Curriculum | Master's structure | Public Administration

The Master’s in Public Administration consists of one year, in which you will collect a total of 60 EC. In addition to five compulsory courses, you will follow two elective courses that relate to your chosen profile. You can also make a cross-over by choosing elective courses of two different profiles. Eventually, you will end your Master’s by writing your master’s thesis.

European Credit Transfer System

Student workload at Dutch universities is expressed in EC, also named ECTS (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System), which is widely used throughout the European Union. In the Netherlands, each credit represents 28 hours of work.

STRUCTURE

The Master’s in PA consists of five mandatory courses. In addition, you have a great deal of freedom to structure your Master’s with elective courses that interest you. You can choose two elective courses related to the profile of your interest. Mixing courses of two different profiles is also an option. It is all up to you! In one year, you will collect a total of 60 EC.

Curriculum
Compulsory courses	25 EC	Crisis Management in Technological Domains Policy-making for Complex Systems Academic Research Public Governance and Policy Networks Public Governance and Legitimacy
Profile course You get to choose two elective courses in any combination of the profiles below.	10 EC
Healthcare		Public Health Innovations Public Health: Dynamics in Policy, Law & Regulation
Safety & Security		Public and Private Policing Public Safety and Public Safety Governance
Sustainability		Economic Methods Sustainability Assessment Environmental Policy Water Footprint Assessment Urban Resilience in a Changing Climate
Public Governance of Science & Technology		Policy Analysis in Public and Technological Domains Deliberative Governance of Knowledge and Innovation
Policy, Governance and Communication		Public Affairs Work and Technology Social Implications of the Internet Reputation Management
Nederlands Openbaar Bestuur (Dutch-taught)		Lokale en regionale samenlevingskracht Institutionele kaders: ontwerpprincipes van lokaal en regionaal bestuur
Master’s thesis	25 EC	You will spend the last semester of your Master’s on graduating by writing your master’s thesis.
Total EC	60 EC

MASTER’S THESIS

The last semester is mainly dedicated to your master’s thesis. The choice of your graduation subject is largely up to you and the profile you have chosen. Some students tap into ongoing research at UT, but there is plenty of room to propose an idea of your own as well. You can also choose to conduct your thesis at an external organisation or institute, as many students do. The core course in Academic Research helps you prepare for your master’s thesis project.

The choice of Carlotte

Before I started the Master’s in Public Administration at UT, I had already done a Master’s in Public Policy and Human Development at the United Nations University. This programme had a strong focus on an international, European context. I thought following a second programme that focuses on the Dutch government would be of added value, and this Master’s offered exactly that! I chose the Dutch-taught profile Nederlands Openbaar Bestuur, with elective courses in:

Lokale en regionale samenlevingskracht
Institutionele kaders: ontwerpprincipes van lokaal en regionaal bestuur

The choice of Romy

What I like about the field of Public Administration is the diversity of challenges you can come across. I wanted to keep my Master’s broad and still explore different domains and topics, so I chose the profile Safety & Security and follow up with a thesis in the healthcare domain, in which I focused on flexible deployment of healthcare workers. l I followed elective courses in:

Public and Private Policing
Public Safety

The choice of David

During my Bachelor’s in Media & Entertainment Management (now Creative Business) and also while working on my own business as an entrepreneur, I became interested in corporate responsibility and strategy. I’ve realised that I wanted to think about more than just profit maximisation and business goals. I chose this Master’s to take a deeper look into how an organisation relates to society and what it can do to tackle societal challenges and operate responsibly. I chose the profile Public Affairs with elective courses in:

Work and Technology
Social Implications of the Internet