Student Stories

Hi! My name is Noortje and I am a recent graduate from the Molecular Medicine and Innovative Treatment (MMIT) programme. I obtained my bachelor’s degree in Biology, majoring in Biomedical Sciences, here in Groningen. Groningen is the definition of a student city and as a result, there are loads of exciting opportunities to keep you busy. During my studies, I joined several committees at different student associations and became a competitive rower.

Eline Bolt recently graduated from the MSc Climate Adaptation Governance (CAG) at Campus Fryslan. She has now a position as a project employee at the same consultancy firm she did her internship. In this post, Eline tells her opinion on the added value of this MSc.

Brigitta, a graduate in Industrial Engineering from Surabaya, Indonesia, shifted her focus to sustainability studies in Leeuwarden. In this blog post, she delves into her passion for sustainability, the reasons behind choosing Campus Fryslân, and her experiences as a master’s student thus far.

Choosing what LLM to follow after you have finished your LLB might be a challenging decision to take as there are many specializations to choose from. European Law in a Global Context LLM student Christiana Zamfir addresses some of the  reasons as to why she thinks her LLM was the best decision for her.

“What does the time in Groningen mean to you?” That’s what I asked myself when I sat down to start writing on this blog. I spend around 2 years in the amazing city of Groningen and I thought the best I can do today is to just invite you on my personal journey and some of the enlightening “AHA” moments I had, with the hope that it gives you a good insight on what studying in Groningen could bring to you as well.

When she was still a marketing student at the Faculty of Economics and Business, Freya Liemburg already ran two businesses through which she acquired valuable entrepreneurial knowledge and shared her marketing insights with other companies and like-minded online entrepreneurs.

Kazue is from Japan and started her study at the University of Groningen (UG) in 2020. She finished the Pre-Master Marketing in 2021 and completed the Master programme Marketing Analytics and Data Science the year after. 

My name is Yu Chen. I am currently studying for a PhD in Behavioral Economics at the University of Groningen.

Hi! I am Andreea Dascalu from Brăila, Romania and I have just graduated from the Bachelor programme Arts, Culture and Media, as well as from the Honours College. I first came to Groningen in 2018 expecting to spend the following 3 years of my life there, with small breaks during the summer and wintertime. However, during my second year, the global pandemic emerged, and, needless to say, it changed my plans.

Dragos Balan graduated from the MSc Voice Technology in October 2023. Today, he works as a Junior Researcher at the University of Twente. In this blog post, Dragos shares his experience with the programme and links it to how it prepared him for the position he currently holds.

After his time as a student at the Faculty of Economics, Gerard van den Berg, Professor of Health Econometrics, is back in Groningen.

My name is Martin Bakardzhiev. I am a Master Sustainable Entrepreneurship student from Bulgaria. This programme is offered at the University of Groningen's Campus Fryslân in Leeuwarden. I plan to pursue a career in sustainability as in my belief it holds the future of business.

A common question many students nearing the completion of their Master’s programme have is: “what to pursue next: a job or a PhD?” With the current COVID-19 situation worldwide there are challenges for every fresh graduate. While studying for my Research Master in Biomolecular Sciences, I was always more inclined towards pursuing a career in research.

I am Matheus! I am from Brazil, where I studied medicine. For me, the most important part of Clinical and Psychosocial Epidemiology is how we get prepared to do research before starting it. In some places in Brazil, you would just have to start with your research and try to figure out how to do it along the way. Here, we had a nicely structured programme that prepared us for every step.

Hi! My name is Bethany Wong and I followed the master's programme Heritage and Religion , from which I graduated last year. For my bachelor’s degree, I studied Liberal Arts and Sciences , where I majored in Health and Life Sciences. During my third year, my exchange to the US got canceled because of COVID, so I took the Art and Religion minor at the UG.

Hello everyone! My name is Ali Aqlan, a Mechanical Engineer from Yemen. I’m excited to share the highlights of my journey in Energy and Environmental Sciences (EES) as I continue my studies in this field. I am fascinated and interested in new era technologies, particularly, the decentralised renewable sources/systems, which rely on no detrimental fuels and are more resilient than centralised systems. Currently, I am a Master degree student/researcher at the University of Groningen, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Energy and Environmental Sciences.

Hi! I am Dorottya Kósa from Budapest, Hungary and I am a master's graduate in Euroculture and in Social Networks. Currently, I am working as an attaché for youth affairs at the Permanent Representation of Hungary to the EU.

You feel somewhat nervous, and your palms are slightly damp. You look around and make sure nobody notices you. But what if they do? So far so good, nobody has come up to you yet. But…, oh no… someone is coming! what will you do!? Should you make a run for it? Or will you brave the beast and stand your ground...

Undergoing a master’s degree in energy and climate law at the University of Groningen was one of my most challenging experiences as a Nigerian student in the Netherlands.

From a very young age I got the question “what do you want to be when you grow up?” And while my answer from when I was 6 changed to when I was 16, I always knew I wanted to make an impact, to do good. But what did that mean? How to translate this dream I had into a career? That’s maybe an answer I am still looking for, but let me tell you where I am now, how I got here and the most important things I learned along the way.

My name is Franziska Heinzmann and I am a Master International Business and Management alumna. Initially, I am from the south of Germany and studied and lived in Austria, China and the Netherlands. I am currently doing an internship in Vienna and will soon move to Shanghai to pursue the second part of my double degree studies at Fudan University.

4 years ago, I was a terrified freshman who pulled a big suitcase on the streets of Groningen to an accommodation address that I only saw some photos of. I had my navigation app open on my phone so as not to miss a bus stop or get lost all the way there. The mixed feelings of anxiety and excitement were at times silenced by the city’s beauty in my mind: “Streets are beautiful: Do I want to cry? I missed home. Oh this café looks cosy! Look at these people, they’re so familiar with this city and I am not.. I will make friends and get used to the city too, right? I think I can do that. There are so many bikes... I don’t even know how to properly ride a bike.. Oh, there’s the church I saw online, it really looks magnificent!”

My name is Stelios Matsagkos and I’m from Greece. I am passionate about branding and communication and I studied Marketing at the University of Groningen (UG).  While I am writing this blog post I am sitting on a terrace in sunny Greece. You guessed it, I’m back home. The truth is that when you are studying, your schedule is unimaginably busy and you feel that time is standing still (at least I had this feeling). But guess what? Time is flying! When I think about the beginning of my UG journey, it seems almost unreal that now I am back in Greece with a master’s degree in my pocket.