Kelly Spanou, PhD candidate from Greece, graduated September 2023

started the programme because of a few factors such as affordability. Secondly, she wanted to choose a MSc with a decent number of courses and practical internships. Moreover, she preferred it over other universities in the NL with fewer courses because she felt they may lack a theoretical background. And lastly, this programme was recommended to her by her BSc thesis supervisor. She has a background in Psychology.

"I liked how independent we were in finding internships, and I think the majority of the 2nd year courses were useful in building a career. I think electives are important to have when shaping your academic future, so flexibility in combining courses is very good in my opinion."

Currently she is a junior animal technician/ bio-technican with tasks including husbandry and caretaking, welfare monitoring, supporting researchers with surgeries/experimental techniques, advising on welfare issues, record keeping etc. Soon she will start a PhD in animal welfare (the role of animal personality in reproducibility and animal research refinement).

Femke Waleboer, PhD candidate, graduated July 2023

wasn’t sure yet which field of Neuroscience she wanted to continue in but did know that she wanted to do Neuroscience research. Thus, this Master ticked both of these boxes since you get a lot of different courses to broaden your knowledge (and interests) and gives you the opportunity to do two research internships. Femke did her Bachelor’s at VU in Biomedical Sciences.

"Even though I had a good background for this Master I found the first course (Molecule to Mind) useful to refresh everything about cell biology/neuroscience. Apart from that I found the two research internships helpful instead of one long internship. I got two very different experiences in two very different fields which helped me make the choice of which field to continue in."

Since October 2023 Femke works as a PhD candidate at the INF department of the CNCR.

Cristina Boers Escuder, PhD candidate from Spain, graduated in July 2023

chose Neurosciences because she liked the research environment in Amsterdam and this university had a good reputation for neuroscience. Earlier she obtained her Bachelor's in Biochemistry in Universidad Autonoma de Madrid.

"I liked the two 6-month internships, which allowed me to gain real research experience in different labs. CurrentIy I am doing a PhD at the CNCR, in the lab where I did my first internship."