Life Sciences Academy
Introducing Life Sciences, Navigation Towards Personal Excellence, and Life Sciences Seminars
Faculty:
Kirsten Koymans, Pauline Krijgsheld, Spiros Pachis, Rianne Bouwmeester, Gönül Dilaver.
Contact us at
lsa@umcutrecht.nl
Course description
Introducing Life Sciences (ILS) is a mandatory introduction for all Master’s students of the GSLS at the start of the academic year. Three workshops of Navigation Towards Personal Excellence offer students a framework to make the right choices for their career path and to properly position themselves in the labour market. Furthermore, each academic year the GSLS offers 10 Life Sciences Seminars within the broad theme of Life Sciences and the soft skills needed within this field. Students follow 7 of these seminars during the course of their programme. The course is 1.5 credits in total.
The course is divided into three parts:
Part A - Introducing Life Sciences:
Introducing Life Sciences (ILS) takes place in the first week of the academic year, and covers all aspects of academic education, including scientific integrity, career development, and valorisation & industry. During this week there will also be time to get to know each other and the schools staff, as well as where to find certain important documents.
The one week ILS course of September 2020 will be from
Monday 31st of August - Friday 4th of September 2020*. This year the programme will take place online, with an occasional face-to-face event. The live-long-learning platform will be used for the online components and registration and completion of the assessments will be kept through this platform as well.
* For students who started in February 2020, please note that participating in the ILS course is mandatory from Tuesday 1st of September - 4th of September 2020.
Part B - Navigation Towards Personal Excellence (NTPE):
NTPE expands on the information about profiles, valorisation, and experiences of alumni during ILS with 3 workshops and reflection days within your own Master’s programme:
1. Study Crafting (year 1)
2. Envisioning your future (year 1)
3. Off you go! (year 2)
The first workshop Study crafting focuses on the choices within the first year (both specific study components as well as choices for your personal development).
The second workshop Envisioning your future will take place at the end of year 1. In this workshop the focus is on choices in the second year, and aims to raise awareness for the demands of the job market. In this workshop alumni of your own program are invited to share their experiences with you.
The third and final workshop Off you go in the 2
nd year of your Master’s, covers the demands of your future employers and gives you an insight in the job application process. You will discuss these items through a webinar, so you can join your community from where ever you will be in the world.
Attendance will be monitored by the programme coordinator during every workshop.
Part C - Life Science Seminars:
The Life Sciences Seminars are organized monthly by the GSLS and its Master's programmes. Every academic year a total of 10 seminars will be offered by the GSLS. A number of 5 seminars are given by well-known, international scientists who present their state of the art research on topics covering the full range life sciences. During the seminar the student is given a comprehensive overview of the activities in the field of Life Sciences thus enabling students to position their own research in this broad field. The other 5 seminars cover broader topics (interdisciplinary themes) and soft-skills needed for professional development.
Each Master’s student has to attend at least 7 seminars during their Master’s programme, of which a minimum of 5 LS seminars oranized by the GSLS. Two seminars can be followed elsewhere, subject to the approval of the programme coordinator**. A track list of LS seminars that were followed should be admitted together with one final self-reflection. The student is required to write the self-reflection
individually (maximum 3 A4) about the knowledge and skills he/she obtained during the seminar series . This self-reflection will be evaluated by the programme coordinator (pass/fail).
** One or two seminars that were followed elsewhere have to be approved by the programme coordinator in advance.
Examination:
To pass the course the student must fulfill all thee parts of the Life Sciences Academy:
Part A. Participate during ILS (attendance and participation required).
Part B. Participate in the NTPE workshop (attendance required).
Part C. Attend 7 LS Seminars and make a self-reflection based on the seminars followed.