Students participating in a lecture

Program and courses New Media Design

Become an expert in the field of content and interaction design in relation to new media. You will develop an academic perspective on design and evaluation processes and learn the skills to test and improve these processes and the design itself.

Program structure

This one-year track of MSc Communication and Information Sciences consists of 60 credits (ECTS):

  • 6 core electives (36 ECTS in total)
  • 2 research skills electives (6 ECTS in total)
  • Master’s thesis (18 ECTS)

You can start at the end of August or at the end of January.

Program content

Core electives

Choose 6 core electives:

To have the New Media Design (NMD) specialization listed on your diploma, at least 4 of the courses you choose must have the NMD-label. You are free to choose the other 2 courses from the total range of electives offered by the MSc Communication and Information Sciences. This includes electives with the label of the Business Communication and Digital Media (BDM) and Communication and Cognition (CC) tracks.

Below are courses that are classified under NMD:

  • Interactive Storytelling
  • Responsible UX Design
  • Emerging Technologies for Learning
  • The Human Mind in the Digital World
  • Design Research
  • Language Technology & Cognition
  • Digital Food Marketing
  • Social Media: Risks & Opportunities
  • Language Technology & Society
  • Digital Health Communication 
  • Creativity and Innovation 
  • Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality 
  • Social Media Marketing
Research skills electives

Choose at least 2 research skills modules from the list below:

  • Rapid Prototyping 
  • Survey
  • Analysis of Variance
  • Eye Tracking
  • Research Interview
  • Online Data Collection
  • Programming
  • Annotation
Master’s thesis

You start with your Master's Thesis (18 ECTS) in the first lecture week of the third block of your study and complete it at the end of the fourth block.

  • For your Master's thesis, you will conduct research on a subject related to New Media Design.
  • You will be paired with a supervisor with expertise in the area of the topic you have indicated your interest in.
  • Under certain conditions, you will have the opportunity to link your thesis research to a research question from a company or organization.

Watch a trial lecture

Dual Degree with Wirtschaftsuniversität Vienna (+1 year)

Become a specialist in the field of business communication with a special focus on digital and intercultural communication.

This Dual Degree program provides two degrees: one from the Wirtschaftsuniversität (WU) Vienna in Austria and one from Tilburg University. Yo will learn how companies can optimally adapt their communication to the international environment in which they operate, and the opportunities and challenges of today's media society.

  • You will start at the end of September at WU Vienna.
  • One year later you will continue the program at Tilburg University, starting at the end of August.
  • scholarship covers part of your tuition.

More on the Dual Degree with Wirtschaftsuniversität Vienna

You will find a detailed description of the courses and required literature in our course catalog.

Go to the course descriptions


Please note: programs are subject to change. We advise you to look up the current program in OSIRIS Student at the start of the year.


Do you want to know more about this Master’s program?

Find out more during one of our events

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Short overview of New Media Design

  • Develop a critical academic perspective on design processes.
  • Learn methods to research which factors can increase the impact of new media.
  • Learn how to translate users' needs into purposeful designs that align with how people perceive, decide, and behave.
  • Gain visualization skills, experiment with interactive storytelling and learn how to create prototypes that can be tested among users.
  • Explore how new media can contribute to social challenges such as the empowerment of vulnerable groups or individuals.

Interested in the New Media Design track?

Check your eligibility and the deadlines for application