Radboud Honours Academy
The Honours Academy is an educational environment for enthusiastic, motivated students, who want to do something to develop themselves in addition to their studies. At every stage in your studies – first-year, Bachelor’s, and Master’s – you have the opportunity to participate in an honours programme. It is further possible to engage in one of the honours labs, short-term experimental projects for both Bachelor’s and Master’s students.
The structure and content of the programmes varies and is modified continuously. For example, you can conduct research abroad, work with a group on a current theme, organise a conference on your own, or get acquainted with your discipline in practice. You may even have already come up with an in-depth research question that you want to work on. You can do all this at the Honours Academy!
What should you expect?
- You will be working on themes which highlight the interplay between society and science. Examples of these themes are the future of food, protection of personal data, and the interaction between terrorism and climate change.
- Collaborating with students from other disciplines is an essential component of many of the honours programmes. This allows you to learn how to look at an issue from various perspectives and experience the advantages of your own discipline.
- You will be working with skills which you will continue to develop. Examples of these include giving presentations and storytelling, debating, writing in English or persuasive writing.
- Various programmes begin with a kick-off, involve studying abroad, and end with a celebratory award ceremony.
- You will connect with equally motivated, enthusiastic students and will engage with them in discussions on topics that interest you.
- You will receive personalised guidance from a programme director and lecturers who know your interests and weaker points and who will be able to help you to develop your talents.
- The programme supervisors look at more than just your performance: a great deal of attention is paid to your personal development. This increases the benefit which this programme has for your future career and later life.
Programmes
The Radboud Honours Academy offers a first-year programme, various Bachelor’s programmes, and two Master’s programmes.
- The first-year programme is one semester long (starting in February) and is for students of all disciplines.
- Each faculty has its own Bachelor’s programme, each with its own unique content. Some of the Bachelor’s programmes run for year, while others last for two. The university-wide, interdisciplinary Bachelor’s programmes include collaborating in a think tank with other students throughout the university.
- The Master’s programmes offer you the option to set up your own research inland or abroad or carry out collaborative interdisciplinary work in a think tank.
You can enrol at any stage of your degree programme. Even if you have not participated in a first-year or Bachelor’s honours programme, you are still more than welcome to participate in the Master’s programmes. It also works the other way around: participation in one programme does not necessarily guarantee participation in the next honours programme. You have to apply for each programme individually.
Honours labs
Do you still want to carry out additional work, but don’t have the time in your schedule for a one or two-year programme? You could participate in one of the honours labs! During these short, experimental projects, you will spend several weeks working on a current theme with students from all different disciplines. For example, you may conduct research into how the future of food will look, how the concept of “truth” is experienced from the perspective of the arts, or how to decipher the media during elections.
The honours labs are available to RU students from all disciplines, regardless of whether they participate in an honours programme. If you are motivated to participate, then you are more than welcome to join us!
What does it cost?
There are no additional costs associated with the honours programme and the honours labs. However, the programmes and the labs do demand an investment of time. For the honours programmes, you should expect about 6 to 8 hours per week more work on top of your standard programme; for first-year students, this is roughly 5 to 6 hours per week. The time investment per honours lab varies depending on the design of the honours lab.
What do we expect from you?
You must apply to participate in an honours programme or lab. It is important that participation does not come at the cost of your academic performance. We will hold an individual interview with you to see whether the programme or the lab is right for you. Your intrinsic motivation is a deciding factor in that process.