Master’s in Aquaculture and Marine Resource Management

The MSc in Aquaculture and Marine Resource Management (MAM) is a two-year programme consisting of 120 ECTS in total. In the first year, you will follow interdisciplinary courses, specialisation courses and electives. In the second year, you will do your thesis and internship.

You will start with a common part to build an interdisciplinary basis in aquaculture and marine resource management. Are you ready to choose? Then construct your own personalized specialisation track to prepare for your thesis research.  

You can choose between three specialisations with distinct thesis tracks: 

• Aquaculture
• Marine Resources and Ecology
• Marine Resources and Society  

Integrate, apply and collaborate

At the end of the first year, you can select one of the three options in our Academic Master Cluster: 

1. Academic Consultancy Training (9 ECTS) and Modular Skills Training (3 ECTS): In Academic Consultancy Training, you will work in a group of students from different master’s programmes on an assignment for an external client. In this way, you can apply the knowledge you gained during your studies and experience what it’s like to work as a consultant. In Modular Skills Training you can select modules to work on specific skills that you would like to develop, like scientific writing, management skills or career orientation.
2. European Workshop Environmental Sciences and Management (12 ECTS): In this course you will also work on an assignment of an external client with fellow students. The difference with ACT is that the European Workshop includes two weeks of (international) field work dedicated to data collection by interviews, a survey, and observations on site.
3. Research Master Cluster (12 ECTS): In this course you will write a PhD proposal with the support of experts, coaches and fellow students. This is very useful if you want to pursue a PhD after graduation. 

Courses first year.

In the second year of your master's you will do a thesis and an internship.

Thesis

In your thesis, you will perform a research project at one of the chair groups of Wageningen University. You will prepare and perform research (lab/field/literature), write a report and present your findings at the chair group.

Internship

In your internship, you will work at an organisation outside the university. This way, you will gain valuable work experience outside of the university as a researcher or professional 

Courses second year.

After building an interdisciplinary base, you will dive deeper by choosing one of the three specialisation. Within each specialisation, there’s a wide range of courses from which you can select the ones that fit your background, interests, ambitions, and thesis topic. This way, you can start your thesis with a solid knowledge base and experience with relevant methodologies.  

1. Aquaculture 
   Learn to design sustainable aquaculture systems for a wide range of aquatic species - from fish to seaweed - across diverse farming environments and gain in-depth knowledge of the biology and physiology of aquatic organisms. Which specialisation courses will you select? You can build and operate your own aquaculture production system in the course Aquaculture Production Systems, or focus on genetics, fish nutrition, or health. The choice is yours! 
   
2. Marine Resources and Ecology 
   Understand how marine ecosystems respond to human impacts like fishing and climate change, and develop tools to manage biodiversity, sustainability, and environmental quality effectively. Choose your favorites from a wide range of specialisation courses: from marine animal ecology to water quality and from fisheries ecology to toxicology.  
   
3. Marine Resources and Society 
   Explore how policies, organisations, and economic forces shape marine resource management, and learn to design social and economic strategies that balance ecological health with human interests. 

Deepen your knowledge by selecting the courses that fit you. Learn about theories and methods in marine governance and law, or in natural resource or business economics.  

Benefit from WUR's small scale education during your master's. Many of our courses contain hands-on practicals, small scale group work and tutorials guided by our passionate teachers.  

Throughout your studies, you can count on the support of our study advisors. They help you to plan your personal study programme, and if you face (personal) issues that affect your studies.  

• The Master's in Animal Sciences and the Master's in Biology focus on biological and ecological processes, whereas the Master's in Aquaculture and Marine Resource Management focuses on the interaction between the ecological processes and societal demand from a variety of perspectives. The Master’s in Aquaculture and Marine Resource Management is fully focused on the oceans, Animal Sciences and Biology are not.  
• The Master's in Forest and Nature Conservation addresses terrestrial nature, whereas Aquaculture and Marine Resource Management studies marine nature. Both focus on the management of living nature, including its sustainable use by humans.
• The Master's in Environmental Sciences also focuses on sustainable management and societal demand in the general sense. It may also study the physics and chemistry of the aquatic ecosystem. The Master's in Aquaculture and Marine Resource Management, however, also includes a strong dose of biology and domain knowledge of oceans and coastal areas.
• The Master's in Health Management in Aquaculture focuses on a sustainable supply of healthy seafood and the challenges of global food demand and overfishing.

Would you like to find out more about this programme and how it might compare to others? Have a look on Studiekeuze123.nl.

Alumni of the MSc programme Aquaculture and Marine Resource Management have many career opportunities. National borders will not hold you back: everywhere you go in the Netherlands, throughout Europe or across the world you will encounter graduates from this programme. Some examples:

• Researcher at a university or research institute
• Expert at an aquaculture/fisheries company
• Consultant or policy advisor for governmental agencies or NGO’s like the UN, WWF, EU, the North Sea Foundation, etc
• Starting your own business

Student Career Services facilitates WUR students towards the labour market. If you need help in your orientation towards your future career. 

Have a look at the Career Booklet for more information about career opportunities.

Interested in the master's programme Aquaculture and Marine Resource Management? Find out whether your knowledge and skills match the entry level of the programme.

The admission requirements for the Master's in Aquaculture and Marine Resource Management are defined in such a way that the students should be able to successfully complete at least one of the specialisations in the program nominally in two years. To comply, students should have sufficient knowledge about life sciences, natural sciences or social sciences through topics such as animal physiology, ecology, natural resources management and/or social sciences, economics, or law. Additionally, basics in statistics and mathematics is necessary to perform research at the advanced level of the master's.

The criterion used for admission is:

A WUR’s Bachelor’s in Marine Sciences, Animal Sciences, Forest and Nature Conservation, Environmental Sciences, a Dutch Bachelor's in Biology (CROHO 56860 or 59325) or equivalent.

The norm for this equivalence is:

an assessment of the students' expertise in at least one, but preferably more, of the following topics:

• Aquaculture
• Biology (physiology, organismal biology, ecology)
• Environmental sciences (e.g., environmental quality, natural resource management, human-environment interactions)
• Social sciences (e.g., management studies, human geography, sociology, economics)
• Integrative or systems approaches

And both of the following topics:

• Mathematics (calculus)
• Statistics

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 Admission Board:

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

Additional context for admission

Personal statement  

Please upload a short personal statement (max 500 words) in your application. This should contain information on:

• How was the required pre-knowledge acquired and how does it match with your ambitions in the programme?
• In case your knowledge on statistics and mathematics is not obvious from your transcript of records, please explain what and in which courses you addressed these topics. 

You can apply for this Master's here.

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 Application & Admission 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.

Do you want to know more about compensating knowledge gaps for your specific situation? Then take the following steps:

For students that already completed their bachelor’s: apply for our master’s programme. In the application process, you can upload your transcript of records, curriculum vitae and personal statement.If you are eligible for a pre-master’s programme, the admissions board will contact you to discuss the possibilities.  

For students that are still following their bachelor’s: contact us through contact us via mam@wur.nl. It might be possible to close your knowledge gap already during your bachelor’s by adding specific courses to your current study programme. Please include in your e-mail:

• A list of all courses from your bachelor’s (the ones you completed and the ones you still have to follow)
• Detailed information about your knowledge on statistics and mathematics (algebra)
• If you have room for electives in your bachelor’s programme, and if so, in which months.  

Studying isn’t free, want to know what you can expect?

All information about the costs of this programme can be found on this page. 

Life as a student isn’t just about studying, it’s an experience. From game nights to dancing at the best parties, relaxing in cosy pubs, or joining dynamic student associations, the opportunities are endless. Add in exciting festivals and one-of-a-kind sports clubs, and ofcourse lot's of nature around Wageningen and beyond. 

All information about student life in Wageningen can be found on this page.