Research Master in Psychology: Individual Differences and Assessment
Become a research expert in the area of individual differences, such as personality, motivation, intelligence, and cognition, as well as how these change over time. In the Research Master: Individual Differences and Assessment, you study how these differences affect people's lives in the areas of work and health. The Research Master’s is an excellent preparation for a PhD or a career in applied research, for example in human resources, developmental psychology, clinical research, or management.
During this two-year Research Master, you become an expert in the area of individual differences and assessment. Acquire profound knowledge about the biological correlates and development of individual differences, and how these differences affect people's lives in the domains of work and health. The program offers four lines of learning: content, statistics, scientific writing and projects.
- Personalize your education by selecting your supervisors, research topics, electives and (inter)national traineeships yourself. Experience hands-on research into assessing individual differences in various contexts, and life as a researcher during traineeships. Acquire a thorough methodological and statistical education and write two scientific papers as part of the curriculum.
- Students are very satisfied with this program, resulting in a gold medal award (Elsevier Beste Studies, 2022). You become part of an ambitious and international group of students, and experience the real ‘cohort’ feeling in a small-scale, interactive learning environment with individual guidance from international experts.
- With a specific combination of major and minor courses, you have the opportunity to combine your studies on individual differences with electives from clinical neuropsychology. Under specific conditions, you can qualify for the LOGO declaration, which is required to enroll in the Dutch postgraduate clinical education (GZ Psycholoog). For more information, please contact the Education Coordinator via rema_ida@tilburguniversity.edu.
- Get a glimpse of the atmosphere of the program in the Character Studies blog. Get to know the professors, (alumni) students, read about topics related to individual differences, and learn with us through some interesting assignments. Also check out the Facebook page
Typical courses are:
- Biological Correlates of Individual Differences
- Psychometrics: Measurement of Individual Differences
- Dynamics of Individual Differences
- Theoretical Models of Individual Differences
Stepping stone to a scientific career
The research Master in Individual Differences and Assessment is a good preparation if you aspire a career in science. With a diploma of this master, your career prospects are excellent:
The Research Center "Education and Labor Market" follows up Dutch students after they finish their education and has found that 94% of former students of researcher masters find a job within 1.5 years (source: http://www.kiesjestudie.nl).
A recent report from the Dutch government (Peaks in Sight, p. 9) found that more than half of the alumni of research masters secures a job as a PhD student.
You can also work in applied settings, focusing on work and health
The research master also prepares students for research functions in more applied settings. This nicely dovetails the motto of Tilburg University, "Advancing Society". The master focuses on the domains of health and work. These domains perfectly align with the priorities of the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences and are highly socially relevant:
For example, in the domain of work, researchers have discovered job crafting: the process by which the work context is adapted to the strengths and interests of the individual worker.
In the domain of health, there is an increased realization that personalized medicine is key to cost effectiveness and patient satisfaction: this refers to using individual factors to establish which treatment is most effective for the patient.
