Ervaringsverhaal - Tobias Sachs & Iris Verpaalen

At the beginning of the academic year, we both had one ambition: to go abroad and work on a research project to human well-being and behavior change. We were enthusiastic about the idea of carrying out an experiment that we could design ourselves, since we both aim for a career as researchers. However, we knew that we were limited in time, since we are research master students and our master theses require us to be here most of the time. Still, we had the same interests topic-wise and during our master's we experienced how approaching research from different viewpoints and with different people can enhance the quality of the study at hand. So our solution was simple: apply for an Honours project together!

We can recommend this to anyone. If you are sincerely motivated to do an additional research project, you know another student who shares your interests, and you would need each other to make the study you're planning successful, this could be a valuable way to realise your plans.

We are about to go to Monash University in Melbourne, Australia and conduct an experiment in a way that would have not been possible otherwise. We planned our project in such a way, that it fits both our personal schedules and the planning for our experiment (we both go there for six weeks and have overlap in the middle). Our advice if you consider applying for the Radboud Honours Academy: be creative in overcoming your limitations, and think about ways in which your research idea may benefit from possible solutions. Good luck!