Master’s programmes in the field of Life sciences traditionally focus on research specialization and subsequent career possibilities. However, there is a growing body of students that wish to obtain a Master’s degree allowing them to focus on the combination of broader interdisciplinary research and design. This project proposal aims to make a full proposal for a 2-year interdisciplinary Master’s programme within the Graduate School of Life Sciences (GSLS) that will link to the strategic themes and the hubs of Life Sciences and Pathways to Sustainability, and the Living Labs initiative.  

Background

Biological knowledge is an increasingly coveted asset for governments and businesses because biology provides answers that facilitate sustainable and regenerative solutions that support a transition to a circular economy. Yet, most biologists are poorly trained to translate biological knowledge to society and to function effectively in companies or (non-) governmental organizations. In addition, most systemic problems require a multi- or interdisciplinary approach. Therefore, it is the aim of this Master’s programme to educate a diverse range of students to become effective change leaders/innovators that can support and be part of multidisciplinary teams to come up with effective bio-inspired sustainable solutions. Thus, we aim for enrolment of students with diverse backgrounds (Biological Sciences, Engineering, Industrial Design) and aim to set up collaborations with TU Eindhoven and or WUR. 

The programme will offer possibilities for students to work hands-on on research design in an interdisciplinary way.  Currently, we (the UU) are creating hubs, spaces and innovation area’s where we can improve the development of students in truly obtaining interdisciplinary education. For instance the Prototype area (Lili’s Proto Lab), the jobshop and Living Labs are initiatives that promote working together, experimenting design in an interdisciplinary setting.  

Project description

The following questions have been defined, acting as starting points for this project:  

Q1: What will be the structure of the programme. This will include a homologue  trajectory for students from different disciplines and will have a special attention to academic training. We will also address the human resources that are needed (including their training). 

Q2: How will this programme be embedded in the GSLS. For instance, it may be embedded as a track of Bio-Inspired Innovation or as a separate programme within Biosciences or Natuurwetenschappen en Bedrijf (CROHO 60710 i.e. Science and Business Management).  In addition, we will check how the programme will fit in the current Master’s landscape of the GSLS in terms of learning goals, quality assurance and other tools the GSLS will need to offer this programme.  

Q3: Which students will enroll this Master’s programme and which criteria will be used to select students from each discipline.  In addition the current admission criteria of the GSLS, we would like to develop clear criteria that will ‘select’ students who’s previous education and motivation shows that they actively seek knowledge from different disciplines to solve their curiosity or final Bsc assignment/thesis, although being educated in a discipline at the first place.  

Q4: Confirm the need of the proposed programme among Bachelor’s students. For this, we will make an analysis how it distinguishes itself from other programmemes (for instance at Geosciences), and address how to name the programme.   

These questions will be addressed during the project as laid down in Table 2.  

Table 2. Project planning

Aims

This Master’s programme will complement the research Master’s programmes that are already offered by GSLS and targets students that do not wish to perform research in a lab environment. As such, this initiative is also expected provide room for growth of the GSLS without the need of investments in extra bench capacity. In addition, it serves as an example for other area’s in life sciences that may be suitable for development of this kind of new programme format. 

Results

The outcome of this project is a concrete plan for a 2-year new academic interdisciplinary Master’s programme within the GSLS. If implemented, which we expect, the programme will provide a complementary programme within the GSLS portfolio and specifically addresses students that aim to contribute to the transition to a circular society using biological sciences as its foundation. We aim for a yearly enrolment of 30-40 students. 

The programme is expected not to cannibalize on other programmes because of its fundamental different concept. The concrete plan for the 2-year academic Master’s programme may have (some) overlap with the current Bio Inspired Innovation programme. An alternative outcome is that the Bio Inspired Innovation Master’s programme will get an academic track and a research track.