Astronomy and Science-Based Business

Specialisation of: Astronomy
Degree: Master of Science in Astronomy
Mode of Study: Full-time
Duration: 2 years
Start date: Flexible, for international students preferably September or February
Language of instruction: English
Location: Leiden
Croho/isat code: 60200
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The MSc track in Astronomy and Science-Based Business (SBB) prepares students for a career in science-related business and administration and for innovation and enterprise from an astronomy perspective. In addition to knowledge of astronomy, students obtain competence with respect to organisations, people in organisations and the establishment and management of processes.
The first year of the track focuses on astronomy; in the second year the student will specialise in Science-Based Business.

Programme

The astronomy research component of the programme consists of a research project in one of the research groups at the Leiden Observatory, including a master’s thesis and an oral presentation, and appropriate courses.

The business related part of the programme consists of the Science-Based Business Fundamentals and Orientation on Technopreneurship courses, electives and an internship. In order to obtain a Science-Based Business specialisation annotation, a minimal programme consisting of the course Science-Based Business Fundamentals and the Science-Based Business training period must be completed. The course on Science-Based Business Fundamentals may also be taken as part of the Research in Astronomy specialisation.

More information on Science Based Business is available on the SBB website and on the Astronomy website.

Prof. Kuijken

“In the Netherlands astronomy is considered to be a field worth investing in, not least because of the strong links with information technology.”

“An important feature of this master’s is that our students spend half their time working on research projects with members of our department. We involve them in front line research in all possible areas, from cosmology to the chemistry of the interstellar medium.

The Sterrewacht in Leiden is the oldest university observatory in the world. It dates from 1633, and has a very rich history. More recently, Leiden’s reputation can be largely attributed to Professor Jan Oort,
who put Leiden on the world map. Our department is still one of the most active astronomy research institutes in the world. In the Netherlands, astronomy is considered to be a field worth investing in, not least because of the strong links with information technology. Even though astronomy does not directly serve a financial or economic purpose, nonetheless the government has invested hundreds of millions of euros in this field. These funds are now being used for projects like the LOFAR radio telescope, which will be used to make fundamentally new observations. These are very exciting developments.

My research concerns the distribution of dark matter, one of the major issues in present-day astronomy. Most of the matter in space cannot be seen, but you do become aware of it when measuring gravity. I am head of an international research group which is researching how light is deflected by gravity. The world of astronomy is very international. Astronomers frequently work together and use satellites and telescopes from across the world.”

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