Testimonials

Read what current and former students say about their study choice and experiences with the programme.

Feline Benavides, alumnus

"This Master’s programme really supports interdisciplinary research"

Why did you choose this Master’s programme?

During my Bachelor’s I discovered that I am interested in Molecular Biology, but I did not have the most common background for a molecular Master’s programme. I visited almost every molecular Master’s programme in the Netherlands, and I really liked the programme and ambiance in Utrecht. This Master’s programme supports interdisciplinary research, and lets you find out which part of molecular research you really like. Above all, Utrecht had the highest number of students continuing as PhD-student after their Master’s, and that is something that I am also pursuing.

What do you like about the programme?

The best part about Molecular and Cellular Life Sciences (MCLS) is the freedom you get to explore all your options. We have many courses to choose from, within and outside of your track, and a lot of great research groups for your internships. This is also a challenge since it requires some planning skills. Luckily the MCLS community, the study advisor, and the programme coordinator are always happy to help! I currently finished all my courses and major internship, and I am now working on my second internship. I really appreciated all the help I got from everyone within the programm in achieving the internships.

What do you want to do after your studies?

For now, I want to stay in research/academia, and I gained a lot of practical skills during the Master’s that will help me start in a PhD-position somewhere. I am currently working in a crossover field between virology and neuroscience, to better understand how viruses can invade our brain and what the consequences of invasion are. This is very relevant to the pandemic of Sars-Cov2, but also to other outbreaks of Influenza A viruses.

Bob Coelingh, student

"There is a great community of students here who are always there to help each other out!"

Why did you choose this Master’s? 

As a Molecular life Sciences student in Utrecht I already knew how great this university is in its Life Sciences research as well as its education. During my Bachelor’s I’ve gotten to know this university and the research groups here and I decided there was plenty for me to still learn here. I specifically chose MCLS because want to develop myself further in the Life Sciences and do fundamental research instead of more translational research.

Did the Master’s meet your expectations so far?

What I love about this Master's are the great research groups you get to know to during your education. These groups host courses where you get to learn from the best as well as interact with them to learn as much as you can. One thing I hear some people say that they find unattractive about MCLS is that it is very fundamental and not specialized for a certain direction or application in a hospital. This is something you have to be interested in but you can also focus your own programme more in a translational direction of course. I’m doing my major internship on studying the Rabies Virus Glycoprotein.

What do you think is the relevance of this Master’s? 

Fundamental research is very important for a large number of applications, knowledge acquired at the fundamental level can be used for the development of better techniques, new therapeutics or other translational research that is built upon a better understanding of how our cells work. Right now I think I want to do a PhD after my Master’s because I really enjoy doing research at a university and would like to continue my academic journey.

Would you choose this Master’s again? 

I would definitely choose MCLS over again because the courses are of the great quality I expected and the Master projects offered are exactly what I was looking for. There also is a great community of students here who are always there to help each other out. I would recommend MCLS to anyone who is interested in fundamental research in the Life Sciences at a great university here in Utrecht.