Study programme
Programme outline
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First year |
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| Second year |
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Year 1
In the first year of the curriculum, you will learn to integrate theories (from both the theoretical and research courses) and methods (from the methodology and statistics courses) in specific assignments for the research practicals. This first year consists of three types of courses:
- General courses on theory and research in development and socialisation in childhood and adolescence
- Methodology and statistics courses
- Research practica
Year 2
The second year includes:
- Two general courses on theory and research
- One course on academic skills and methodology and statistics
- Research internship and writing a Master’s thesis
Below, you will find an overview of courses from the current academic year of this Master's. This overview is meant to give you an idea of what to expect. The course offer may change in the coming academic year.
The internship turned out to be of extreme value for my future research career, and I gained much more knowledge and confidence than I had previously imagined I could.
Elective course according to your specific interests
One of the courses in this programme is an elective course. The aim of this course is to provide useful additional expertise in selected fields of development and socialisation research, complementing what you have learned in other DaSCA courses. The elective course is chosen individually, according to the specific needs of each individual student and in close consultation with the coordinator.
The elective course offers students three general options to choose from:
- Preferably, the elective will be a course from one of the other Research Master's Programmes of the graduate school of Social and Behavioural Sciences of Utrecht University, or a course from another Research Master's at another Dutch university.
- Secondly, students can choose a course from an academic Master's within Utrecht University, or at another university. This possibility is especially interesting for those aiming at doing two Master's programmes, but it is also open to other students interested in a specific topic within social sciences. From 2015 on, academic Master's courses at UU have 5 ECTS. To meet the required number of credits, the elective course will therefore be extended by an additional assignment at Research Master's level with a size of 2,5 ECTS.
- An additional internship or traineeship within or outside Utrecht university. Details on the specific nature of the electives will be decided in close consultation with the coordinator.
Theses from recent graduates
Students in this programme have written Master's theses on a wide variety of subjects, and some have successfully gone through the process of getting their work published in academic journals. Some examples from recent years include:
- Van Bommel, D., Van der Giessen, D., Van der Graaff, J., Meeus, W., & Branje, S. (2018). Mother-adolescent conflict interaction sequences: The role of maternal internalizing problems. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 29, 1001-1018.
- Meijer, L., Finkenauer, C., Tierolf, B., Lünnemann, M., K., & Steketee, M. (2019). Trauma symptom trajectories in children exposed to intimate partner abuse. Child Abuse & Neglect, 93, 170-181.
- Snijders, V. E., Bogicevic, L., Verhoeven, M. & van Baar, A. L. (2020). Toddlers’ language development: The Gradual effect of gestational age, attention capacities, and maternal sensitivity. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17 (21), 7926.
- Verbeek, M., Van de Bongardt, D., Reitz, E., & Deković, M. (2020) A warm nest or the talk? Exploring and explaining relations between general and sexuality-specific parenting and adolescent sexual emotions. Journal of Adolescent Health, 66, 210-216.