Are you a current student? For the programme of this academic year, check the course guide.

Curriculum of Science, Management and Innovation

During your first year, you focus on either Biology, Computing Science, Mathematics, Medical Biology, Molecular Sciences or Physics and Astronomy, depending on the Master's programme that you follow. The specific content of SMI starts in the second year of your Master’s programme, which consists of some compulsory courses, theme courses and a research project.

About this study curriculum

The course overview is an indication of the study programme of the academic year 2025-2026. If you are a current student, please consult the online course guide for your course overview.

COURSE GUIDE

Course overview

This course overview presents the SMI-specific course overview, which takes place in the second year of your Master's. The first year curriculum depends on which Master's you choose. You can find the first-year course overview for each Master's at the bottom of this page. 

The structure of your SMI year is as follows:

  • Compulsory courses (15 EC)
  • Theme courses (15 EC)
  • Philosophy course (3 EC)
  • Research project (27 EC)
Total EC
60 EC
Compulsory courses
P1
P2
P3
P4
Sustainable Innovation Management
6 EC
Reaching the Sustainable Development Goals
6 EC
Methods in Societal Research
3 EC

Theme courses

You select a societally relevant theme to focus on and following a total of 15 EC of courses related to this theme. We offer four themes that are available to all students in this specialisation: Biodiversity, Climate and Energy, Health, and Green Industries & IT. For these themes, we created courses directly geared to students interested in management and innovation. Students can choose one of the following themes:

Biodiversity

Biodiversity Assessment (3 EC)
Ecological and Environmental Concepts (3 EC)
Environmental Life Cycle Assessment (6 EC)
Nature in a crowded country (3 EC)

Climate and Energy

Energy and Climate (6 EC)
Energy Modelling (3 EC)
Environmental Life Cycle Assessment (6 EC)

Health

How Health Systems Work (6 EC)
The Future of Health (6 EC)
Free choice (3 EC)

Green Industries & IT

Energy and Climate (6 EC)
Environmental Life Cycle Assessment (6 EC)
Pattern Recognition for Natural Science (3 EC)

Philosophy course

The student selects one of the following 3 EC courses with a philosophical character. Computing Science students do not need to take this elective course as a philosophy course is already included in their programme in the Master's.

Bio-ethics for Life Scientists (3 EC)
Compete or Collaborate? - An Introduction to Disciplines and Interdisciplinarity (3 EC)
Environmental Ethics (3 EC)
Evolution and the Mind (3 EC)
Imagining the Anthropocene (3 EC)
Science and Arts (3 EC)
Science and Values (3 EC)
Philosophy & Ethics Microbiology (3 EC)
Philosophy of Evidence and Expertise (3 EC)
Philosophy of Ecological Restoration (3 EC)
Physics and Philosophy (3 EC)
Upgrading the Human? (3 EC)

Thesis & research
P1
P2
P3
P4
Research project
27 EC

During your research project, you’ll work outside the university on a real-world research problem in the theme you have chosen. Here, you take the essential step of applying what you have learned in your courses into practice. The project can be done within a company, a governmental organisation or department, the strategy department of a research lab or a non-governmental organisation, both inside or outside the Netherlands or Europe. The staff as well as our Career Service will help you find a tailor-made internship position that meets you future ambition.

Domains