Research Master’s Lustrum Reunion – 29 May 2026

Report

Friday 29 May, we celebrated 20 years of Research Master’s at Radboud University, at an informal gathering in the Cultuurcafé. Despite strong winds, rain and no train service, a group of students, alumni and teachers gathered in this familiar place on campus.

The Research Master’s was started as a joint degree with the University of Tilburg in September of 2005. In the early years there were but a handful of students – there was only one from Radboud in the first year! They could choose between these initial four specialisations:

  • Cognition and Rationality
  • The Project of Hermeneutic Philosophy
  • The Clash of Conceptualizations
  • From Natural Philosophy to Science
Aanwezigen van de ReMa lustrumbijeenkomst in het CultuurCafé
Bezoekers van de ReMa lustrumbijeenkomst

Teachers in the first year of the programme included Evert van der Zweerde, Philippe van Haute, Rob van der Sandt, Ben Vedder, Chris Bremmers, Paul van Tongeren, Jean-Pierre Wils, Machiel Karskens, Marin Terpstra, Paul Bakker and Cees Leijenhorst, only one of whom now remains at the faculty.

Over the course of the next 20 years the specialisations would change a number of times, and there would be big changes in both the gender ratio of the teachers, as well as the ratio of Dutch students to international students (approaching 50% in many years).

Christoph Lüthy was the programme’s first coordinator, succeeded later by Carla Rita Palmerino. Together they fostered and guarded the programme for 16 years, during which (in 2012) Radboud made the decision to stop the collaboration with Tilburg and continue the programme alone. At the gathering on the 29th Christoph and Carla Rita were offered a small gift in recognition of the role they played in the education of many generations of Research Master’s students. In total, 198 students have now graduated from the Research Master’s. We expect to celebrate the 200th graduation this year!

Carla Rita Palmerino en Christoph Lüthy ontvangen een bedankje voor hun tijd als opleidingscoördinator van hun opvolger Frank van Caspel
(oud)studenten op de ReMa lustrumbijeenkomst

To read more about the history of the Research Master’s, download this chronicle (in Dutch) written by Chris Buskes, based on information from the faculty archive. Given that it’s already 2026, the 25-year lustrum is coming up soon, so keep an eye on the LinkedIn group for Research Master’s students and alumni for announcements.

Contact information

Organizational unit
Faculty of Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies