Science, Society and Communication Studypath

Once students have successfully completed the SSC Studypath, they can build-in a societal or science communication component in their graduation research project or thesis. 

* Please note that for this course, the course coordinator may ask AI students to do additional background reading, since the course has several entry requirements that AI students have to work around.

The Science, Society and Communication Studypath for Master students Biomedical Technology and Physics can be accomplished if students adopt three of the following courses in their programme. Once students have successfully completed three SSC courses, it is possible to do a graduation research project on a societal or science communication related topic.

Once students have successfully completed the SSC Studypath, they can build-in a societal or science communication component in their graduation research project or thesis. 

The courses are part of the ‘constrained choice societal perspectives’ (XM_CS_B6).

The Science, Society and Communication Studypath for Master students Drug Discovery Sciences can be accomplished if students adopt three of the following courses in their programme. For this programme, a graduation research project on a societal or science communication related topic is not available (yet).

The Science, Society and Communication Studypath for Master students Biomedical Sciences can be accomplished by choosing the specialization Science Communication, or Science in Society in their programme. As part of this specialization, it is possible to do a graduation research project on a science communication, policy, or entrepreneurship related topic.

Many SSC Studypath courses are integrated in the MPA core programme already. Students from the Master programme MPA with an interest in science communication can choose the specialization ‘Health & Life Sciences Based Communication’. As part of this specialization, it is possible to do a science communication research internship (in year 1 and year 2) and a ‘Reflective Practice Placement’ internship (in year 2). 

Are you interested in science communication, but still in your Bachelors? Then Athena Institute offers a few options for you as well:

• The Minor Communicatie over Gezondheid (in Dutch) between P1 (September-October) and P3 (January) each year.  
• The Science Communication for Researchers Course (AB_470185) in P5 (April-May) each year. 

* Courses with entrance requirements. In case these are chosen as SSC Studypath elective, additional reading prior to participation may be needed. 

The Studypath Science, Society and Communication supports Master students from the Faculty of Science to develop A Broader Mind and gives further shape to the VU Strategy 2026-2030 key values ‘openness’, ‘personal’ and ‘responsible’ for the Master programmes in the Faculty of Science.

If students follow three SSC courses, and thus complete the SSC Studypath, they will acquire:

• Communication and collaboration skills that enable them to understand the perspectives rooted in different disciplinary and socio-cultural backgrounds, distill new knowledge from those various perspectives, and integrate that knowledge in scientific thinking and practice.
• Reflection skills to reflect on and act in accordance with the (desired) role of science in society, and the role of the student, as academic professional-to-be, in society.
• Synthese connections between (research in) their own discipline and current societal issues such as climate change, emergence of AI, human rights, the power of technological innovations, the impact of policy, et cetera.  

The SSC Studypath helps Science Master programmes to strengthen their impact on societal and science communication learning objectives. Most SSC Studypath courses are embedded in the elective space or constrained choice course list of the Master programmes that participate. 

Would you be interested to build-in the SSC Studypath in your programme as well? Please feel free to contact coordinator Marjoleine van der Meij via m.g.vander.meij@vu.nl. 

What specific skills and/or insights did you gain from this course?
As a biomedical science student, I was used to thinking in black-and-white terms. This course taught me to embrace ambiguity and multiple perspectives. I developed skills in more conscious science communication, including delivering a TED-style talk and conducting interviews. It also provided valuable insight into what the field of science communication truly entails.

How did this course influence your perspective on the relationship between science, technology and society?
This course showed me that science, technology, and society are socially constructed and deeply intertwined. Through its practical focus and history of science communication, I learned what works in communicating science effectively. Most importantly, I realized that society shapes technology, but technology also shapes society in return. Scientific knowledge and its communication play a vital role in this relationship.

What was your experience working together with students from different disciplines?
Working with students from different disciplines allowed me to experience firsthand what it is like to navigate multiple perspectives. It pushed me outside my (biomedical) comfort zone and gave me a glimpse of the “real world,” where different forms of expertise come together. I learned how valuable it is to integrate these perspectives and also gained confidence in my own disciplinary expertise.|

What would you say to someone considering following the SSC Studypath?
This study path opened my eyes and made me fall in love with the field of science communication. It has been the starting point for many new opportunities: I connected with science communicators, did an internship in a European-level project, and helped organize the national student conference on science communication. It strengthened my confidence in my own expertise and showed me how to use it to create real societal impact.

Philine van der Aar
Master Biomedical Sciences – Cell Biology and Advanced Microscopy

What specific skills and/or insights did you gain from this course?
For the first time in a science-related course, I really had to ask myself whether science and technology are good, bad, neutral, or even separable from society. This broadened my view on science and technology and gave me a new lens to look at research. Writing essays was not something I had done often, so practising how to explain theory while incorporating my own world views and values was a great skill to learn. The focus on application encouraged me to deeply understand the theories.

How did this course influence your perspective on the relationship between science, technology and society?
It showed me that technology is deeply connected to people and society. There are various relationships we have with specific technologies, which shape how we interpret the world. For example, something as simple as the colour red on a thermostat can shape meaning, while technologies like ultrasounds can influence how people see situations and make decisions.

What was your experience working together with students from different disciplines?
In my working group, most people were from the same Master’s programme. The only difference was that I was also taking another course, Science Communication, which sometimes overlapped with this course. Because of that, I was able to recognise certain theories.

What would you say to someone considering following the SSC Studypath?
I’d really recommend the SSC Studypath if you want to look beyond just the “hard” side of science. It helps you see science in a broader way and understand better how it connects to society. It also made me realise that working with science can mean a lot more than just doing quantitative research. Working with people in relation to science, such as in a science museum or as a science journalist, is also very valuable.

Talía Smits
Master Management Policy Analysis and Entrepreneurship in the Health & Life Sciences (MPA)

What specific skills and/or insights did you gain from this course?
This course really changed how I look at research. Coming from a lab background, I was used to clear answers. Here, I learned to approach problems from a human perspective, where many stakeholders are involved and solutions are less straightforward.

How did this course influence your perspective on the relationship between science, technology and society?
It made me realize how closely science is connected to society. You cannot look at a problem in isolation, as human behavior and context play a major role in shaping both the problem and the solution.

What was your experience working together with students from different disciplines?
Even though our perspectives were often similar, it still pushed me to collaborate with people I didn’t know and approach problems together. My experience was somewhat mixed but still valuable. In RMCP, I worked with students from different science backgrounds, which helped me improve collaboration and communication with unfamiliar people. In other courses, there was less interaction. Overall, it showed me how important it is to adapt when working with others, even when perspectives are quite similar.

What would you say to someone considering following the SSC Studypath?
If, like me, you mainly have a quantitative or lab-based background, I would recommend this course and the SSC Studypath. It gives you a broader perspective on research and helps you better understand the human side of complex problems you may encounter in your future career. For me, it added a human and societal dimension to research, while also introducing the business and financial side of life sciences. It helped me understand my future goals and how science connects to real-world impact.

Ruurd Hondema
Master Drug Discovery Sciences – Molecular Toxicology

What specific skills and/or insights did you gain from this course?
During the AGP course, I was introduced to several new approaches to conducting research. Coming from a strongly natural science-oriented background, I initially found it challenging to understand how qualitative data could meaningfully support research findings. The course helped me develop a clearer understanding of this process, particularly in designing and conducting purposeful interviews and interpreting qualitative insights in a structured way.

How did this course influence your perspective on the relationship between science, technology and society?
This course strengthened my ability to connect quantitative data, such as field measurements, to the lived experiences, concerns, and health of the communities involved. It highlighted that people hold valuable perspectives and local knowledge about environmental and societal processes. As scientists, we should actively work to bridge this gap and integrate such knowledge into our analyses and publications.

What was your experience working together with students from different disciplines?
I really appreciated the opportunity to collaborate with students from various disciplines, each bringing different perspectives to the same topic. It created a space where we could exchange ideas, challenge each other’s assumptions, and sometimes arrive at surprisingly innovative approaches to research questions. It was also refreshing to work with people who were not as natural science-minded as I am, which allowed me to gain a much deeper appreciation for qualitative research.

What would you say to someone considering following the SSC Studypath?I would encourage them to keep an open mind throughout the process. Personally, I initially found the path very health‑focused, which made it harder to see its relevance for the type of researcher I aim to become. However, if you stay engaged and actively relate the skills you learn to your own field, it becomes clear how valuable and applicable these new perspectives and methods can be.

Dhaishendra Servania
Master Biological Sciences – Freshwater and Marine Biology

What specific skills and/or insights did you gain from this course?
This course is one of the first times I really understood how difficult it can be to tell a scientific story in non-scientific language. Science Journalism & Exhibition Design gives an insight in how to effectively use creativity and communication tactics for scientific storytelling, a skill many researchers still lack. Moreover, the course lets you experiment with different forms of science communication yourself and reflect on what a good storytelling entails in these different formats.

How did this course influence your perspective on the relationship between science, technology and society?
In this course, I started thinking about the balance between telling a compelling story and staying scientifically accurate. How far can you popularize scientific findings to make your statements? And how much can you go into the nuances of a specific discovery before the story becomes a bore for your audience? Specifically, it taught me how important it is to have the skill to communicate science accurately, clearly and most of all: engaging.

What was your experience working together with students from different disciplines?
Different disciplines bring new perspectives. Working with people from widely different tracks livens the discussions about what science is and how to convey it. You learn from each other's expertise and dive into topics that might not be your own. This can be challenging but it puts you precisely in the shoes of the audience you’re doing the project for, so it’s a real learning-by-doing endeavour.\

What would you say to someone considering following the SSC Studypath?
If you’re interested in science in the broadest sense, this study path is bound to transform you. It pulls you out of your comfort zone to reflect together on what science is, what it should be and how we talk about science within and outside the academic realm. With any luck, you’ll find the science communication form that suits you most. I guarantee that knowing how to speak clearly about complex (scientific) topics gives you an immediate advantage, both within and beyond academia.

Jill den Boer
Master Biological Sciences – Ecology and Evolution

What specific skills and/or insights did you gain from this course?
During this course, I learned a lot of theory highly relevant to practice. Meaning that you will learn important theoretical concepts and frameworks which, once you start entering the work field, will keep resonating with you. This course teaches you, for instance, how organizations function, how people’s motivation can be understood, and what leadership means. These insights become very valuable once you start working within organizations throughout your career

What was your experience working together with students from different disciplines?
During this course, there is one bigger group assignment in which you step into the role of consultant for a fictional hospital. The group consists of students with different backgrounds and visions. This created a constructive workspace in which to we built upon our different perspectives.

What would you say to someone considering following the SSC Studypath?
This Studypath is for students who do not like to stick to the boundaries of their own discipline but want to transcend to a transdisciplinary approach in which they are educated to do societally relevant work. 

Lars Ruijsch
Master Biological Sciences – Freshwater and Marine Biology

What specific skills and/or insights did you gain from this course?|
This course really made me think about what I want for my future and to gain a clearer sense of direction. I also gained my first real insight into the financial side of my personal life and the life sciences, which I hadn’t explored before.

How did this course influence your perspective on the relationship between science, technology and society?
It broadened my view of the opportunities within health and life sciences beyond academia. I became more aware of how different roles, including business and strategy, are essential in translating scientific discoveries into real-world applications that benefit society.

What was your experience working together with students from different disciplines?
The intellectual property assignment was interesting to work on, especially because most of us had little prior experience. This made it a shared learning process. For the rest of the course, collaboration was limited, but this assignment still gave insight into working together on unfamiliar topics.

What would you say to someone considering following the SSC Studypath?
I would definitely recommend this course if you are still exploring your future path. It helped me broaden my perspective on the field and even sparked an interest in the financial and strategic side of life sciences, which I had not considered before.

Ruurd Hondema
Master Drug Discovery Sciences – Molecular Toxicology

What specific skills and/or insights did you gain from this course?
During the course I gained more knowledge on human rights in the context of health and globalization. We learned how to apply human right concepts in different real-world situations and how to assess dilemmas where different rights conflict with each other. The course covered a variety of topics ranging from children’s rights to armed conflict and reproductive rights. During the course we practiced a lot with essay writing and had some interesting guest lectures.

What was your experience working together with students from different disciplines?
Personally, I enjoyed following the course Health, Globalization and Human Rights. During this course we worked together with students from different backgrounds, which was interesting as everyone contributed different insights based on their backgrounds. This course made me more aware of the value of human rights, and I learned how to assess complex human right dilemmas from multiple perspectives.

What would you say to someone considering following the SSC Studypath?
I would recommend the course if you want to improve your writing skills and are interested in learning how to apply human right concepts to health-related scenarios, as well as developing a rights-based perspective on globalization and innovation.

Sofie van der Loo
Master Management Policy Analysis and Entrepreneurship in the Health & Life Sciences (MPA)

What specific skills and/or insights did you gain from this course?
During PPP, I worked alongside other students to develop a workshop on MBO students’ experiences during the corona pandemic. We also had workgroups on selected texts about policy and democracy, including the debates around them. I enjoyed creating the workshop, expanded my debate skills, and loved putting them into practice. The insights from both the workshops and texts are still useful in my current internship with co-creation workshops.

How did this course influence your perspective on the relationship between science, technology and society?
One key insight that I still think about a lot is the nature of democracy and the idea that we should have more democracy instead of less democracy. It also highlighted how technology itself is dependent on the structure of government and the opinion of the public for both funding and implementation as well as acceptance. I have come to realise, during this course and others, that I like to be in the mix of science, technology and society more that I believed in the past.

What was your experience working together with students from different disciplines?
I have worked with a variety of students in the past and have appreciated their different insights. My group was motivated and lovely to be with. Discussion happened frequently and respectfully. It is also interesting to put people from different backgrounds into a debate as the arguments raised often stem from their experiences and knowledge they acquired during their coursework and life. Overall, I would say that it is always a highlight to allow for a variety of students to come together.

What would you say to someone considering following the SSC Studypath?
I would say that PPP has been a highlight, next to AGP, of the SIS major. I have come to love policy discussion and was sad when the course ended. I would greatly recommend PPP for its insight as well as its ability to expand the lessons learned during AGP and RMCP. I don’t know what the new major will look like, but I would be distraught by the removal of an essential course like PPP. It greatly enhanced my knowledge, and combined with practical insight, helped me develop myself greatly.

Yarnick Zoetekouw
Master Biomedical Sciences – Molecular Neurosciences

What specific skills and/or insights did you gain from this course?
Ethics and Science in Dialogue taught me how to communicate science in a practical way. This course really lets you practice the facilitation skills that you’ve learned throughout the course through workshops, by implementing them in a final dialogue evening with real participants. I realized that multiple truths can exist simultaneously among participants, and that a dialogue may be necessary to understand which underlying values and ethics drive people to believe in what they believe.

How did this course influence your perspective on the relationship between science, technology and society?
As this course was very practical, it allowed me to get out of the “academic bubble”. I learned that the relationship between science and society can be very fragile, and that trust in science can oftentimes be delicate, especially when scientific topics are politicized. Thus, a stronger relationship of mutual trust must be fostered between science and society. Academics should engage more in science communication, especially there is a lot of misinformation about their topic of research.

What was your experience working together with students from different disciplines?
Working together with students from different disciplines allowed for more creativity in the group project. Combining different disciplines and interests was very fun. People came up with creative ideas and because everyone had a different background. We had to work with peers that were not necessarily from our own discipline, making you already practice your science communication skills even before you facilitate the dialogue evening session!

What would you say to someone considering following the SSC Studypath?
I would definitely recommend it. You learn a lot of practical skills and insights that are not only useful for a future career in science communication, but also for everyday life and other fields. For as long as you will work in a field related to science, you’ll be science communicating, even if that is not your primary role.

Julian Putter
Master Biomedical Sciences – Cell Biology and Advanced Microscopy

What specific skills and/or insights did you gain from this course?
As a student, I followed the course Epidemiology. I liked it as it aligned well with my biomedical background and was quite practical with few group assignments. During the course, you learn more about the foundations of epidemiology, specifically studying diseases on population level. We explored epidemiological study designs and discussed key concepts such as incidence, prevalence, bias, and effect modification.

What was your experience working together with students from different disciplines?
I appreciated that this course was a bit more natural science-focused. Epidemiology is a field in which science, technology and society intersect since epidemiological research informs policy.

What would you say to someone considering following the SSC Studypath?
I would recommend the course if you want to learn more on the core concepts of epidemiology and want to refresh some of your knowledge on basic statistics. If you already have a background in statistics, this course might be easier for you whereas if you don’t have any prior knowledge on statistics, it could be more challenging.

Sofie van der Loo
Master Management Policy Analysis and Entrepreneurship in the Health & Life Sciences (MPA)

What specific skills and/or insights did you gain from this course?
I found the Disability and Development course both interesting and valuable, especially if you’re considering a career in global health. During the course, we learned about the barriers faced by people with disabilities in a global context, particularly in low-income settings. We also learned to apply various disability-related frameworks, which helped me broaden my perspective on disability.

What would you say to someone considering following the SSC Studypath?
I would recommend the course if you are interested in global health related themes and would like to do research or work in NGOs related settings.

Sofie van der Loo
Master Management Policy Analysis and Entrepreneurship in the Health & Life Sciences (MPA)