Study programme - Courses

You have a lot of freedom to customise your Master’s in Robotics.

Within the Master’s in Robotics, you build expertise in a specific field by choosing one of the three specialisations. In addition, you have the flexibility to customise your programme based on the specific roles and work settings that you aspire to. Are you pursuing a career in academia, a robotics-related job at a company, or starting your own business? Moreover, you can master making robots for a specific application—industry, healthcare, or society—by taking elective courses.

The choice of Pauline
“Designing a robot doesn’t involve only the technical aspect. The human touch is equally important. Take, for example, the challenge of creating a telerobot connecting people in elderly care homes with their families. How do you make the robot mimic a person's body language? This makes the virtual visits feel real.”
Specialisation in Human-Robot Interaction & Social AI
Electives:
Speech Processing
Robotics for Medical Applications
Control Systems Design for Robotics
Machine Learning in Engineering
AI for Autonomous Robots: Deep Learning and Reinforcement Learning
Natural Language Processing

The choice of Sarah
“I would like to develop a robot capable of understanding its environment. What algorithms can I design to make it respond appropriately? One of the most rewarding experiences in the Master’s involved designing a robot together with students from the other specialisations, learning to integrate software with hardware."
Combining Master’s in Interaction Technology and Master’s in Robotics, Specialisation in Algorithms & Software AI
Electives:
Data Science
Foundations of Information Retrieval
Modelling of Technical Design Processes
Human Centered Design
Natural Language Processing
Virtual Reality

The choice of Jan-Pieter
“How can I make something move out of a line of code? From placing a robotic arm on my guitar to programming electronics that control motors—I thrive on making things move. I want to design embedded robotic systems, such as a bionic arm, which combines the complexity of robotics and embedded systems.”
Combining Master’s in Embedded Systems and Master’s in Robotics, Specialisation in Algorithms & Software AI
Electives:
Embedded Systems Laboratory
Advanced Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
Modelling, Dynamics and Kinematics
Multisensory Design
Data Science
I&E Basics: Innovation Management for EIT

How to compose your Master’s

Your curriculum depends on the choices you make when you compose your Master’s. There are three steps you need to take.

Step 1: Choose a specialisation
Once you start with your Master's, you need to choose a specialisation: that way, you build expertise in a specific domain in robotics. You can discuss the most suitable option for you with one of the programme mentors. The Master’s in Robotics has three specialisations:
- Algorithms & Software AI
- Human-Robot Interaction & Social AI
- Mechatronics & Physical AI
Step 2: Choose a profile
Once you have chosen a specialisation, you can decide what the rest of your study programme will look like. You can choose a pair of courses that align with your interests and objectives.
Research profile
- If you aspire to an academic career or just want to deepen your knowledge, this is the profile for you. You will delve into research methodologies in robotics and gain the skills needed for multidisciplinary research.
Design profile
- Would you like to pursue a career as a robotics engineer in a company? This profile equips you with the necessary tools to effectively initiate and oversee the process of designing robots.
Innovation & Entrepreneurship profile
- Do you dream of starting your own company or becoming a robotics innovator? If you choose this profile, you will learn to transform a technical concept into a market-ready product.
Step 3: Choose an application area
In addition to the specialisation and profile courses, you will choose a number of electives to shape your expertise in a specific application area. Are you interested in making robots for industry, healthcare, or society? By choosing elective courses related to a certain robotics application area, you steer the direction of the research you will do in your master’s thesis project and the type of research group you will join. If you prefer, you can combine electives from different application areas.

Master’s structure

Your Master’s in Robotics is worth 120 EC. In addition to the six compulsory specialisation courses, you will take two courses from the profile you have chosen and four elective courses. In the second year, you can do an internship or take more elective courses. You will complete your Master’s by writing a master’s thesis project, which entails extensive research within one of the robotics research groups.

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.

Below is the structure of this Master’s programme.

Structure of Robotics
Year 1
Specialisation courses	30 EC	Each specialisation has its own set of six compulsory courses. Choose a specialisation and find out which.
Profile courses	10 EC	You will take two courses related to the profile you have chosen.
Elective courses	20 EC	You will take four elective courses, for example, courses from other specialisations, profiles, or related fields.
Year 2
Internship, Academic-Skills project, or elective courses	20 EC	You can do an internship to gain work experience or take more elective courses. If you are a student from a university of applied sciences (HBO in Dutch), you will do an Academic-Skills project instead of an internship.
Master’s thesis project	40 EC	You will join one of the robotics research groups and work on your master’s thesis project.
Total EC	120 EC