Studentenverhaal
Student Wieke - MSc Communication, Health and Life Sciences
After the bachelor International Media and Communication in Rotterdam, Wieke chose a master in which she could combine her interest in communication with nutrition.
What I like most about the specialisation Communication and Innovation is that you learn to search for solutions in the communication field to solve problems that you encounter.
Wieke had to choose a master’s after her bachelor International Media and Communication. Her bachelor’s had a focus on marketing, media and culture. When she had to choose a master’s programme, she knew marketing was not the focus she wanted. Instead, she wanted to focus more on health communication. She did not have any doubt when she found the master’s programme Communication, Health and Life Sciences at Wageningen University and Research. This was the master she wanted! Right from the start of the master’s, she wanted to focus on Nutrition and Health. According to Wieke, the programme offers a lot of free space so you can choose courses within your interest. Wieke for instance, chose a course in Food Technology. She found this course quite difficult but she managed!
Wieke: “In this course I learnt a lot about packaging. I can use this knowledge in communication on this topic. For instance, they taught me that there is a very good reason that cucumbers are wrapped in plastic. I think that a lot of consumers do not know that the plastic around cucumbers is there to prevent food waste. A cucumber simply has a much longer expiration date when it is wrapped like that. So supermarkets can choose for either a bit of plastic, or on the other hand no plastic but more food waste. I think communication can play an important role here.”
Wieke is also planning to follow the course Nutrition and Sports. She thinks that this course will be very interesting for her and is therefore really looking forward to it. She is also looking forward to the internship. Wieke hopes to do some research for a company, and she expects she will learn a lot from that. During Wieke’s bachelor she also did an internship and then she realised its importance to her. Wieke hopes for an internship with a company that wants to create more healthy products. She wants to help consumers to make them more conscious on how they can lead a healthier life.
The master’s programme Communication, Health and Life Sciences is two years. One year is for courses and the second year is for an internship and a thesis. This is another reason why Wieke chose this particular master. A master of one year sounds too short since you can only follow courses for half a year and the other part of the year write your thesis.
It was quite a culture switch from Wieke’s bachelor’s in Rotterdam to this master’s in Wageningen. She experienced that the people in Wageningen are very kind and open. She appreciates this. Besides that, the campus is quite big, but you still meet a lot of people you know.
Wieke: “Communication, Health and Life Sciences is for me the perfect connection to my bachelor, because you get the chance to still do communication courses, but you can also focus on a life science, since it allows you to follow courses in a life sciences field.”
“What I like most about the specialisation Communication and Innovation is that you learn to search for solutions in the communication field to solve problems that you encounter. That can, for instance, be a nutritional problem, but also an environmental problem. The courses stimulate you to think about new innovations.”
Wieke would advise other students that have completed a communication science in their bachelor to consider this master’s, and that you should not be afraid of more technical courses. The master’s starts with some general courses, where the different life sciences are introduced. This is done by, for example, using cases in lectures, but also the assignments allow you to dive into a life sciences topic. After that, you can follow courses in whichever life sciences field that has caught your attention. Besides nutrition, this can be agriculture, climate change, nature, animal sciences, etc. Every student chooses different courses, and according to Wieke, this is an especially nice aspect of the master.
General message from Wieke: there are social studies in Wageningen as well! So don’t hesitate to come and look whether those are of interest to you!