow an additional clinical internship in the third year. 

COURSES SEM 1 SEM 2 SEMESTER 1 SEMESTER 2 EC
  • Intervention Research
    Period 1
    6
  • Methods and Statistics in Education Research
    Period 1
    Period 2
    12
  • Academic Skills
    Period 1
    Period 2
    Period 3
    Period 4
    Period 5
    Period 6
    3
  • Research Internship
    Period 1
    Period 2
    Period 3
    Period 4
    Period 5
    Period 6
    18
  • Multilevel Data Analysis
    Period 3
    Period 4
    9
  • Specialisation: elective courses (see UvA Course catalogue for options)
    Period 1
    Period 2
    Period 4
    Period 5
    12
COURSES SEM 1 SEM 2 SEMESTER 1 SEMESTER 2 EC
  • Structural equation modelling in educational research
    Period 1
    Period 2
    12
  • Research Master Thesis
    Period 1
    Period 2
    Period 3
    Period 4
    Period 5
    Period 6
    30
  • Specialisation: elective courses (see UvA Course catalogue for options)
    Period 1
    Period 2
    Period 3
    Period 4
    Period 5
    Period 6
    18
Go to the UvA Course catalogue
Additional information
  • Research internship

    In your first year, you undertake a research internship. You join a research group led by a supervising staff member. You contribute to ongoing research by conducting a part of the research and writing a research report. This hands-on experience will help you learn all aspects of research. 

  • Thesis

    In your second year, for your thesis, you select a research topic and a supervising staff member and write a research proposal. Once your proposal is approved, you carry out the research project and create a research report. You present your thesis at one of the Graduate School's Colloquia in front of fellow students and staff members. 

  • Option: clinical route

    Do you want to combine research with work in clinical practice? In this programme, you can specialise in child development and education, but also in clinical topics. If you're a Dutch-speaking student, the clinical route is your ticket to fast-tracking into the Dutch-taught Master's programmes Forensic Youth Care or Orthopedagogics and becoming a 'basis-orthopedagoog.'  

    This route is perfect if you want to work as a clinical researcher or science-practitioner in the Dutch practice and want to be registered as a clinical diagnostician. 

    To qualify for the official training for clinical professions in the Netherlands, you must: 

    1. Have a Bachelor's degree in pedagogy or psychology, with a study programme that meets the requirements 
    2. Follow the clinical route within the research Master's programme 

    In the clinical route, you follow courses in diagnostics and treatment instead of two elective courses. After completion of the research Master's, you follow an additional clinical internship in the third year.  

Student Hannah Boll
Copyright: Hannah Boll
The clinical route was the perfect choice for me: I wanted to explore my interests in the field of statistics, but not lose sight of the practice because I love working with children. Student Hannah Boll
Frequently asked questions
  • Why would I follow a research master’s programme, rather than a regular master’s programme?

    If you have an active interest in research, are looking for a challenge, value an international and highly interactive programme, are motivated to learn more about how to conduct research in the field of child development and education and have the ambition to become a researcher, possibly combining it with other (clinical) tasks, the research master is the right programme for you.

  • Is the clinical route in the research master also accessible for international students?

    The clinical route is only open to Dutch-speaking students with a bachelor that includes sufficient clinical elements, as this route qualifies for the continuation courses for clinical professions in the Netherlands and prepares you to work in the Dutch clinical practice. The clinical route therefore also consists of some courses in Dutch (the diagnostics and treatment practicals). Also, the clinical route is not very relevant to international students, as in other countries other requirements apply for working in clinical Practice. However, international students can still follow the clinical research master courses ‘Developmental and parenting problems’, ‘Learning and social-emotional disorders in educational contexts’, and ‘Criminal behaviour of juveniles’, and can choose clinical subjects for their thesis work.

  • What research topics are covered in the research master programme?

    In the research master, topics in the broad field of child development and education are addressed. Some examples of research lines with regard to child development are: child development and parenting in traditional and non-traditional families, the role of the father, the relation between temperament and parenting, the quality of professional child care, aetiology of abnormal child development (including anxiety, deficits in moral development, and juvenile delinquency), preventive and curative interventions targeting child-rearing problems and psychopathology.

    Examples of research lines related to education are: social outcomes of education, instruction, learning processes and learning disorders, domain-specific learning (e.g. literacy, history, arts, mathematics, science), innovation in education, motivation and learning, philosophy of education, school segregation, student-teacher relationships, vocational education, educational policy.

    Dependent on the courses you choose, these are topics you may encounter in the research master and you can choose these (or related) topics for your research internship and thesis.

  • How do I choose a topic for my research internship and thesis?

    In the introductory meeting of the Research Internship that will take place in September, researchers from the department will present their research lines and possible topics you can choose for your research internship or thesis. In addition, it is also possible to come up with your own topic if you already have a specific idea about what you would like to research. In that case, the thesis coordinator will help you to find a supervisor who has expertise on this topic.

  • I am interested in both child development and education. Do I have to choose between the two?

    No, you can choose disciplinary courses from both fields, and you could choose a research topic in the field of child development for your research internship and a research topic in the field of education for your thesis, or vice versa. There are also topics that are in the overlap of the two fields. So it is definitely possible to combine the two fields.