Preparatory education
Before you may begin your research project, you must have taken the Methods of Research (MvO) exam. All requirements can be found in the OER. More information about the Master’s Research Project can be found in Masteronderzoek.

Each academic year offers five instructional moments for MVO: 

• A three-week block in September/October: During this MVO block, one of the lectures will be recorded. If any of these sessions coincide with clerkships or other educational activities, those take priority.
• Four identical MVO weeks spread throughout the year: These weeks include (in-person) teaching sessions that can be attended without prior registration, even if other education takes place in the same week. However, if MVO teaching overlaps with compulsory education, the compulsory education takes precedence.

In 2025-2026*:

• 17 september 2025 (3 weeks)
• 2 februari 2026 (1 week)
• 2 maart 2026 (1 week)
• 4 mei 2026 (1 week)
• 8 juni 2026 (1 week)

The timetable for the 2025–2026 academic year can be found on the timetable website.

* The starting dates of Methods of Research are scheduled each year around the same time/month as the previous academic year, but this cannot be guaranteed.

Master’s Research Project
Are you planning to begin your Master’s Research Project immediately after MVO? Keep in mind that you must have fully completed your Master’s Research Project before any potential start date of your clinical rotations. Therefore, count at least 28 or 30 weeks for both the coursework (3 weeks of teaching + exam) and the research project (18 or 20 weeks, see Canvas for details), including possible delays.

Registration criteria for Methods of Research
Registration is required only for the September block; the other four MVO weeks may be attended without registration. In all cases, you must already be enrolled in the Master’s in Medicine in Studielink.

You may register for the September MVO block in OSIRIS only if:

• You have completed your bachelor degree at the time of registration;
• You have submitted an enrolment request for the Master’s in Medicine in Studielink, starting on the 1st of the month in which MVO begins;
• You have submitted an individual course registration in OSIRIS no later than two weeks before the start of the course.

Register timely via OSIRIS
If you wish to participate in the September block, you must register for the course yourself via OSIRIS no later than two weeks before the start. Registration opens after the exam of the previous MVO block has taken place. The course code is GENMA08MVO. OSIRIS may indicate that you have been placed on a waiting list—this can be ignored. All registered students who meet the requirements may participate. The MVO block has no maximum number of participants. Course registration automatically includes registration for the exam.

Registering for the exam only
If you wish to register only for the (resit) exam, you can do this via OSIRIS.
Important: register only for the exam, not for the course. The exam can also be found under the code GENMA08MVO.

Study group number (September block)
After registering in OSIRIS, you will receive your study group number one week before the start of the course block.

Research Master Health Sciences en Exemption from MvO
Medical students may receive an exemption from Methods of Research if they pass the following courses with a satisfactory grade:

• CK010 Study Design
• CK020 Biostatistics I
• CK030 Biostatistics II
• CK040 Clinical Epidemiology 

In addition, it is possible to use your Health Sciences research project for the Master’s Research Project.
Requests for exemption must be submitted to the Examination Board via Osiris Zaak.