Chapter 10 What Can You Do with a BSc Biology?

Skills developed in this chapter: Career orientation, professional identity

You have chosen a to pursue a bachelor degree in biology. What are the options after your education? Should you pursue a master degree? Which one? When should you start thinking about this? These are questions are addressed in this chapter.

10.1 When Should I Choose What?

For a quick overview, have a look at this flowchart (PDF).

A bachelor of science is also your entrance ticket to a master program. In The Netherlands, a large majority of students that obtain a bachelor degree go on to pursue a master degree. According to the national student survey, 91% of former biology students at Leiden University went on to pursue a master degree.

Deadlines in the 1st year:

  • If you want to join the honours college, the deadline is in early February (always check the university site).

Deadlines in the 2nd year:

  • You must choose your specialization before the second semester (there will be a meeting on this subject);
  • Minors without a selection procedure must be enrolled in by 31 May (TU Delft, Erasmus, LDE), or 15 July (Leiden University);
  • Minors with a selection procedure (TU Delft, Erasmus, LDE, Leiden) must be enrolled in by 15 April;
  • If you want to study abroad during your bachelor, you can do so in the third year (minor and/or internship). The deadline to apply is 1 December (outside of Europe) and 1 February (within Europe). This involves a lot of paperwork and there are additional criteria, including grades and EC obtained, so contact your study advisor early. There is usually a Study Abroad Festival in early October where you can orient.

Deadlines in the 3rd year:

  • An internship agreement must be signed before the start of the internship, which will be in late February (refer to the BSc Research Project Booklet).

10.2 What Is a Minor?

In the third year of your bachelor education, the first half (30 ECTS) is spent on a minor education. You can use this to learn more about a specific topic in biology, or to broaden your knowledge by choosing a minor from a different institute.

The list of minor educations you can choose from is large. As of writing, there are 56 minors offered by Leiden University, and it is also possible to follow a minor at TU Delft or the Erasmus University in Rotterdam. By the time you have to choose a minor, you will be informed of which are eligible for your bachelor education.

However, minors from other institutes may have additional entry requirements and earlier deadlines for application. The minor explanation at the IBL may already be too late for minors at different institutes, so orient early. Also be sure the check whether a minor is full-time or not. If you want to do a minor, but it is less than 30 ECTS, consult with your study advisor about the possibility of filling the remaining time with other courses.

If you have trouble choosing, then keep in mind that on the long run, your choice of minor will have little influence on your career. Nonetheless, a minor is a great opportunity to specialize in a specific area, or to learn about a different field.

10.3 Where Can I Do an Internship?

In the third year of your education, after you complete your minor, you will do a research internship. Through your internship, you can find out what it is really like to work as a scientist, and it allows you to get to know a particular field well.

Without additional approval, you can do your internship at any research group of:

  • Institute Biology Leiden (IBL);
  • Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML);
  • Naturalis Biodiversity Center.

With permission from the Board of Examiners, you can also do an internship at:

  • Leiden Institute of Chemistry (LIC);
  • Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research (LACDR);
  • Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC).

It is technically also possible to do you internship somewhere completely different, even at a company. However, you will have to consult with your study advisor for this.

So how do you find an interesting internship? Essentially by networking. The moment you enter the university, your networking has begun. Every person you come into contact with is an opportunity for you to get to know their work or research. Never hesitate to ask your professor or any of the assistants about their research—they are probably happy to talk about it. This also means you should exercise a certain level of professionalism the first time you contact someone. You never know what you might need from them in the future.

Also always by on the lookout for internship markets/events or even LinkedIn posts. There are plenty of research groups looking for an intern.

10.4 Which Masters Can I Do?

To choose your master, always try to join the master’s day/week. At this event, all master educations can provide you with information on their contents and admission requirements. It is never too soon to orient, so try to join whenever you can. Note that there are also master events outside Leiden. You will be notified of those when they take place.

The IBL offers several master programs to students with a bachelor degree in biology. These include:

Although it well be extra challenging due to differences in bachelor courses, you can also follow a master program from other institutes, some examples include:

Substitute Assignment

Contemplate where you see yourself 5–10 years from now (Dutch or English). You can use the following questions as reference (but you don’t have to):

  • Why did you choose this education?
  • What do you expect from this education?
  • Are there any subjects you are good at, or enjoy learning about?
  • Do you have any plans for a specialization, minor, internship, or master education yet? Why does this interest you?
  • Do you currently lean more towards a career in academia, government, business, or something else entirely (e.g. your own company, an NGO)?
  • Do you have any plans for studying or working abroad? Have you looked into the available programs?
  • How do you currently balance work and life? How do you feel about that?

Upload your assignment to Brightspace as a Word or PDF file (there is a dedicated submission link for the substitute assignment). Include your full name and student number. The minimum number of words is shown in the table below. Deadline: 1 June.

Table 10.1: Required minimum number of words by year and number of missed components (meetings, deadlines, assignments).
Missed BSc 1 BSc 2 BSc 3+
1 600 800\(^\dagger\) 800\(^\ddagger\)
2 800 1200\(^\dagger\) 1200\(^\ddagger\)
3+

*: Contact the course coordinator to review your case independently.
\(^\dagger\): You must also (re)submit an up-to-date resume and a motivation letter c.f. the assignments.
\(^\ddagger\): You may combine this assignment with the final assignment (total minimum is as shown here).

Note: Retaking the course through the substitute assignment is only possible until 1 June. No new assignments are accepted between 2 June and 1 November. Exceptions count as an ‘extra resit’ and can only be made with permission from the board of examiners.

10.5 Changing Programs (*)

Switching bachelor programs is a big decision. You should always discuss this with the student coordinator.2 Nevertheless, here are some things to consider:

  • Successfully completing your first year (propedeuse) is something to put on your CV, so you may want to consider switching after that;
  • Obtaining a bachelor of science opens many doors. You may not have to switch at all to do the internship or master you are interested in;
  • Skills learned in one education transfer well to another, and occasionally you can even get exemption from courses that are similar to what you followed.

  1. If the link is broken, search online for “Studieadviseur biologie Leiden”.↩︎