Programme | Programme structure | Spatial Engineering

We offer a challenging programme with three case studies in the first year, and an internship and a field trip in the second year.

Year 1: master's spatial engineering

In the first year of the Master’s Spatial Engineering, you will work on three case study projects to develop (in a scientific way) sustainable interventions to help solve the problem.

Phases in a case study

General project structure: a 10 week period to develop (in a scientific way) sustainable interventions to help solve the problem. Each project has these phases.

Define the project

Fact finding and objectives

Find knowledge

Choice topics (1 EC)
Tutorials
Skill learning line workshops

Find answers / solutions

Modelling
Data generation
Stakeholder views
Design interventions

Report

Discussions with specialists

Case studies

Within each case study project: group work | interaction with stakeholders | industry / consultants | international classroom | personal development dossier.

The three case study projects are formulated in a context of policy goals: resilience, sustainability and legitimacy, and increase in wickedness.

Case study 1: Climate resilient cities In this case study, you focus on urban flood management by analysing the water system of Enschede, a mid-size city in the East of the Netherlands.

Case study 2: Food and water security In this case study you will focus on the situation in the Mara River Basin in Kenya.

Case study 3: Man-induced earthquakes You will be preparing a document for a public hearing in The Hague about gas exploration induced earthquakes in Groningen.

Choice topics

Based on the problem framing you are offered core knowledge in choice topics.

Technical Engineering (TE)

Flood modelling
Hydrologicalmonitoring and statistics
systems analysis
Dynamic modelling
Structural vulnerability of the built environment
Seismic hazard above gas reservoirs (regional scale)

Spatial Information Science (SIS)

Spatial data visualization
Digital elevation models creation
Remote Sensing in general
Image classification
Spatial statistics
Vegetation mapping and monitoring
3D/Temporal visualizations in collaborative environments
Crowdsourcing and citizen science

Spatial Planning and Governance (SPG)

Climate change and social vulnerability
Integrated urban water management and governance
Markets and value chain analysis
Evidence based policy analysis
Spatial knowledge management
Rights and restrictions in the built environment

Year 2: master's spatial engineering

Before you start your Master's research, we organize an international module which includes a trip along a series of institutes and agencies in Europe, to see how they deal with wicked problems in their own countries.

After writing your own master’s thesis research proposal, you continue your academic and research phase throughout part of the second year.

The Master's Spatial Engineering ends with an internship, organized by yourself.

Academic and research phase

The MSc research is the main part of the second year (37.5 EC). Following principles of scientific research, you will choose a research topic and derive a number of research questions, design and execute a methodology to answer these and finally draw conclusions.

The research is multidisciplinary, using at least two out of the three core knowledge areas of Spatial Engineering, with a strong reflection on the implications for the third area. In some cases, the research may lead to the design of one or more interventions, that adhere to principles of sustainability and that is based on the wishes/expectations of all stakeholder groups involved.

International module

The international model will provide opportunities both for connecting theory and practice, and for experiencing the physical and social realities which are the subject matter of the Spatial Engineering programme. It includes a trip to different European countries.

Internship project

Internship projects offer you a hands-on opportunity to experience and work in your desired field. You will learn how your Master’s study applies to the real world and you can build a valuable experience that makes you a stronger candidate for jobs after graduation. You could look for internships at organizations like the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI), Nelen & Schuurmans (consulting company in the field of water management and IT), and SWECO (consulting company in the field of engineering, environmental technology and architecture).

See Programme

Programme structure

Year 1: master's spatial engineering

Phases in a case study

Case studies

Choice topics

Year 2: master's spatial engineering

Study guide