Research in Public Administration and Organisational Science

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  Lecturers and supervisors from 4 universities

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  2-year research master programme

Do you want to investigate today's big societal challenges like digitalization, sustainability, or inequality? And want to help solve them by applying in-depth theoretical knowledge of public governance and organisations, while using cutting edge qualitative and quantitative social science methods and approaches? Then this research master programme might be just the choice for you!

Climate change, porous borders, the knowledge economy, infectious diseases, Artifical Intelligence. The world is changing at an unprecedented pace, throwing up tantalising opportunities as well as wicked problems for how we govern our societies. As a student in this Master's programme, you will  study in-depth societal problems and critical challenges faced by organisations involved in public value creation, ranging from governments and municipalities, to public agencies and non-profit organisations. You will develop an understanding of what is required to make policies and organisations work. A unique feature of this programme is its broad theoretical approach combining the macro-level of societal problems with the meso-level of public organisations, and the micro-level of the actors in these organisations (e.g., politicians and public servants).

More specifically, our two-year Master’s programme offers an ideal environment for your studies by offering:

• classic and contemporary theory and research on public policy and governance, leadership and organisation, societal transformations;
• robust training in philosophy of science, research design, and a variety of qualitative and quantitative social science methods and approaches;
• ability to conduct research, both individually as well as in a team;
• small-scale courses, tailor-made individual tutorials from leading scholars, engaged teachers and supervisors from four universities;
• much room to cater the programme to your specific interests, both substantively and/or methodologically;
• excellent preparation for a job in academic or applied research (e.g., at ministries, think tanks, in consultancy, universities).

Watch the video to see programme director professor Barbara Vis together with a student and alumna elaborate about this research programme.

Programme offered by four universities

This Master's degree is a programme with a unique collaboration of four Dutch universities: Utrecht University as coordinating university, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Tilburg University and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. The participating institutes belong to the best Public Administration and Organisational Science research groups in the world. In their teaching and supervision in this programme, their multidisciplinary faculties will offer state-of-the-art insights about public sector governance, management and organisation.

After graduation

You will gain the theoretical knowledge and methodological skills to analyse and provide advise on organisational and governance processes, such as strategic management, policy design and delivery, citizen engagement, and public accountability. Your studies will prepare you for a career in research, consultancy, government or the public sector at large. Your key selling points will be your broad analytical and methodological skills (qualitative as well as quantitative), your firm grounding in different bodies of public administration and organisational science theory and research, your writing and presentation skills, and your hands-on experience with designing and conducting research projects.