An international programme for future water managers, combining ecology, hydrology and socio-economics.
What is the best way to handle invasive species in a river ecosystem? Or how do you protect a city like New Orleans from floods? In this double degree programme, you’ll learn to tackle these kinds of problems on the basis of ecological, hydrological and social-economic aspects. We focus on ecological solutions, which are often more effective than technical adjustments. Think of estuaries with sea grass fields breaking the waves instead of reinforcing dikes, or self-purification of drainage-basins, making dredging unnecessary.
If you follow the TWM double degree programme, you don’t have to choose between ecology and hydrology. On the one hand, you’ll learn to classify different ecosystems, analyse ecological data and assess the impact of various stressors. On the other hand, you’ll get the technical background to calculate water flow properties and work with flood management models. So upon graduation, you’ll have all the required knowledge for a career in water management.
Apart from the natural sciences, the programme offers multiple courses in water governance, and the social, economical and philosophical aspects of water management. This widens your perspective and provides you with the tools to bridge the gap between science and society.
The Master’s specialisation in Transnational Ecosystem-based Water Management (TWM) is partly taught at Radboud University and partly at the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany. This means that you’ll profit from the expertise at two universities and become familiar with different cultures and research approaches. And after successful completion of the programme, you'll receive a German and a Dutch diploma. With that broad background, our graduates often find a job as manager or project leader, with an all-encompassing view in national or international water-related projects.
Although the universities are only about 100 kilometres apart, you’ll certainly notice a cultural difference. Hence, following this programme not only means you’ll profit from both of their expertises, you’ll also experience a rapid personal growth. We notice that our students are very independent in finding their way around and performing research, are not afraid of new challenges and are well-trained in (international) communication skills.
Visit http://www.ru.nl/masters/twm for more information about the programme and to start your application today.
