Starting in the academic year 2018-2019, the Biology study programme gets a numerus fixus, an intake restriction. The programme will be in English, and expects an extra onrush from international students.

Characteristic to the Biology programme is the many practical classes. That requires small groups and sufficient research facilities. According to education director Wim Scheenen, Huygens building can offer space to a maximum of 200 biology students. At the moment, Biology is already much bigger than most science programmes, with an inflow of 180 to 200 students. ‘In practice, we cannot grow any bigger.’

That could cause problems when the programme will be taught in English in 2018. ‘We do expect a big inflow of international students. There will be a lot of German students among them, but the department of international recruitment tells us that students from other countries also show a lot of interest.’

Cinemec
The biologists do not want to endanger the quality of education. On top of that, they know examples of other popular programmes on campus that – after they started teaching in English – were overstretched by the amount of students that applied. Psychology had an overwhelming amount of applicants. It even looked like students would not fit in the facilities on campus. For the first few weeks, the Psychology first-years had to go to class in the Cinemec, a big cinema on the other side of the Waal river.

With a numerus fixus, the biologists hope to prevent problems like this. The methods of selection are not decided yet. The program board is still discussing this with the faculty board and the department of educational support.