Admission requirements - MSc Aquaculture and Marine Resource Management

Purpose and reason for the admission requirements

The admission requirements for the master's programme Aquaculture and Marine Resource Management are defined in such a way that the students should be able to successfully complete the programme in two years. To comply, students should have sufficient knowledge on concepts and methodologies related to the marine and aquatic domain. For this, a solid basis in biology is essential which can be supplemented with sufficient domain specific knowledge of marine sciences. For collection and analyses of experimental data, a solid basis in statistics and mathematics is necessary.

The criterion used for admission is

a WUR BSc degree in Animal Sciences, Forest and Nature Conservation, Environmental Sciences, a Dutch BSc in Biology (CROHO 56860 or 59325), or equivalent.

The norm for this equivalence is

an assessment of the student's expertise in at least:

• Biology (ecology, animal physiology and morphology)

And two of the following four topics:

• Aquaculture
• Chemistry
• Marine governance and policy development
• Natural resources management

At least one course in the previous education specifically focused on:

• Statistics (formulate hypotheses for population means, t-tests, confidence intervals, normal and binomial distributions)
• Mathematics (linear algebra, calculus, differentiation, integration, first order differential equations, systems of linear equations, vectors and vector geometry, matrices and determinants, eigenvalues and eigenvectors, functions of two variables)

Not all topics mentioned need to be mastered at the same level; they will be weighed by the Admission Board per individual application.

Method of assessment whether this norm is met

• Transcript of records displaying the content of previous course subjects and project work;
• Curriculum vitae displaying relevant work, internship and/or project experience on an academic level in a relevant field if applicable.

Scores attributed by the Admissions Board

Admitted / not admitted / admitted under condition obtaining the BSc or MSc degree / not admitted with offer of pre-master

The Admission Board may allow and/or suggest compensation of knowledge gaps by:

• a GPA≥7.0* for the previous education for small discrepancies as new knowledge is sufficiently easily acquired;
• a GPA≥7.0* and an individual pre-master's programme for larger discrepancies that can be compensated in ≤30 ECTS and one year of study.

*Check the general admissions page for the International credentials evaluation guide for international equivalencies to a Dutch GPA>7.0. This guide includes compensating factors for a slightly lower GPA the Admission Board may include in their judgement.

Contact us through the contact button above to discuss the possibilities of a pre-master or how to mitigate knowledge gaps if you are still in the process of obtaining your degree.

Find out more about pre-master's programmes.

Admissible study programmes

Graduates from study programmes that may meet the knowledge requirements are for example: Animal Sciences, Aquatics Sciences, (Applied) Biology, Ecology, Fisheries, Marine Sciences, Environmental Sciences, and Natural/Technical sciences related to marine or aquatic environment.

Study programmes with knowledge gaps

Study programmes whose students often have to follow additional courses during the previous study programme or a pre-master are for example: Aquatic Ecotechnology, Coastal and Sea Management, Land and Water Management, and Laboratory Education.

The WUR minor Marine Living Resources often covers previous knowledge if the student covers sufficient knowledge in mathematics and statistics. Examples of WUR BSc programmes to whom this may be relevant are: Biotechnology, Economics and Governance, International Land and Water Management, and International Development Studies.