Annabelle Tjalma, Master student in Biomedical Sciences
After completing my bachelor in Biomedical Sciences, I did not have an exact idea of what I wanted. It is almost expected of you, as a student of science, to go into research and academia and so I did not have a clear view of the possibilities. What I was sure of, is that academic life was not for me. While the contents of the work was interesting, the individual work method, lack of social interaction with peers and methodologies were not.
"Looking for something completely different, I chose to follow Research-Based-Business (RBB) Planning and Ventures (now called NTV Planning and Ventures) and these courses gave me an insight into the world of business and entrepreneurship. While I was not attracted to idea of becoming an entrepreneur, it did give me the idea to follow Science-Based-Business (SBB – now called Management Fundamentals) at the start of my second year.
SBB is crash course on innovation, financial, marketing and project management. For 10 weeks I was immersed in the entirely new world of business and the subjects broadened my horizon and my options for the future. Innovation management focused on the impact of (scientific) innovations on industries and individual companies. Strategic marketing management and financial management covered the basics of these topics rigorously and project management gave us a chance to implement the skills and knowledge we had gathered during the course.
For someone who would still like to go into research and academia, SBB gives the chance to place research in a larger context. For someone else not interested in the standard route offered by Biomedical Sciences, this is a welcome change and a possibility to deviate from the beaten path."
By Annabelle Tjalma, Fall 2016 participant in the SBB master course "SBB Fundamentals", and RBB courses Planning and Ventures.