Meet Lotte Bant!

Why did you decide to do the IDA Master?

Research is something that really excites me and I have always been curious about human behaviour and the human mind. I chose IDA because I really want to learn more about individual differences and pursue an academic career after this!

What has been your favourite course and why?

My favourite course so far has been biological correlates of individual differences. I really like how connections between psychology and biology were made and how they interact and can be very useful in explaining certain behaviour.

Do you experience stress in your studies/pressure? How do you deal with it?

Yes, but I deal with it by working together with classmates and helping each other out and of course also meetings in a relaxed way help. The more we do together, the less stress is experienced, at least by me.

How can your knowledge from the IDA master be useful for the real world?

I think during the research master IDA we are trained to become educated professionals who also dare to look critically towards the research field. I also feel like our knowledge can be very useful in bringing different fields closer together and look for connections in knowledge and practices. I hope we can contribute to the real world by thinking outside of the box and contribute to new perspectives on research and a clearer understanding and view of the range of human behaviour.

Why do you think it is important to study what you study?

I think it is important to study IDA because we have to be aware that there are many individual differences that underly different forms of behaviour. Looking for connections in differences, but also diving deeper into theories and dynamics of those differences can lead to a better comprehension of the human development.

What is the most fascinating you have learned?

One of the most fascinating things we’ve discussed is the concept of intelligence. The history about the definition of the concept dating back from Plato to more modern theories now. One of the main questions that keeps me busy is: isn’t intelligence defined by the means of which we measure this concept? It is not only related to intelligence it can be applied to a lot of definitions. This made me see that we have to be aware of the measurements we use and the many definitions that exist about the topics we encounter in the master.

What motivates you to keep studying?

The content, the classmates and just learning new things in every course. It is really nice to think about concepts in a more advanced manner, questioning things, but as a result also connecting bigger concepts together and see where gaps in research might still exist.

How are you experiencing the relationship to your teachers?

Very good. We have very nice discussions where we learn very much from them. They are always open for questions and really help us think about the content and topics using multiple perspectives.