Personal and Professional Development

All students in the Bachelor (Medical) Biology are required to work on their Personal and Professional Development (PPD).

Why?

The aim of the biology programme is to prepare you for your future as a biologist. This means that, in addition to gaining biological knowledge, you should also be given the opportunity to discover what kind of biologist and person you would like to be, and how you can get there. You need to acquire skills and competences that make you the perfect candidate for a job. Working on your skills and talents, and reflecting on who you are and who you would like to be, sets you up for lifelong learning, increases your self-awareness and confidence, and provides you with a sense of direction. This will keep you focused and motivated throughout your study and professional life. So, PPD is all about you and your development.

How?

In our programme, PPD mainly focuses on topics around five themes: well-being and motivation, study skills, communication & collaboration, personal development goals and career orientation. To develop yourself in these and other areas you have to set goals, devise strategies, work on your goals and reflect on your progress, which you will document in a PPD plan. By combining PPD with (group) coaching, we intend to support you in shaping this development by addressing topics that we expect relevant for a large part of the students and by discussing topics that you yourselves consider important.

Assessment

Personal and Professional Development (BB076) is a 3 EC course that runs throughout the Bachelor. Each year you have to spend 28 hours (1 EC) on coaching and assignments. There is no grade associated with this course, you will receive either a “Pass” or a “Fail”. To pass this course at the end of the Bachelor, you have to get a "Pass" for each of the three years.

More information on these PPD can be found in the Brightspace course ‘Personal and Professional Development’. If you do not have access to this page or when you have any questions, send an email to PPD.Biosciences@ru.nl.