Study programme

Social Challenges (7.5 EC)

The course ‘Social challenges’ introduces four contemporary societal challenges that are central to our Master’s programme (i.e. differences in health & well-being; combining work and care; climate change & sustainable behaviour; and social cohesion & diversity). We present state-of-the-art (interdisciplinary) theories and research in combination with a public policy perspective outlining how these challenges are dealt with in practice. The focus of this course is on familiarising students with all four challenges as well as developing a rich and more in-depth understanding of one challenge in particular.

Interdisciplinary Theories and Methods (7.5 EC)

This course is taught across Periods 1 and 2. It elaborates on the differences between mono-, multi-, inter- and transdisciplinarity, discussing important benefits and potential drawbacks of each of these approaches and focusing on how they work out in practice using real-life cases. This allows students to reflect on the process of knowledge development and the role of (social) scientific and other types of knowledge. This course also covers important themes for conducting interdisciplinary social science research, focusing on learning the necessary skills for, as well as the strengths and challenges of, mixed-methods research (i.e. combining quantitative and qualitative research methods).

Becoming an Academic Professional (7.5 EC)

This course, which is taught mainly in Period 1 but continues throughout the year, helps students develop as an academic professional. Students explore and develop their professional interests and skills and learn about professional ethics. An important component of this module is to help students choose an internship and start preparations for securing one. In addition, student peer review groups are established that meet regularly throughout the year for different peer review meetings. Finally, students begin preparations for their thesis in this course.

Social Change Approaches: Development, Implementation and Evaluation (7.5 EC)

In this course, students learn different approaches to intervention development and mapping. They learn how to develop, implement, and evaluate interventions that contribute to solving social challenges systematically. After a theoretical introduction, students work with societal stakeholders on real-life social challenges, developing, implementing or evaluating an evidence-based intervention of their own choice.

Open Science, Communication and Impact (2.5 EC)

This module discusses different ways of adapting scientific knowledge for a wider audience (e.g. in the shape of policy briefs, executive summaries, blogs, infographics or one-pagers). Students learn to substantiate their choice of one of the outlets for their scientific work and practise making a public-engagement product.

Master’s Project (27.5 EC)

The Master’s Project takes place in the second semester and consists of three interrelated components. Students do an internship, write their thesis, and make a public-engagement product, all focused on a social challenge. The internship will usually take place at an external organisation but can also be conducted internally, with one of the researchers at the Department of Interdisciplinary Social Science. Moreover, internships can be either practice-oriented or research-oriented. Students write a thesis on a related topic, for which they can either analyse an existing dataset, or collect new data during their internship. Finally, they adapt the knowledge they acquired while writing their thesis into a public-engagement product for a wider audience (see also the course ‘Knowledge dissemination’).

Recent examples of thesis topics

Some recent examples of thesis topics include: 

• Racism towards asylum seekers on internet fora
• Informal care policy within municipalities
• Building healthy food environments
• Knowledge migrants in the Netherlands
• Social security policy in EU countries
• HIV/Aids prevention and treatment in South Africa
• The combination of work and care among parents
• The factors facilitating and hindering the transition to sustainable diets
• Developing broader social cohesion in gentrified neighbourhoods

Ethical review of your thesis

All Bachelor's and (research) Master's students must have their thesis project ethically reviewed by the FERB through the online tool UU-SER. More information about the procedure and associated protocols can be found on this website: https://uu-ser.sites.uu.nl/procedure-submitting-uu-ser.