A holistic Bachelor in Brain Science

“Not overnight,” Peter De Weerd says after a moment, “but we’re convinced that transdisciplinarity – bringing together different disciplines – provides important new insights. Research on brain function falls into roughly three domains: various biological disciplines, psychology paired with cognitive neuroscience, and computational sciences. The Bachelor in Brain Science connects these domains. Our students will become the bridge builders between the specialists. Consider the design of an app for digital healthcare, the development of gene therapy or the application of brain stimulation. To gain genuine insight into the human brain, let alone to develop treatments, you need psychology, biology, mathematics, AI and technology. In other words, a holistic approach that also pays attention to ethics. That calls for a different approach to training. In Maastricht, we want to create a generation of scientists who take a broader view.”

Major challenges

The idea for the bachelor’s had been on hold at FPN for about 15 years, De Weerd says. “Our outgoing dean Harald Merckelbach asked me to work up a proposal in September 2020. The first proposal was rejected by the education ministry’s review committee. The programme was considered socially and scientifically relevant, but there were doubts about the employment prospects. Later, a broad survey of institutions and companies showed a great need for both the hard and soft skills that we offer, and for people who look beyond boundaries and work in teams, as students learn in Problem-Based Learning at UM.”

In the end, both the review committee and the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders gave the programme a green light. By late 2023, a draft curriculum was ready; De Weerd emphasises the essential role played by his fellow programme leaders, Gunter Kenis (FHML) and Nico Roos (FSE), and by Heidi Prevoo (senior policy adviser for education at FPN). They quickly received an unexpectedly high number of applicants. “We’re only allowed to do minimal advertising, and only within the Benelux. We held a single open day, but were completely overwhelmed by the amount of interest. At the start of August we had 135 suitable candidates, over 60 of whom have definitively enrolled. More than half are from the Netherlands, along with a mix of foreign students. A large majority are women, too, which is interesting for a STEM programme.”