Science Education and Communication

Do you have solid knowledge when it comes to one of the sciences? Do you enjoy sharing your knowledge and would you like to deepen your insight into education and communication processes? Then the Master’s in Science Education and Communication may be for you. 

This Master’s programme offers two tracks: 

• Research and Development in Science Education and Communication; 
• Teacher Degree (in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics or Computer Science).

One track comprises 60 EC in total credits. You will take the other half of the courses jointly with other SEC students (both RD and TD).

Research and Development 

In this programme, you will gain theoretical insights and practical skills in both formal and informal educational practices. Your science discipline will be put in a broader societal perspective, and you will develop your own views on how your discipline should be relevant to secondary education and to the public at large. The internships and the research project in Science Education and Communication will support you in developing as a skilful practitioner as well as an innovator. 

This two-year programme can be your gateway to careers in fields such as: 

• educational design 
• science writing or editing
• museum education
• science education research 

Teacher Degree 

This programme effectively combines a Master’s programme in a subject and a Master’s programme to prepare you for a profession. 

This two-year Master's programme (120 EC) will train you to become a first-degree teacher in secondary education. This means that you can work in all classes of secondary education (vmbo/havo/vwo), senior secondary vocational education and adult education. This offers a broad perspective, since teaching the first year of vmbo requires different knowledge and skills than teaching the final year of vwo. 

At the same time, you will deepen your knowledge of your science discipline. During the subject didactics lectures, you will learn how to transfer that knowledge to your students. In addition, a large part of your training will consist of practice-based learning in the form of internships. You can also take the in-service variant of the programme.

Share your knowledge and views, make science and mathematics meaningful.

Programme features 

A unique feature of the Utrecht SEC programme is the integration of disciplinary knowledge with science teaching and science communication in a single research-oriented Master’s programme. The programme is flexible and allows substantial room for your own choices. 

Centre of Expertise in Science and Mathematics Education 
The programme is offered by the Graduate School of Teaching and involves a close collaboration between the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences and the Freudenthal Institute at the Faculty of Science, each contributing their own expertise. As a student in this programme, you will conduct your research project at the Faculty of Science’s Freudenthal Institute, which is a major national centre in science and mathematics education research. 

World-class university 

Choosing Utrecht University means choosing one of the best universities in the country. Several renowned international rankings place Utrecht University among the 100 best universities in the world, and in a survey among Dutch professors, it was proclaimed the best university in the Netherlands. The teaching environment at Utrecht University is international: half of the Master's programmes at Utrecht University are taught in English. The existing and former academic staff of Utrecht University include 12 Nobel Prize laureates. 

Shanghai ranking: best university in the Netherlands 
Natural Science and Mathematics at Utrecht University are in 52nd place on the Shanghai Ranking. Overall, Utrecht University is ranked as the best university in the Netherlands. 

CHE ranking: top 4 in Europe 
Due to high-quality research in mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology, Utrecht University has earned a top position within the prestigious CHE ranking. Utrecht University, ETH Zurich, Imperial College London and Cambridge University are in the top 4 of Europe's 56 top universities.