The two-year Research Master's in Educational Sciences: Parenting, Education and Child Development trains students to conceive, design, conduct and report high-quality for research on the nature, development and explanation of children's attributes. While research topics vary, they share the bio-ecological model as a common theoretical framework. In this model, child attributes (biology, cognition, emotions, behaviour) are interrelated as well as affected by proximal and distal processes (such as in family, daycare, school, culture, society). Students conduct two research projects in order to learn to apply the knowledge and technical skills that they will acquire through the programme's disciplinary courses and courses in methods and statistics. After completion of the programme, students are qualified to apply for research positions in fundamental or applied research.

Studying Educational Sciences at the University of Amsterdam

The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences at the University of Amsterdam has a strong tradition in empirical research and in connecting teaching with the practice of research. In learning to develop their research skills at the Department of Child Development and Education, students will benefit from the department's extensive experimental research facilities, among which video-monitored observation rooms, a baby lab and an ERP research lab equipped with facilities for taking electro-physiological measurements.

Students may also participate in observational and interventional research in families or classrooms, in large-scale skills-testing research on children and adults, or in conducting educational surveys using questionnaires for different target groups.

Master's Information event

Below you can find a presentation and a video impression made at our Master's Information event.