Research Master - Amsterdam

[i]University of Amsterdam[/i] The Research Master Metropolitan Studies, a 2-year master programme at the University of Amsterdam, is currently accepting applications for the study year 2010-2011. [b]Our admission deadline for international students is 1 March 2010 [/b](for Dutch students, or those with a Dutch bachelor diploma, it is 1 April 2010). Our research master is specifically tailored for ambitious, excellent students that want to prepare for a career in academic research or strategic professional positions in urban and regional development. The programme is taught in English. Its focus is on comparative urban research. Metropolitan Studies offers the international state of the art in comparative urban research, drawing from the expertise of internationally renowned professors in urban and economic geography, urban and regional planning and urban sociology. The professors of the programme include: - Professor Sako Musterd (urban geography) - Professor Willem Salet (urban and regional planning) - Professor Robert Kloosterman (economic geography) - Professor Jan Rath (urban sociology) - Professor Ewald Engelen (financial geography / migrant entrepreneurship) - Professor Clara Mulder (population geography / demography) - Professor Luca Bertolini (transport planning) The programme's orientation is very international, mostly focusing on Europe and North America, but increasingly also on Asian megacities. The curriculum also includes a semester abroad at one of our partner institutes, and an internationally comparative master thesis. For the next study year, we have worked hard to design an improved programme that will intensify the already close links between our research master and its academic research environment even further. We are convinced that we can offer our students a unique and very challenging programme. Please forward this to possibly interested students at your institute. More information on the programme's content, entry requirements and how to apply can be found at http://www.graduateschoolsocialsciences.nl/msc_metropolitan_studies/ Globalisation, de-industrialisation, the rise of information technology and migration have changed metropolitan life and the urban fabric of major cities. Contemporary cities are both internally divided social worlds and economic nodes in worldwide networks of capital and information, posing unforeseen challenges in terms of governance. The Research Master in Metropolitan Studies deals with the complex reality of urban centres from a number of perspectives drawn from - urban and regional planning (planologie) - urban and economic geography (stads- en economische geografie) - and urban sociology (stadssociologie). Students of the programme have the opportunity to develop their own internationally comparative, fieldwork-based research projects in the field of Metropolitan Studies. The curriculum includes a semester of study abroad, which is central to its internationally comparative approach. Studying Metropolitan Studies at the University of Amsterdam The programme makes full use of its location in the thriving metropolis of Amsterdam through organising excursions to projects and neighbourhoods in the city and other Dutch urban centres, which are intended to acquaint students with urban praxis in the Netherlands. Student exchange agreements with foreign universities offer students the opportunity to study in cities such as New York, London and Berlin and to become familiar with other university cultures and city life in other countries. The programme has strong ties with the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research: the leading professors of four of AISR's research groups are responsible for the core courses of the MSc; students will work together with these professors in a research apprenticeship and a research article; and students are invited to attend academic activities at AISR.