Europe 1000-1800 (research) (MA)

Career prospects

What our graduates do

Our graduates end up working in a diverse range of positions, examples include:

• PhD candidate at a university in England
• PhD candidate at a Dutch university
• Assistant publisher at a large publishing house
• Online content specialist at a PR company
• Project officer for video and audio-visual collections at a provincial archive
• Policy officer at a city council
• Researcher and teaching staff member at Leiden University
• Communications advisor at a consultancy firm
• Coordinating strategy advisor at a ministry of security and justice

Your qualifications

As a graduate of the research master's specialisation in Europe 1000-1800 at Leiden University, you will be qualified to work as a junior academic researcher – either in a semi-academic position or at a university. You will be able to solve complex academic problems independently, critically and creatively, and report on these results with clarity both in writing and verbally.

If you are interested in a career outside of academics you will discover that the depth and scope of the research master in History allows you to successfully venture on a career in education, administration, heritage, journalism, business, and many more.

Teacher qualification

If you are interested in a career in teaching, you can apply for the Dutch-taught teacher-training MA at the ICLON Graduate School of Education after graduating from the master’s programme. To be admitted, you need to have a master’s degree in the  relevant discipline. Fluency in Dutch is mandatory, and additional entry requirements may apply.

Maurits den Hollander

Graduated in Europe 1000-1800 (Research MA History)

"I have always had a passion for history. Long before leaving grammar school, I decided that I wished to pursue it as an academic discipline, and Leiden was an excellent university to do so. After my BA, I chose the Research MA Europe 1000-1800. This program offers the unique opportunity to surpass the old borders between Medieval and Early Modern history and provides motivated students with the freedom and guidance to develop themselves into proper researchers. Besides that, Leiden has excellent connections with top of the notch foreign partner universities, which allowed me to spend a semester at the University of St Andrews in Scotland."

Bankruptcies in 17th century Amsterdam

"In January 2018, I started a PhD in Legal History at Tilburg University. As part of the ERC funded project Coherence in Law Through Legal Scholarship, I research bankruptcies in 17th century Amsterdam, focussing on the exciting divergences between legal doctrine and local merchant practices."

Be open minded

"Obviously, transforming my passion into my job allowed me to apply all the skills I had previously obtained during my MA to my current research. The versatility of the program, which learned me to look across borders and be open towards a wide variety of subjects, is really helpful in my current interdisciplinary working environment. I would advise students to be open minded when investigating career opportunities, as my story shows how a faculty like Tilburg Law School proved to be a great work environment for me as a Medieval Historian!"

The graphs below are based on alumni data from the Research Master History 2016-2020.

In which sector do students find jobs?

• 50 % Research
• 25 % Government and semi-government organisations
• 12 % Consultancy
• 6 % Financial institutions
• 6 % Culture, sports and recreation
• 1 % Other

Career preparation

Find out how this programme exactly prepares you for your future career and check our career preparation activities.