Graduation
Please note: do not deregister until you have received a message that you have graduated.
How to graduate
When you have finished all parts of your Master’s programme:
- Check the deadlines for graduation in the tab 'Graduation application deadlines and ceremony dates' (please note there are two different deadlines: one for your graduation application and one for the graduation ceremony).
- You can only graduate if your application is completed (all grades are in OSIRIS), and your graduation application form is handed in at the administration office. Make sure you hand in your graduation application form well before the application deadline (see tab 'Graduation application deadlines and ceremony dates'). Each month you delay your graduation request, will cost you a tuition fee.
- Fill out the GSLS - Graduation Application Form (download and open in Adobe Reader). At this form you can directly apply for one of the graduation ceremonies.*
- Invite a supervisor, examiner or teacher to address you during the ceremony (a laudatio).
- Get the form signed by your programme coordinator and, if applicable, your profile coordinator (except for the general research profile).
- Email the graduation application form to the administration office.**
- The Board of Examiners will determine whether the composition of the student’s study programme complies with the programme described in the EER.
- You are informed about the decision of the Board by e-mail. When this is a positive decision, it will also state the official date of graduation.
- After the positive decision about your graduation, you still must actively terminate your enrolment at Utrecht University.
*It occasionally happens that there is no more room at the graduation ceremony of your preference. If this is the case, you will be informed immediately after your graduation form has been processed.
**Master's students that follow the Epidemiology programme hand in their graduation form at the Epidemiology administrative office at least five working days before the 15th of the month.
Date of graduation
The date of graduation is the last working day of the month in which the Board of Examiners has approved your graduation application and will be the official date that is mentioned on your diploma. In order to have your graduation application approved on any given month, you need to hand in your grades and graduation application form (download and open in Adobe Reader) at the administration office at the 15th of the month at the latest.*
Application for graduation ceremony
When you hand in your graduation application form you must also fill in which graduation ceremony you would like to attend. There is one graduation ceremony planned per month (with some exceptions). You are only able to attend a graduation ceremony that takes place at least 4 weeks after you have handed in your graduation application form (download and open in Adobe Reader) at the administration office. A list of graduation ceremony dates and the deadlines for applying to them can be found below. You will only be assigned to a ceremony session if you have also arranged a speaker to address you during the session (laudatory speech). The graduation ceremony takes place in the Academiegebouw of Utrecht University. Each ceremony has a limited capacity.
| Date of graduation ceremony | Deadline application graduation ceremony |
| 13 September 2022 9:00 - 18:00 h | 15 July 2022 |
| 26 September 2022 9:00 - 18:00 h | 15 August 2022 |
| 31 October 2022 9:00 - 18:00 h | 15 September 2022 |
| 11 November 2022 9:00 - 18:00 h | 15 September 2022 |
| 16 December 2022 9:00 - 18:00 h | 15 November 2022 |
| 7 February 2023 9:00 - 18:00 h | 15 December 2022 |
| 3 April 2023 9:00 - 18:00 h | 15 February 2023 |
| 14 June 2023 9:00 - 18:00 h | 15 May 2023 |
| 3 July 2023 9:00 - 18:00 h | 15 May 2023 |
| 5 September 2023 9:00 - 18:00 h | 15 July 2023 |
| 27 October 2023 9:00 - 18:00 h | 15 September 2023 |
| 6 November 2023 9:00 - 18:00 h | 15 September 2023 |
| 18 December 2023 9:00 - 18:00 h | 15 November 2023 |
*Master's students that follow the Epidemiology programme hand in their graduation form at the Epidemiology administrative office at least five working days before the 15th of the month.
The 'cum laude' classification will be awarded to the Master’s student if each of the following conditions has been met:
A mark of at least 8.5 has been earned for the major research project*.
A mark of at least 8.5 has been earned for the minor research project or profile*.
A mark of at least 8.5 has been earned for the writing assignment*.
A weighted (to credits) average mark of at least 8.0 has been earned for the other components of the programme.
No re-examinations, substitute or replacement tests were taken.
Exemptions that do not count have been obtained for no more than 12 credits.
The Board of Examiners has not taken any decision that fraud or plagiarism was committed.
The final examination of the Master’s Degree programme was passed within 1,5x the normal study duration.
*For Epidemiology condition 2 is not applicable. For Epidemiology Postgraduate conditions 2 and 3 are not applicable. For Science and Business Management condition 2 is applicable for the business internship, condition 3 is not applicable.
After you graduate
The Master’s programmes are part of accredited degrees registered with the Central Register for Training in Higher Education (CROHO) which have their own CROHO labels. The table below gives an overview of the programmes and the associated CROHO labels. The CROHO label will be presented on your diploma, together with your Master’s programme.
| Programme | Master's degree in | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biomedical Sciences | Biosciences | Health Sciences | Science & Business | Neuroscience & Cognition | |
| Biofabrication | x | ||||
| Bioinformatics and Biocomplexity | x | ||||
| Bio Inspired Innovation | x | ||||
| Biology of Disease | x | ||||
| Cancer, Stem Cells and Developmental Biology | x | ||||
| Drug Innovation | x | ||||
| Environmental Biology | x | ||||
| Epidemiology | x | ||||
| Epidemiology Postgraduate | x | ||||
| Health and Environment | x | ||||
| Infection and Immunity | x | ||||
| Medical Imaging | x | ||||
| Molecular and Cellular Life Sciences | x | ||||
| Neuroscience and Cognition | x | ||||
| One Health | x | ||||
| Regenerative Medicine and Technology | x | ||||
| Science and Business Management | x | ||||
| Toxicology and Environmental Health | x | ||||
When you complete your Master's degree, you are well-equipped to function independently in the international field of life sciences. With the provided (specialized) knowledge, skills and insight into the fields of bio(medical) sciences, you are prepared for a career in science, either inside or outside academia.
The information below contains examples of companies where GSLS alumni are employed and is not exhaustive. There are of course more organizations within all the categories below that are interesting for you.
A significant proportion of the GSLS graduates go on to do a PhD (approximately 63%). The GSLS offers several PhD programmes, but it is also possible to conduct a PhD at other universities and research institutes (i.e. Hubrecht Institute, RIVM, NKI, Sanquin, NIOO) in The Netherlands or abroad.
The best way to find a PhD is to contact the professor in the field you want to specialize in. Another option would be the websites of the universities and/or academic hospitals or Academictransfer.
If you do not want to obtain a PhD degree but still want to perform research, you can look for a position as a research technician or researcher in a (pharmaceutical) company (i.e. GenMab, Janssen Pharmaceutical Company, Danone Nutricia Research, Mercachem Syncom, Thermofisher scientific).
Check for vacancies on the website of the company or their LinkedIn page. There are also recruitment agencies with a broad range of research vacancies, like laboratorium, checkmark, labresource, science@work.
Are you passionate about how to make all kinds of knowledge accessible and useful for your target audiences, you can consider to replace your research profile with the communication profile.
Career possibilities are working as a (freelance) science journalist (for Elsevier or the NewScientist), policy advisor (communication), or a program developer at a science museum (i.e. NEMO). If you would like to be more involved in clinical trials, you can consider a career as medical writer, where you are responsible for the writing deliverables for submission to regulatory agencies, like the FDA.
If you are passionate about sharing your knowledge, and you would consider a career as a teacher in secondary education, the education profile might be right for you. This profile replaces the minor research project. You can also follow a one-year (Dutch language) teacher training programme upon completion of your current Master's degree. This will grant you a first degree teaching qualification for secondary education. That means you will be able to work in the upper and lower years of VMBO, HAVO, and VWO in the Netherlands.
If you are interested in life sciences business, you can replace the research profile with the Management profile. This profile focusses on economics, organization & strategic management, marketing, operations management, financial management, and entrepreneurship.
Think about a sales or marketing position in a (life sciences) company (i.e. Eli Lily, GenDx, AbbVie). As medical science liaison (for example at Novartis, AstraZeneca), you contribute to the positioning of a product.
More excited about the clinical operations within the pharmaceutical industry (i.e. Novartis, Abbvie, Merus and the Clinical company), have a look at positions like (junior) clinical research assistant, clinical research coordinator or clinical trial coordinator. Within those positions, the practical support and the monitoring of clinical trials is the main part of the responsibilities. With a few years of experience, the next step in your career could be a position as clinical research associate and/or clinical project manager.
As a consultant, in most cases, you will be hired by different companies, which provide you the opportunity to get to know different parts of the industry in a short amount of time. Examples of consultancy companies are IQVIA, Vintura, The Decision Group, Deltares, Gupta Strategists and Accenture.
If you are more passionate about the healthcare, you can think about a traineeship at HighSelect, Zorgon, Talent for care or a management traineeship or Business Controller traineeship at Amsterdam UMC.
Interested in using, analyzing and interpreting big-data? You can replace the research profile with the Applied Data Science profile or the Bioinformatics profile. Consider a career as data scientist or data manager at a research institute, research-oriented pharmaceutical company, biotechnology company or health care companies (i.e. Altrecht). There are also consultancy companies that are specialized in data science (i.e. Big Data Republic).
If you passionate about policy and stimulating and facilitating research, you can consider a career as program secretary/manager or grant advisor of a charity or foundation (i.e. NWO, ZonMw, Nierstichting, Hersenstichting). Think about a Clinical Assessor at the Medicines Evaluation Board, policy advisor or academic counsellor of a Undergraduate or Graduate School (for example Biology or Biomedical Sciences) or a traineeship at the national government (i.e. Ministry of Education, Culture and Science or Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport).
Are you ready to find your first job but unsure where or how to start your search? Up to six months after graduation you can still visit Career Services, join our workshops, fill in online tests, get a resume check and practice a job interview.
Read more information about Career Services.
Once you have graduated from one of the Master's programmes of the Graduate School of Life Sciences we would like to welcome you as an alumnus!
Since the Master's programmes are organised by different faculties or departments, most programmes have their own network consisting of current students and alumni. There are also overarching alumni organisations and as such you could be an alumnus of:
- Biomedical Sciences (programmes: Biofabrication, Biology of Disease, Cancer Genomics and Developmental Biology, Epidemiology, Infection and Immunity, Medical Imaging, Neuroscience and Cognition, One Health, Regenerative Medicine and Technology, Toxicology and Environmental Health)
- Faculty of Science (programmes: Molecular and Cellular Life Sciences, Drug Innovation, Environmental Biology, Science and Business Management)
Additionally, student associations often also keep in touch with their alumni. For more information on this please check their individual websites, listed here.