Molecular Genetics and Biotechnology

This specialisation trains you in all aspects of molecular biology. Internship possibilities vary from unravelling the mechanisms of antibiotic production in microbes to genetically engineering drought resistant plants. Our faculty is located in an active BioScience Park that offers a broad spectrum of internship opportunities in large pharmaceutical concerns but also in small start-ups.

Molecular, Cellular and Organismal Biology

This programme studies organisms at all biological levels. Potential research projects could, for instance, be supervised by behavioural biologists who study the personalities of zebrafish not only at the behavioural level, but also at the level of genes and hormones. Or by scientists studying the mechanisms of immune defences and disease in plants or animals.

Evolutionary Biology

This programme investigates all aspects of evolutionary biology, ranging from comparative genomics to ecology. Our faculty houses a few outstanding groups working on the developmental basis of evolutionary change (evo-devo) or on experimental evolution in microbes. The active involvement of Naturalis makes this master programme in Leiden particularly attractive, and guarantees exciting opportunities for internship projects.

Biodiversity and Sustainability

This specialisation trains you in all biological processes involved in environment and ecology. This understanding is used to provide you with academic, independent and creative thinking to support, conserve and manage biodiversity, with “sustainability” as guiding principle. The Institute of Environmental Sciences offers exciting internship possibilities, varying from studying the effect of nanoplastics in the ecosystem, evolution of salt tolerance in mosquitoes, to global biodiversity measures using satellite information systems.

Combined Master Specialisations

Each of these four MSc Biology specialisations train you as a researcher, but also provide you with general skills that will be important for your future career, be it in academia, industry or government. Besides these two year research specialisations, we offer the unique possibility to combine your biological knowledge with training in communication, education or business. The combined master programmes are:

• Science Communication and Society;
• Biology and Education; and
• Biology and Business Studies.

In these cases, you choose one of the four above mentioned master specialisations in your first year, but you completely focus on your additional training in your second year. The MSc specialisation Science Communication and Society prepares you to work for instance as journalist or museum educator. The Biology and Education program trains you as a first degree biology teacher in Dutch secondary schools. In the Biology and Business Studies specialisation you will gain entrepreneur and management skills.