Goals of the Master's Programme

The goals of the Master's programme are divided in four parts: A general part applicable for everyone, and one of three bparts applicable to certain specialisations.

General qualifications

The Master’s graduate in Chemistry:

• has a thorough theoretical and practical knowledge of modern-day chemistry.
• must be able to keep up with the literature in his/her field of science and must be able to use it.
• must be able to acquire knowledge in other fields of chemistry in an acceptable time frame.
• must be able to formulate a research plan on the basis of a general chemical question.
• must be able to analyse results of investigations, interpret them and draw conclusions.
• can be employed in functions in which chemical knowledge and research skills are needed.
• is sufficiently aware of the role of chemistry in society to make a justified choice of profession and practice.
• can deal with safety and environmental issues of chemistry and has an adequate understanding of the role of chemistry in a sustainable society.
• is able to present his/her work to specialists in the field, but also to a laymen audience, both orally and written and has adequate interpersonal skills, relating to the ability to interact with other people and to engage in team working.
• is able to set up and perform relatively independently experiments and checks.
• must be able to put new results in the framework of results obtained by others.

Specialisation specific qualifications

The Master’s graduate in Chemistry with a specialisation in Physical Chemistry, Molecular Chemistry or Chemistry for life:

• is able to set up and perform independently experiments, design appropriate checks and evaluate the results in a given time frame.
• is able to formulate a vision on the scientific developments in his/her field of chemistry.
• can independently analyse experiments and chemical processes, interpret the results and present the outcome at different abstraction levels.
• is able to independently write the basis for a scientific publication or research proposal.

The Master’s graduate in Chemistry with a specialisation in Science, Management and Innovation:

• Graduates have gained deep knowledge on their theme, based on connections made between their own science discipline and other science disciplines, on the one hand, and approaches from fields that study society, politics and policy, economics and companies (remember/understand).
• With this knowledge, they can analyse specific problems within their theme, are able to name a range of approaches to address the problem, and argue for and select feasible options, taking into account the full width of technological, societal, political and economic perspectives (understand/analyse).
• The students are proficient in the use of methods and techniques, including basic financial and economic ones, to substantiate strategies and plans, and are able to effectively use a wide variety of information and communication channels (apply/evaluate).
• The students can balance perspectives and interests in the specific context of a company, governmental organisation or international organisation, or in configurations of those and other actors, in order to formulate feasible strategies and plans to implement options to address their thematic challenges (evaluate/create).
• The students are capable of clearly communicating their insights and choices to others, both in written and in spoken form (communicate).
• The students are capable of working in multidisciplinary teams; they know how to divide tasks based on knowledge and competencies and how to take responsibility, and they respect diverging views.

Master’s graduates in Chemistry with a specialisation in Science in Society are:

• Capable of analysing the role of scientific expertise in societal and political decision making with regard to socio-scientific issues.
• Capable of designing and conducting independent and methodologically sound social research at the interface of science and society and capable of contributing to academic research.
• Capable of understanding and designing public and stakeholder participation processes in research and innovation.
• Capable of analysing, improving and evaluating interdisciplinary collaborations with multiple stakeholders, integrating different perceptions, interests and types of knowledge (experiential, professional and scientific).
• Capable of substantiating and communicating the relevance of one's scientific discipline in society.

The Master’s graduate in Chemistry with a specialisation in Science and Education:

• Graduates have knowledge of and insight into the theoretical principles of discipline-specific thinking, educational design, and the methods and techniques of applying didactic research in the discipline.
• Graduates are able to design, implement and systematically evaluate an educational design and a scientific study, drawing a link between didactic and professional practice concepts, discipline-specific thinking of the students at different levels and problems from teaching practice.
• Graduates devote attention to discipline-specific learning of individual and unique students, and focus on developing inspiring education.
• Graduates are able to apply thorough scientific knowledge of general didactic concepts about the learning of individual students, and methods to improve both the social climate in the classroom and to answer individual learning needs of the students.
• Graduates are able to act in a differentiated way and improve the social climate for collaboration, and in doing so, set independent priorities and, after consultation with relevant third parties, respond appropriately to development and behavioural problems.
• Graduates focus on collaboration and responsible behaviour based on clear communication with individual students and colleagues, and on the basis of a personal vision.
• Graduates develop a personal professional knowledge base to justify their own actions and understand the actions of colleagues and supervisors.
• Graduates use the professional knowledge base and contextual feedback (students, colleagues, supervisors) to evaluate and guide their own professional development.
• Graduates develop a personal identity in the context of their own actions, external frameworks and ethical dilemmas.