Extra opportunities

First-year Master’s students of the Utrecht University Graduate School of Natural Sciences (GSNS) or Life Sciences (GSLS) can enroll in the QBio honours programme while continuing their Master’s programme.

U/Select (Utrecht Selective Life Sciences Extracurricular Track) is the Life Sciences Honours Programme for selected students of the Graduate School of Life Sciences. It is a two-year extracurricular programme for excellent student who seek to broaden their horizon and who want to get more out of their Master’s programme.

The goals of U/Select are:

• to broaden and deepen your study programme in extra and special learning experiences;
• to be part of a community of excellent students in life sciences;
• to be able to write a research proposal and execute this during your minor research abroad;
• to have a better start position for the next step in your (study) career;
• to build your network beyond your own Master’s programme.

Today’s global and local challenges are becoming more complex, often feeding into more broad and dynamic collaborations. The G.H.I.S programme is designed for open-minded students who want to develop interdisciplinary research skills that help combat these complicated challenges.

During a series of small-scale seminars led by leading UU researchers, GHIS facilitates the joint exploration of diverse perspectives in real-life case studies.  You follow one seminar per study period and conclude the year with an interdisciplinary group project. 

GHIS is offered in English and is available to all UU Master’s students.

The Young Innovators programme is about making a change towards regenerativity. A regenerative society affirms life, and cares for the earth and its diverse communities. The programme brings together reflexive personal leadership with community-based changemaking, giving you useful knowledge and tools towards making caring changes to the world.

The programme offers practical workshops on topics such as social innovation, reflexive learning, dialogue and change-making, and decolonisation. Based on creative and action-oriented research in diverse groups of international students, Young Innovators works with outside communities on real issues to achieve change.

Young Innovators is offered in English and is available to all UU Master’s students.

In the  Leadership programme you discover what kind of leader you are or want to be. You apply knowledge from different disciplines to real leadership dilemmas and get a better understanding of what it means to be a leader in a globalising world. You follow workshops (i.a. public speaking skills, conflict management) taught by experts ranging from UU professors and external lecturers.

During the interactive and intimate College Tours you can engage with leaders from different domains in society. You finish the year by working with a leader as part of the Leader to Shadow component. 

The Leadership Programme is primarily offered in English. However, some elements can be offered in Dutch for students who prefer it. The leadership programme is available to all UU Master’s students.

As a participant of UniCity you’ll join a continuous urban research project in which students form a close-knit research group with a high degree of autonomy. Together you will research what goes on in Utrecht in all its diversity and dynamism by observing social activities, spatial surroundings, and the ecology of the city.

As a collective of students, residents, and researchers, you’ll embark on a journey to explore the complex relationships within the city, bridge disciplines and societal perspectives, and create products that make academic insights accessible to wider audiences.

UniCity is offered in Dutch and is available to all UU Master’s students.