Dear reader,
Lucy Wenting, General Director of the IIS
Luca Bertolini, Scientific Director of the IIS
The challenges of our current era – resource conflicts, climate change, human and environmental health - are all connected and reinforce each other. Understanding who and what drives these challenges, and how responses to them may or may not change their trajectories is essential. This requires understanding not only the biophysical processes, but also the functioning of governance systems, power structures, and human behaviour.
With its interdisciplinary courses and programmes, such as the Master’s programme Complex Systems and Policy, the IIS offers students a holistic understanding of how the various components of these complex systems interact. And it even goes beyond that. Working with public and private partners in practice, students learn to design effective interventions and test their skills in real-world contexts through Challenge-Based projects. They hereby have direct impact through joint learning processes with scientists, teachers, and stakeholders. UvA’s IIS offers a unique environment that enables this innovative type of education, experimentation, and co-learning.
Dr. Elisabeth Krueger is an Assistant Professor at the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) and teaches on the Master’s programme in Complex Systems and Policy.
With its range of interdisciplinary courses and programmes, such as the Master’s programme in Complex Systems and Policy, the IIS offers students a holistic understanding of how the various components of complex systems interact.Dr. Elisabeth Krueger
The new MSc programme in Complex Systems and Policy launched in 2025. The programme challenges students to analyse complex problems and collaborate with external stakeholders such as local authorities, government departments, mental health services and businesses. This enables students to design interventions that reflect the realities of policy-making and implementation. “The students are true pioneers,” says lecturer Lieke Mulder. “They are bold, ask questions and learn from one another. As the first cohort, they really feel like a group – that pioneering spirit creates an immediate bond. That fits perfectly with the IIS.”
This year, the UvA launched UvA AI Chat: a safe environment in which students and lecturers can work with artificial intelligence. Morten Strømme, Project Leader for Educational Development and AI Literacy Expert at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies (IIS), was closely involved in the development and talks about the possibilities for interdisciplinary education.
“The beauty of AI is that you can use it to combine different perspectives or simulate a variety of viewpoints. That fits very well with the IIS and the people who work here. The experimental nature of the platform really reflects how we innovate in education.”
Anyone working on the social challenges of today realises on a daily basis that major problems are not bound by disciplinary boundaries. Climate, technology, the energy transition, security, inclusion: they are all intertwined. As a senior adviser at the municipality of Amsterdam, I see just how difficult it is to translate ambitions into actual collaboration between the city, research and practice, and how the complexity of these issues is only increasing.
That is why the IIS stands out to me. The Placemaking minor and the Complex Systems and Policy Master's programme demonstrate that interdisciplinary education is more than just combining subjects. It is about training professionals who can handle complexity, and who know how to initiate a dialogue between people who do not yet speak the same language. It is precisely these professionals that we desperately need in the city and on the labour market of tomorrow. The IIS is investing in that generation, and does so with courage. Precisely now that AI and geopolitical developments are changing the rules of the game, the question is not whether we need this kind of education, but how quickly we can scale it up.
Natalija Counet is a senior advisor at the City of Amsterdam and a member of the IIS’s external advisory board.
The IIS is investing in that generation, and does so with courage. Precisely now that AI and geopolitical developments are changing the rules of the game, the question is not whether we need this kind of education, but how quickly we can scale it up.Drs. Natalija Counet
Did you know that the IIS has a book series? And that our staff occasionally publish academic papers? You can find a list of these publications and books on our website.
Change Making is an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary learning concept in which students work alongside social partners on transition issues to design and implement interventions. In 2025, the Change Making Healthy Future elective and the minor programme were launched. In addition, the Change Making team received a Comenius Teaching Fellowship grant, which they will use to further expand the programme.
