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master s programme in natural sciences msc faculty of science international master s programme groundbreaking study programme new insights emerge where disciplines come together and in order to understand how things work it is important to study them from all angles this is the approach we choose in teaching natural sciences as a master s student you will find yourself at the interface of biology chemistry and physics as you work to discover the secrets behind man molecules and materials top research the programme is closely linked to two internationally recognized nijmegen institutes the institute for molecules and materials imm and the donders institute for brain cognition and behaviour both have state-of the-art equipment capable of identifying the characteristics of molecules materials and the human brain examples are the magnets in the high field magnet laboratory hfml the nmr and mri facilities the free electron laser in 2012 and the nanolab little wonder that both institutes attract top researchers from all over the world as a master s student you will find yourself in a dynamic research environment working alongside scientists who are leaders in their fields great degree of freedom the programme offers you considerable freedom to follow your own interests at the start of the programme you will select one study area from the following three options physical chemistry biophysics or chemical biology within this area you can choose from several specializations ranging from material science to neural networks and from neurobiology to organic chemistry and nanoscience you will complete your main internship within one of the nijmegen research groups here you will have a personal supervisor with whom you determine your subjects and research programme the internship in your minor subject will be with another research group you can also choose to spend part of your internship period abroad here you can profit from our extensive international network to enrol in this master s programme you will need to have a thorough background in at least two of the disciplines the programme the two-year programme is structured as follows · majorinternshipincluding12ectheory60ec · minorinternshipincluding6ectheory30ec · electivecoursesandphilosophy30ec once you ve graduated you ll be awarded a master of science degree career prospects most of our graduates continue in a phd programme either in nijmegen or elsewhere our institutes have vacancies every year and graduates also find employment as researchers and managers in industry the commercial sector and research organizations.

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i chose the bachelor s programme in natural sciences because it s a multidisciplinary study programme with lots of different disciplines biology physics and chemistry says master s student arno janssen i am fascinated by the brain it s our most important organ but we know so little about it that s why i chose the biophysics track and later the biophysics track of the research master s programme studying subjects like artificial networks and cognitive neuroscience phd student josien de bie first did a degree in biology and behavioural physiology in groningen the two work together on josien s phd project at the department of medical biophysics where they investigate the decision-making process involved in visual search arno s contribution in setting up the experiment has been invaluable says josien he did much of the programming and thanks to his help the experiment was up and running within a few months when we publish the results he will definitely be mentioned as one of the authors my contribution to the project comes in the form of investigating what `search entails arno explains we use something that resembles a contact lens with an embedded copper coil which is placed over the subject s eyeball we place the subject in a low magnetic field and project pictures the subject is then asked to find a specific detail in those pictures we can trace every aspect of the eye movement because of the copper coil the position the speed the distance etc the results are shown on a computer screen using matlab arno wants to continue in the field of neuroscience i would really like to do a phd at the university s donders institute for brain cognition and behaviour he wants to stay in nijmegen because of its top-notch facilities the set up of our experiment is very cool we designed it ourselves and we can make any modifications we need it is quite unique to have a magnetic field here in the basement the room next door to us has the department s very own vestibular chair which is used to measure people s spatial orientation the donders institute has eeg and mri equipment ­ anything you can think of is available for researchers phds and students arno concludes by stressing the importance of research for master s students whether you want to go into communication pursue a future in education or become a manager everyone should know about science and you can only really learn about it through first-hand experience arno janssen master s student in natural sciences josien de bie phd student in medical biophysics admission requirements · theequivalentofadutchbachelor sdegreeinphysics chemistry or biology with a solid basis in one of the two other disciplines as evaluated by the examining board · fluencyinbothwrittenandspokenenglish.non-native speakers of english require a toefl score of at least 550 orielts6.0 admission to the programme takes place once a year in september registration for students from outside eea countries closes on 1 march and for those from within the eea on 1 may more information faculty of science international office e io@science.ru.nl i www.internationalmasters.eu www.internationalmasters.eu publication date september 2010

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