Period A of MIRT programme completed

The student:

1.      has advanced knowledge of and insight into concepts, theories, methods and paradigms within one of the theological disciplines and is capable of critical reflection on this;

2.      can autonomously integrate knowledge and insights into the Reformed tradition and, from personal conviction, contribute to the evaluation and development of that tradition;

3.      can independently conduct methodical research within one of the fields of Reformed Theology;

4.      can connect the research in the selected sub-discipline to the broader field of theological science;

5.      can collaborate with other scholars and integrate and apply relevant insights from non-theological academic disciplines to the field of theology;

6.      can apply his or her theological knowledge and insights to contribute to the formation of academic judgment and problem-solving regarding complex ecclesiastical and social issues;

7.      can report the research effectively to peers and the broader public in a well-structured thesis;

8.      possesses a self-critical, transparent and serving attitude when conducting research and in presenting the results to peers as well as to the broader public;

can direct academic theological knowledge and skills towards assuming responsibilities in the Christian, ecclesiastical and public domain.

The student writes a thesis on a subject that is relevant for his / her home context. The topic is discussed with and approved by the MIRT programme coordinator. Typically, a second supervisor is asked to assist in the development of the thesis. As a rule, the thesis brings theological voices from the home context of the student in conversation with those of (Western) Reformed theology. In this way the student shows, that (s)he can reflect theologically on a topic, which is relevant for the home context and that (s)he can evaluate the usefulness of the Reformed contribution in and for this context. If there are good reasons, the basic format of the thesis can be different.

Schedule
•    31 January 2026 - Formulation of the research topic and provisional research question.
•    1 April 2026 - Thesis proposal - research question, table of contents, provisional list of literature
•    1 May 2026 - First chapter (problem / research question / methodology etc.) 
•    13-15 May 2026 (to be specified later) - Poster presentation 
•    1 July 2026 - Full first draft
•    5 August 2026 – Final version

Discussions, Supervision, Literature study, Research

17.5 EC

Thesis and presentation. More information can be found in the thesis regulations for the 1-year Master programme, which can be found on Canvas. The size of the thesis is around 25.000 words.