''Selection of students is a necessary, but highly complex puzzle. Many scientists, including myself, are very busy to create new knowledge to solve this puzzle. 

Research focus: selection and admission of students

Timon de Boer is a researcher at Utrecht University, researching selection of master (graduate) students within the faculty of geosciences. The goal of this research is to create a transparent vision on the admiddion of students. In recent years, selection of students has become a major political theme in the Netherlands. Most research, domestic and abroad, focuses on selection of bachelor (undergraduate) students in medical fields. However, selection of master students outside these medical fields is very different, as the validity of selection instrument heavily varies per individual study program.

There is currently a lack of knowledge about the predictive validity of motivation letters and resumes. Student success is also often measured in a simplistic and one-dimensional way. These are just two of the knowledge gaps Timons research aims to fill. Timon does this using innovative methodologies, such as topic modeling and bibliometric analysis