Science Methodology – Understanding the Principles of Scientific Research
A new course for students in natural sciences
During the BSc and MSc education students learn lots of scientific facts, but do they know
how science works? In this course the basic principles of the methodology used in the natural
sciences are taught. The aim is to let the student contemplate concepts like ‘truth’,
‘experiments’, ‘models’, ‘confirmation/falsification’ and make the student aware of the
limitations of the ability to make objective observations. Also current practices, like the
‘publish or perish’ dogma and the importance of impact and rankings as well as fraud and
integrity in science will be discussed.
The course is meant for MSc and PhD students in any of the natural sciences who are
performing scientific research projects. It will consist of lectures and discussions.
Credits: 4 EC
Lecturers: Dr. Victor Gijsbers (Institute of Philosophy)
Dr. Sarah de Rijcke (Centre for Science and Technology Studies)
Prof. Dr. Paul Wouters (Centre for Science and Technology Studies)
Prof. Dr. Jan Sixma (National Board for Scientific Integrity, LOWI)
Co-ordinator: Prof. Dr. Marcellus Ubbink (Institute of Chemistry)
Mondays and Wednesday at 15:30 – 17:15, location to be announced.
starting at February 13 till March 28
Registration: Blackboard > Courses FWN > Life Science and Technology > Master >
Vakken 2011-2012 > Science Methodology (LST-SM-1112FWN), enroll
