In September 2026 the Radboud University and Maastricht University will proudly welcome the first cohort of students in their new joint Master’s degree programme in Crop Biotechnology and Engineering.
This two-year programme will train the next generation of biotechnologists and engineers who will shape the crops of the future using science and technology. The programme will take place at Brightlands Campus Greenport Venlo, an emerging agri-tech hub located at the heart of one of Europe’s major horticultural regions.
Making agriculture sustainable and climate-proof
The new degree programme is aimed at students who would like to combine cutting-edge plant science with technologies like artificial intelligence, robotics, and smart greenhouses. The graduates of the programme will be interdisciplinary scientists and engineers that can address real-world problems in agriculture. For example, within the programme, and in their future careers, the students will work on how to guarantee crop yield is maintained in extreme climatic conditions and how to ensure modern farming systems are sustainable.
Strategic collaboration with regional impact
The students in the new programme will study at two top universities and therefore can benefit from double the expertise and an expanded network. The accreditation of the degree programme marks an important step for the strategic collaboration between the two universities that was established in 2022. Already in 2024, the two universities launched a joint research initiative to fund PhD students in the field of Crop Biotechnology and Engineering. The new Master’s degree programme establishes a concrete educational collaboration, and represents the first joint degree programme between the Radboud University Faculty of Science and the Maastricht University Faculty of Science and Engineering.
Interdisciplinary science and technology education
The new degree programme complements existing technology-related educational intiatives at Radboud University’s Faculty of Science, which include neurotechnology and artificial intelligence.