Career Prospects
On this page you will find information about possible career prospects for both academic and non-academic careers. As an Utrecht University Marine Sciences graduate you will be able to work in a highly specialised research field. You will be equipped with a complete set of skills to work in diverse positions in organisations focussing on marine processes in the public or private sectors. This Master’s programme also provides a solid basis for a PhD if your ambition is to become an independent scientific researcher.
Academic careers
A large proportion of our graduates follow their Master’s degree by pursuing a PhD in the Netherlands or elsewhere and ultimately a career in either applied or fundamental research. Fundamental research opportunities are available at universities in the Netherlands and internationally. The research may entail field, laboratory, and deskwork (such as computer modelling).
Non-academic careers
Job opportunities in the private sector may be at companies, consultancies, and other institutions focusing on protection, management, (sustainable) use of the ocean and/or of the land surrounding the ocean. Possible opportunities include:
Dutch government authorities
- Rijkswaterstaat (Public Works and Water Management)
- Ministries such as Infrastructure and Water Management
Institutes/consultancies
- The Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ)
- TNO
- Deltares
- The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL)
- The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM)
- The Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI)
- The Ocean Cleanup
- WWF
- Boskalis
- Van Oord
A few examples of professions of our alumni can be found below.
- Researcher at Deltares
- Ocean Restoration Project Officer at World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
- Environmental Engineer at Boskalis
- Advisor Climate Adaptation at Rijkswaterstaat
- Junior Consultant at TAUW
Career development
Academic and professional knowledge and skills
This Master’s programme will prepare you to analyse scientific, practical, economical, or societal problems from a geoscientific perspective. Based on your expertise you will be able to provide an explanation for the problem or to identify knowledge gaps and to formulate appropriate research questions. You will be skilled to extract and integrate information from scientific literature for analysing the problem and/or performing the research.
When research is required, you will be able to delineate the approach and methodology. You will also be trained to use specific techniques and to interpret the related results for finding answers for your questions. These techniques can include field research, laboratory experiments, computational methods and the application of geophysical, biological, or chemical procedures. Your specialisation in the Master’s programme will determine in which of these techniques you will become most skilled.
At the end of your problem analysis or the performed research, you will be able to discuss the outcome by integrating all results and evaluating them in view of the current scientific knowledge and the underlying questions. You will have learned to formulate conclusions and to translate them into solutions of the problem or into strategies for finding solutions in the future.
As solving many geoscientific problems require a multidisciplinary approach, you will also be trained to cooperate in a team and to join forces with experts from other disciplines. The Master’s programme will enable you to present the results of your analysis or research in written or oral forms of communication including scientific publications, reports, and presentations. You will learn to present your knowledge to experts and non-experts.
Career services
Orientation towards societal, business, and policy making applications
If you wish to broaden your course-choice in an applied earth sciences direction with an orientation on research fields with societal, business and policy-making applications, several options are offered within the various programmes. Apart from the regular applied courses that are part of one or more programmes (e.g. Internship, Managing Future Deltas, Quantitative Water Management), the Earth Science programme offers additional sets of applied courses that are organised around two main themes, namely Geo-Resources and Earth and Sustainability. These additional course modules are listed in this document (pdf) and can be chosen in the 15 EC free course choice. The courses listed under the Earth and Sustainability theme aim to provide a natural-science background for a wide range of topics related to sustainability. It is also possible to choose courses that are not part of the Earth Sciences curriculum in Utrecht (for example Geo-resources related courses that are offered at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam). You can bring this forward and discuss this with the programme leader. In all cases, you need approval of the Board of Examiners for your personal programme. It is strongly recommended to complete your applied-oriented course choice with an internship in a non-academic organisation or company.
UU Career Services
UU Career Services offers training related to career orientation and job application skills; examples include writing an application letter and CV and conducting a job interview. You can find more information about career support on UU Career Services for Dutch students or UU Career Services for international students.
UU Careers Day
Once a year Utrecht University organises a Careers Day. The Careers Day offers the opportunity to sign up for workshops and trainings, and to meet recruiters at the careers fair. It’s also possible to join a job application training or have your resume checked.