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Courses and research

Become a high-skilled geospatial professional

During your Master’s in Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (GEO), you will collect a total of 120 EC within two years. In addition to the three mandatory courses of the Master’s, you will take four specialisation courses and elective courses. You can also do an optional internship and complete your studies by writing your master’s thesis. 

European Credit Transfer System

Student workload at Dutch universities is expressed in EC, also named ECTS (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System), widely used throughout the European Union. In the Netherlands, each credit represents 28 hours of work. The recognition of credits is at the discretion of your Master's.

 Structure

YEAR 1

NUMBER OF EC

 

Compulsory courses

Mandatory courses for all students of the Master’s.

25 EC

Specialisation courses

Mandatory courses for all students of the specialisation in Natural Resources Management.

28 EC

Elective course

You can choose a course that matches your interests and career ambitions.

7 EC

Some examples of elective courses you can take are:

YEAR 2

 

 

Individual study programme 

15 EC

In the second year, you can personalise your individual study programme by doing an internship or taking elective courses.

MSc research proposal and MSc research

45 EC

You will complete your Master’s in GEO by writing a master’s thesis. Your research theme is defined by the research group that is part of the respective specialisation. In Natural Resources Management, you will conduct your research within the research group Forest Agriculture and Environment in the Spatial Sciences (FORAGES).

Total EC

120 EC

 

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Internship

In the second year of your Master’s in Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation, you can apply the knowledge and skills you have acquired during your studies by doing an internship at an agribusiness research and development institute, aerospace centre, social enterprise that uses remote sensing to monitor social and environmental impact, government, non-governmental organisation, or environmental consultancy agency in the Netherlands or abroad. ITC has a broad network of organisations where you can do your internship project. 

Examples of internships that students have done are:

Discover the exciting internship options at ITC!

Join us on a journey as we follow two Master students, Carolina Pereira Marghidan and John Ifejube, during their internships at the Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC) at the University of Twente. Get ready to witness the impactful work they're doing in their respective placements and gain a glimpse into the future that awaits you as a prospective student. Watch the video!

master's thesis

You will complete your Master’s by writing your Master’s thesis. Your research will be part of the research group Forest Agriculture and Environment in the Spatial Sciences (FORAGES) and you will write your thesis under the supervision of one of the professors in that research group. You can, for example, focus on offsetting carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in a forest by spatially predicting and mapping CO2. Or you can address local food security by, for example, mapping and monitoring soybean expansion in the Southern region of Africa.

In your master’s thesis, you can undertake research projects such as:
  • Assessing historical forest structural characteristics in old forests in the Rhodope mountains, Bulgaria, to improve habitat suitability for forest-dependent plant and fungal species.
  • Building a database of field-level yields to assess saffron cultivation dynamics and yield variability in Iran.
  • Analysing wildlife presence, abundance, and behaviour in the nature reserve Engbertdijksvenen, the Netherlands using camera traps.