Over two thousand students graduate annually as BachelorsA degree that indicates a student has successfully completed a program of study at a college or university of Science from one of the fifteen universities of applied science within the Applied Science Domain. Service labs, research institutions and with corporate research departments are only some examples of where these graduates start their careers – they also find their way into the industrial sector and environmental advice agencies, engineering agencies and (academic) hospitals.
Many graduates start working as analysts, process engineers and research assistants, yet the programmes also lay a solid foundation for advisory and commercial positions, not to mention teaching jobs. The Applied Science Domain bachelor programmes also form a good basis for advanced studies in the field of natural science. An estimated one out of every three students will go on to take a master programme at an applied-science institution or a university.
Experimental and model-based research plays an important role in many professional environments of any Applied Science bachelor graduate. Graduates use mostly advanced and often automated devices in that research. Aside from that, information technology is becoming increasingly important when answering questions from clients or internal principals.
After a number of years of professional experience, Applied Science graduates have the opportunity to become specialists in their fields, or to be promoted to management positions, such as a project leader or a head of department, or to positions such as quality coordinator, instructor, security officer or information technologist.
As a matter of fact, graduates also have a chance of becoming employed by the university itself, where research groups, known as lectureships, perform applied research into societal issues. These lectureships explicitly aim for collaborations with regional knowledge institutions and companies.
Professional domains
In the following section, we will discuss the details of the types of work performed by graduate bachelors in the Applied Science Domain. We will do this using four different professional domainsSimilar professions fall under the same professional domain.:
- Research and development
- Analytical laboratory and production
- Engineering and process technology
- Commerce, service and service provision
Research & development keyboard_arrow_down
In an R&D environment, the Bachelor of Science will be involved in the development of new products, materials, methods and processes, or improving them and/or increasing their sustainability, e.g in the fields of medical diagnostics, environmental innovations, biotechnology or forensic science. In both government institution and corporate research laboratories, bachelors will mostly work independently, yet at the same time as part of a team, in which position they will bear responsibility for research into a subdomain.
That person will develop and realise an experimental or model-based test set-up, perform and interpret experiments, draw conclusions and write recommendations. The bachelor may also participate in research by performing specialist data analyses.
Organising, coordinating and managing work activities are also often among the tasks of Applied Science Domain graduates.
Analytical laboratory and production keyboard_arrow_down
This professional domain is all about analysis – medical or otherwise – and syntheses, two aspects that involve many different types of technology and equipment used by BScs. Also, they bring in their knowledge in the field of automation and quality control. They can perform a large variety of complex experiments and analyses, varying from manual analyses to fully automatised and robotised ones. Also, they provide assistance in working on new diagnostic and treatment techniques or equipment.
Graduates are employed with, among others, environmental labs, quality control labs, and production labs focussing in the organic, biochemical and analytical fields. Or they work in more environmentally oriented environments, such as laboratories in the fields of clinical chemistry, medical microbiology, cytohistopathology, haematology, immunology, endocrinology or clinical-genetic research. In these labs, bachelors contribute to research into diagnostics and treatment improvement.
Naturally, in synthesis laboratories, where work conditions and safety are among the most important topics, the bachelor’s broad knowledge is also put to work. The same goes for labs that are involved in the production of biological products, such as medicine and vaccines.
Engineering and process technology keyboard_arrow_down
In this particular professional domain, a Bachelor of Science will be involved in or even primarily responsible for managing and controlling the production process, or a part of it. The bachelors, and the teams they are part of, develop or apply new processes, or they enhance current processes, products or materials. The bachelor consults both with operators and higher management levels and external parties, takes decisions about process modifications, or prepares such decisions, and finally reports on the processes and results. In the process, the bachelor has the opportunity to use his knowledge of flow technology, heat transfer, chemical conversion processes, physical separation techniques and materials in order to achieve an optimal value-for-money ratio, all within socially acceptable risks.
Sustainability, in all its facets, is always part of the equation. For example: the use of other, more sustainable raw materials, energy sources and circularity. Two points of emphasis can be discerned in this professional domain. In (bio) process technology, emphasis lies with process development, design and optimisation. In product and material technology, on the other hand, emphasis is on the product’s characteristics and applications.
Commerce, service and service provision keyboard_arrow_down
Bachelors with an Applied Science Domain background have a lot of expertise in the areas of products, systems, services and equipment for laboratories and factories. This often gives them an edge in commercial positions, for example when it comes to selling equipment or supervising new users of complex biological, medical or chemical devices.
They also have the option of becoming a manager or an assistant manager of a department or service, or setting up their own company. When it comes to service provision, the BSc. generally finds employment as e.g. a hygienist, a consultant, or as someone who is responsible for transferring knowledge.
Also, graduates can be employed with institutions or companies in the field of quality care, security, environment or hygiene, for example in a role as a professional health and safety environmental care coordinator, or as a specialist with RIVM (the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment).