Bachelor's Honours Programme

The two and a half year extracurricular evening programme of (30 EC) is followed next to your regular Bachelor's degree programme. The programme starts in the second semester of year 1 of your Bachelor's degree programme and continues until the end of year 3.

The broadening part of 15 EC workload includes training in competencies and professional skills (5 EC), a Broadening Module outside your faculty (5 EC), and a concluding Summer School and Atelier (5 EC), with courses offered by all faculties.

The programme also consists of a faculty component, which is part of your own faculty (deepening part) 15 EC. The programme concludes with the Honours Festival, where you will present your final project.

The Honours College is an interdisciplinary and supportive environment encouraging you to excel academically, develop practical and professional skills, and prepare you for success in interdisciplinary professional settings.

Interdisciplinary nature: the Honours Programme offers a blend of specialization in your own discipline as well as interdisciplinary broadening of your outlook, which exposes you to a diverse range of perspectives and subjects that enhance your educational experience.

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, debating, effective teamwork, adaptability, creativity and problem-solving skills. The programme also incorporates learning to give and receive feedback from your peers (fellow honours students) in interdisciplinary settings.

Hands-on classes and activities: the inclusion of hands-on classes and activities highlights a practical, applied approach to learning, helping you develop valuable skills for both academic and professional success. This also involves alternative forms of assessment, such as group projects and presentations, rather than the typical written or oral exams.

Small group setting: the learning environment is designed to be supportive and is limited to 25 students, ensuring meaningful interaction among participants. This setting promotes close relationships, collaborative learning, and active participation in discussions and hands-on activities. Both students and the lecturer share responsibility for making the module valuable to everyone.

Test bed: the Honours Programme serves as a testing ground for educational innovations, encouraging both lecturers and students to explore new teaching methods and co-develop courses, research, and multidisciplinary projects. This creates a platform for lecturers to experiment with approaches and topics, while students contribute their disciplinary knowledge. In these challenges, the process is as important as the outcome, with peer feedback essential for understanding individual contributions and growth. This collaborative approach allows both lecturers and students to learn from each other, deepening knowledge and thinking creatively.

Evening sessions: classes are held in the evenings (Monday through Thursday), so you can participate 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: the Honours Programme is offered at no cost to all selected students. This inclusivity encourages a diverse group of talented individuals to apply, without financial considerations to think of. However, a contribution between 50 and 450 euros to the Summer School is required.

The aim of the Broadening Part

The broadening component of the programme helps you develop interdisciplinary perspectives, professional skills, and teamwork abilities to tackle scientific and societal challenges, with a total workload of 15 EC.

To make meaningful contributions to solving these challenges, you need more than just expertise in your own field. This part of the programme encourages you to approach problems from different disciplinary angles, while also honing skills like communication, collaboration, and creativity. By working together with students from various faculties, you enrich your learning experience, focusing on interdisciplinary teamwork and finding your role in addressing the interconnected issues of the real world. Meanwhile, you and your fellow students will also learn how to provide constructive peer feedback in an interdisciplinary setting.

More information about the current courses can be found on Ocasys under ‘Catalog’ and then ‘Honours College’.

Year 1

After enrollment, two general events take place: a Welcoming Ceremony, which provides new students with the chance to meet and connect with each other, and a Professional Life Skills Introduction event, where students participate in group activities and tackle various challenges together.

Year 2

In the second year, you will develop professional skills through courses like Interpersonal Communication, Effective Teamwork, Storytelling, and Improvise Your Way Forward. At the same time, you'll cultivate an interdisciplinary mindset, preparing you for future teamwork in the broadening component.

In the second semester of your second year, you will choose a Broadening Module.The module is taught by lecturers from a faculty other than yours. Through collaborative learning with students from other faculties and disciplines, you will experience how to approach a challenge relevant to science or society from different perspectives and develop your own approach to it, with vision and an eye to the future.

After completing the broadening module, you will attend a related Summer School between years 2 and 3, where diverse groups of honours students tackle a current social issue, either in the Netherlands or abroad.

Year 3

Students will continue developing their topic in the Atelier, where groups collaborate on creative solutions for specific challenges, learn from each other’s cultural and disciplinary perspectives, and exchange peer feedback. The programme culminates in the Honours Festival at the end of Year 3, a public event where all third-year honours students present their findings and engage with a diverse audience in an interactive way.

You will participate in the Deepening Part (15 EC) of the Honours Programme within your own faculty. Eleven faculties of the University of Groningen have each drawn up their own programmes for this component, especially for honours students. The maximum number of students per course varies per faculty. The programme for your faculty can also be found on Ocasys, under ‘Catalog' and then 'Honours College’.

What is it?

The Honours Festival is the final activity of the broadening part of the Honours College programme that students do before they complete the programme. The Broadening Part is organized to teach Honours students to approach current scientific and societal problems from different interdisciplinary perspectives and to translate this into a vision for the future. The Broadening Part consists of a deepening knowledge component, a skills component (academic writing, effective collaboration, debating) and a component focused on personal development (self-knowledge and reflection). For the Honours Festival, the students have prepared all kinds of activities in which they will present the results of their research projects. Are you interested in what honours students do? Find out at the Honours Festival held on 25 June 2025 in the Academy Building!

Programme

The Honours Festival will start at 14:00 hours (2:00 p.m.) with speeches from various speakers. In the afternoon, you can expect a wide range of interesting and interactive activities. The subjects of the activities vary from sustainability, happiness and so much more. In addition, you can take a look around in the Academy Building and enjoy a cup of coffee or tea in the festival lounge.

After these activities, the festive speeches will start at 17:00 hours (5:00 p.m.) for invited guests, in the Aula of the Academy Building which were streamed in the Senaatskamer and Heymanszaal. Afterwards, the Honours College Medal will be presented by the honours faculty coordinators to their 'own' honours students in the various faculty rooms of the Academy Building.

The Honours College Medal will be awarded to all honours students who have completed, or are expected to complete, the Honours Programme by August 31, 2025 (the deepening as well as the broadening part of the Honours Programme). After the ceremony, there is a photo opportunity on the stairs of the Academy Building, and there are drinks afterwards.

We hope you will have a great day and join us in celebrating the success of the Goodall Cohort!

Background information Honours Festival

Since 2012, the Honours Festival has been taking place in the Academy Building in Groningen. The festival will try to explain current societal issues in a clear and enjoyable manner. Students of the Honours College finish their Honours Programme with the activities they present during the festival. The event shows how students and professors cooperate and how this results in a memorable afternoon.

The small scale of lectures, the study booths, the study association and an Honours College magazine provide a real Honours community!

Honours College Social Association (HCSA)

The Honours College also has a study association: the Honours College Social Association (HCSA). They organize interesting trips and have a monthly get-together so that honours students can get to know each other in an informal setting. Also, HCSA organizes an introduction period for honours students, with all kinds of activities. The introduction usually starts just after the official opening of the programme. Check out their Instagram.

Honours Review

In addition to the study association, the Honours College has an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed magazine called the 'Honours Review'. Published annually, it combines high-quality journalistic-scientific articles with original designs by the Minerva Art Academy Groningen. It provides a platform for the intellectual and creative talents of Honours College students, and offers them an opportunity to publish their research and ideas to a wider audience. Check out their Instagram.

What do you do as an Honours College student? A small selection of projects carried out by or in collaboration with students of the Honours College:

Honours students analyzed the Alberda Sundial through a cross-disciplinary approach

Students from the Honours College’s Mukwege cohort had the opportunity to study the Alberda Sundial, a fascinating historical three-meter high artifact! The students analyzed the sundial from a cross-disciplinary learning perspective in their Interdisciplinary Mindset honours course - part of the Broadening Part of the Honours Programme, with each of these disciplines offering them unique insights into the sundial’s significance. Read more here.

Honours Festival 2024: a documentary from team Down and Dementia from the Johnson cohort 2021-2022

Diversity and debate have a positive impact on fighting the Covid-19 pandemic

How governments approach the Covid-19 crisis is not only interesting from the political science viewpoint; it also has wide-reaching implications for global health. Political regimes find themselves on a continuum between the democratic and the authoritarian ends. What is the significance of the variety of leadership such regimes bring during the Covid-19 crisis? dr. Nicolle Zeegers, lecturer of Political Science, asked the first-year international Honours students from the Faculty of Law to write an essay on this topic, accompanied by a video'clip as a modern touch. You can read the blogpost about the students findings here.

Summer School: Sustainable Islands

Honours students discover leadership qualities at FC Groningen’s talent event

Four Honours College students have been selected to take part in a “Talents first” event to develop leadership talent through pre-match inspiration and co-creation sessions.

Students and Noorderbrug clients present a photo exhibition about their worlds

University of Groningen Honours students worked on the ‘Laten Zien’ (‘Show Your World’) photo exhibition as part of their Human Geography and Urban and Regional Planning programme. The project brought together students from both the UG and the Minerva Art Academy, and clients from De Noorderbrug. Together, they went on a journey of exploration into each other’s worlds.

Blog Entrepreneurship: "A blend of creative entrepreneurs"

‘Imagine you crashed on Mars with a spaceship and you only have a teddy bear, a bottle of perfume and a razor at hand to return to mother earth. What would you do?’ It is one of the many wondrous questions that the second year students were confronted with during the Entrepreneurship-evenement of the Honours College in cooperation with TalentWeb Groningen.

A hanging garden

Lisette Stevens, Menno Stellingwerff and Malenthe Teunis, three Honours College students, won this summer's Green Mind Award. This is the biennial University of Groningen award for the best idea to make the university more sustainable. The students came up with the plan in the Honours College Leadership Lab. Their idea is to make a hanging garden and a roof garden for the University Library, thus creating a green oasis in the built-up city centre. Read more about the hanging garden!

Conducting your own research

‘Generatie Crisis ’ (Crisis Generation) explores this generation’s perceptions of the crisis

Report by Sebastiaan Scheffer for the local TV channel 'OOG TV' on the first Honours Festival of the Honours College, including pictures of poster presentations and interviews with both an honours student and the Dean. This is an excellent example of the commitment shown by Honours College students, based on the approach of combining initiative, interdisciplinary perspective and independence.