Study programme

In the first period, you will start with an intensive introduction. We will lay the groundwork for our Master’s programme here. You will be offered the possibility to get a feel for the academic and practical work in the field of youth. We will also organise workshops, in order to stimulate the development of your communication and interdisciplinary skills.

You will be guided to further develop these communication and interdisciplinary skills throughout the academic year. This will enable you to bridge important gaps between researchers from different disciplines and between research and practice. Central skills are: listening, asking questions, summarising, providing and receiving feedback, and working in a team. Equally importantly, you will be stimulated to learn more about your own scientific and personal background and how these colour your perception and the way you operate as a professional.

There are two courses:

• Youth Development in Context: an Interdisciplinary Approach
• Bridging the Gap between Science and Practice

During the programme, three ‘Deep Dive’ courses will be taught:

1. Deep Dive: Qualitative Research (block 1) 
2. Deep Dive: Systemic review (block 2)
3. Deep Dive: Quantitative Research (block 3)

By intensively working on these research methods for a relatively short period of time, you will develop hands-on skills on how to apply these methods. These skills will prepare you for the other courses in this Master’s programme and for your thesis.

In the course Youth Challenges: Engage, Research, and Act, you will specialise in a theme of your choice. You can choose one of the following themes:

• Mental Health
• Youth Culture and Lifestyle
• Social Participation and Inclusion.

The second course in this block is Deep Dive: Systemic review.

In period 3 and 4, as a final proof of scientific competence, you will complete an internship and a Master’s thesis. You can choose from two options:

1. Combining your practical internship (in an external organisation or in one of our research departments) with your thesis, using either existing (qualitative or quantitative) data from your internship organisation or newly-collected data by our research department.
2. Separating your practical internship (in an external organisation or in one of our research departments) from your thesis, using existing (qualitative or quantitative) data for your thesis via your thesis supervisor.

Block 3 also offers you the third Deep Dive: Quantitative Research.