SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND SUSTAINABILITY TRACK
From 2025-2026 onward, students in the PSTS programme can choose to enter a special one-year Science, Technology and Sustainability track at the end of their first year. This is a one-year track consisting of 15 EC of specialized sustainability-focused courses and a master’s thesis in this domain. This track equips you with the knowledge and analytical skills to critically engage in debates about societal transformation – whether as academics, activists, policy advisors, or policymakers. Students taking the STS track graduate as regular PSTS students but with the distinction of having taken the track. Note that the STS track, the AI in Science and Society track, and the 4TU.Ethics Ethics and Technology track are mutually exclusive. However, it is possible to include an internship (10 EC) and a shortened thesis (20 EC) in this track, which is not the case for 4TU.Ethics Ethics and Technology track.
Environmental problems, including how to understand and tackle them, are at the heart of contemporary controversies. The Science, Technology and Sustainability track offers second-year students relevant expertise to analyze and address such controversies. Courses cover the political, historical, decolonial and justice-related dimensions of sustainability transformations. Academic job opportunities, especially at the level of PhD positions in both Philosophy and STS, are also increasing due to the increasing allocation of grant funding to sustainability-related projects, especially in the Netherlands.
Curriculum
1st semester
Block 1A (Q1) courses:
- Technologies in Use - 5 EC (obligatory) - this mandatory course will be redesigned for 2025-2026 (called Technologies and Sustainable Use).
- Technologies and Discourse - 5 EC (obligatory) - this mandatory course will be redesigned for 2025-2026 (called Sustainability and Decolonisation).
- Transformations of Knowledge in a Digital Age - 5 EC (elective, choose two)
- Good Technology for Users and Society - 5 EC (elective, choose two)
Block 1B (Q2) courses:
- Anticipation and Evaluation of Emerging Technologies - 5 EC (obligatory)
- Rethinking Science-Technology Relations - 5 EC (elective, choose two)
- Minds, Bodies and Technologies - 5 EC (elective, choose two)
- Ethics and Epistemology of AI and Robotics - 5 EC (elective, choose two)
2nd semester
Block 2A (Q3) + Block 2B (Q4)
- Master’s Thesis related to sustainability - 30 EC (or 20 EC in the case of combining the line with a shortened thesis and 10 EC internship)
Throughout the entire 2nd year:
- MasterLab - 5 EC (obligatory)
The STS track thus consists of three 5 EC obligatory courses and two 5 EC elective courses. Students admitted to the track may replace up to two elective courses by choosing suitable 5 EC courses from other MSc programmes. The obligatory courses and MasterLab cannot be replaced. Both the programme director and track coordinator must approve these replacement courses.
If a course provides a specific STS track assignment, students in this track must take that particular assignment.
Admission criteria
The track has no special admission requirements.
However, students who want to participate in the track must register by emailing the track coordinator, Prof. Esther Turnhout (with CC to the PSTS study adviser), before 21 June 2025. The registration allows the section to plan ahead, for instance, to anticipate the number of thesis supervisors needed.