Learning to work at and across borders

The Honours College offers you a two and a half year extracurricular programme (30 EC) consisting of a deepening and broadening part. It is a multifaceted and supportive environment to excel academically, develop practical and professional skills, and prepare you for success in interdisciplinary professional settings.

Here's a breakdown of the key elements of the programme:

Interdisciplinary nature: the programme combines a deepening part (15 EC) within your own faculty and a Broadening Part (15 EC) outside your own faculty. This interdisciplinary approach exposes you to a diverse range of perspectives and subjects, enriching your educational experience.

Deepening part: the deepening part involves faculty-specific training with your fellow faculty honours students. Each faculty designs its own layout. This tailored approach allows you to delve even more into subject matters relevant to your own faculty. You can find more information about the content and set-up of the deepening Honours College part of your faculty on Ocasys.

Broadening part: The broadening part encourages you to explore societal and scientific challenges from different, other than your own, disciplinary angles and perspectives. Working with students from various faculties enhances the richness of your learning experience. It focuses on interdisciplinary teamwork and finding your role herein, which aligns with the increasingly interconnected nature of real-world challenges. You will experience the importance of the professional skills needed to work effectively in a diverse, interdisciplinary team. You will be encouraged to integrate perspectives from various disciplines which will enhance your comprehensive understanding of complex issues, your creative problem-solving abilities and your broad view.

Professional life skills: modules about professional life skills related to interdisciplinary team work are offered to you and your fellow students. This includes skills such as communication, effective teamwork, adaptability, creativity and problem-solving—attributes. Learning to provide and receive feedback by your peers (fellow students) in interdisciplinary challenges is part of the programme as well.

Hands-on classes and activities: the incorporation of hands-on classes and activities indicate a practical and applied approach to learning and hopefully enhances your understanding and also helps you develop useful skills that are relevant to your academic and professional pursuits. This also calls for other forms of testing than the usual written exams.

Small group setting: an intimate learning environment, capped at 25 students to promote meaningful interaction among participants. This setting is conducive to fostering close relationships, collaborative learning, and active engagement in discussion and hands-on activities. Students, along with the lecturer, are responsible for making the module valuable to all.

Test bed: this programme is also a useful testing ground for educational innovations within the university. It encourages both lecturers and students to push the boundaries and provides the freedom to work together to co-develop courses, work on research, and multidisciplinary projects. By doing so, this creates a unique platform for lecturers to experiment with teaching approaches and topics and use the experience and disciplinary knowledge the Honours students bring to class. In these multidisciplinary challenges the group process is as equal or even more important than the suggested approach/end product. To get insight in the group process, peer feedback/ assessment is essential to clarify the contribution, role and growth of the individual student. These approaches enable both lecturers and students to learn with and from each other, by the sharing and deepening of knowledge and also thinking outside of the box.

Evening sessions: classes run in the evenings (Monday through Thursday), allowing you to pursue it alongside your regular Bachelor's degree programme. Please note: the weeks with honours classes may not be the same as class and exam weeks in your faculty.

No extra tuition fees: this inclusivity encourages a diverse group of talented individuals to apply.