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
Į magistro studijų programas gali stoti visi, baigę universitetą arba besimokantys paskutiniame kurse. Studijos kurias baigei ar tebesimokai turi būti panašios krypties kaip ir tos, į kurias nori stoti, kadangi priėmimas yra paremtas ECTS kreditų suderinamumu.
- ECTS kreditų išrašas - jei dar nesi baigęs aukštosios mokyklos, būtina prisegti ECTS kreditų išrašą, kuriame būtų matyti, kokius dalykus Tu mokeisi bei kokius pažymius ir kiek kreditų už juos gavai. Kai siunti anketą paskutiniame kurse, diplomą reikia prisegti vėliau, kai tik jį gausi.
- Bakalauro diplomas – jei jau esi baigęs aukštąją mokyklą, išrašo nereikia, užtenka prie anketos prisegti savo Bakalauro diplomą.
SVARBU: anglų kalbos testo sertifikatą privaloma pateikti kartu su visais dokumentais, atsiunčiant anketą. Universitetas nesvarsto stojimo anketų be anglų kalbos testo rezultatų, todėl sertifikatą privaloma pateikti iki stojimo pabaigos. Anglų kalbos žinias gali patvirtinti vienu iš šių būdų:
- IELTS – 6.5, ne mažiau nei 6.0 iš kiekvienos dalies
- TOEFL – 90
In order to be accepted directly onto our Research Master's program in Individual Differences and Assessment, you must have the following academic background:
A Bachelor's and/or a Master's degree in a relevant discipline, such as psychology, human resources, general social sciences, pedagogics, biology.
An overall grade point average (GPA) of at least 7,5/10
A sufficient academic background in research methodology and statistics. Your background education should contain at least one introductory statistics course and courses that include multiple regression, analysis of variance, factor analysis and research methodology. Your background should be clear from the course descriptions and the statistics checklist which you must include in your application.
Strong motivation, excellent skills and talent for carrying out scientific research, which you should demonstrate in your motivation letter and other application documents.
Motivation Letter
We do not require a standard format for this letter but it should be about 250-500 words. It should explain:
How you meet the specific criteria for admission mentioned above, with specific reference to your academic background.
Why you want to follow this program of study e.g. what specifically appeals to you about the content of this program.
Why you want to study at Tilburg University.
What you have done in addition to your academic studies in this field.
What added value you consider you could bring to our international classroom.
What you would like to do after you have completed this degree. The motivation letter must be specifically written for your application for this program at Tilburg University.
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.
