The domain of the Master Information Sciences (IS)
Information Sciences is the multidisciplinary area bridging Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and its practical use in society. Are you interested in how information is created and processed in companies and institutions? Are you more interested in the application of technology than technology for its own sake? Do you believe it's important not to lose sight of the role people, organizations and cultures play in designing, modelling, communicating and sharing information? Are you fascinated by knowledge and innovation? If so, then the Master's programme in Information Sciences at VU Amsterdam is an excellent choice for you.
Information Sciences (IS, in other countries also called Information Systems) focus on theory development and best practices of effective creation, structuring, processing, communication and sharing of information and knowledge using ICT. Information processes and contexts of organizations and individuals are studied, not just from a technological perspective but also from the social, economic, cognitive and organizational perspectives.
At VU we pay special attention to the latest innovative developments and applications of ICT, related to Internet, World Wide Web, multimedia, intelligent systems, and electronic business. Here are some of the advanced topics that IS researchers at VU currently investigate:
E-payment
With music being broadcast on Internet radio stations across the entire planet, how will artists be paid? How can web-based services be used to facilitate appropriate remuneration
Intelligent Web
How can we make web applications intelligent to enable electronic information and knowledge to be published, maintained and shared across companies, public institutions and communities of interest?
Multimedia databases
Internet-based multimedia databases, like music libraries or digital museum collections, pose specific challenges. How can we enable a broad range of users to easily search, preview and consume video clips, sound samples, explanatory notes, a discography or a collection?
Business models
Small and medium-sized enterprises offering e-services on the Web will rely more and more on advances in networked business modelling techniques. What are the best strategies for developing effective models?
Serious games
Games are increasingly being used to facilitate learning in both corporate and private settings. Projects involve both the design and implementation of such games, with as central questions: how can learning or training be offered in the form of serious games and with with immersive visual context, explanatory narratives and suitable challenges for the player/learner?
Information sciences at the Vrije Universiteit strikes a healthy balance by combining technology and information with the study of people, culture and organizations. It builds on a solid computer science foundation, but does so in an inherently multidisciplinary approach that continuously crosses and challenges the boundaries between exact and social sciences. Our research is at the international forefront, an achievement directly reflected in the Master's programme. Social, communicative and managerial skills are important in IS. So, during your study you will regularly work in project teams and collaborate with others to solve practical problems regarding complex information systems in real-life settings.
Both the Bachelor and Master programmes in IS are organized by VU's Faculty of Sciences. Information about the Bachelor programme IS or "Informatiekunde" can be found in a separate study guide. All VU studyguides are also available on the Web.
