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Committees of NODE

As NODE is still a young and small organization, it does not host as much different committees as might be expected from a student association, nor does it need a large amount of them. Outside of a board, NODE consists of an internal committee and an external committee. A short description of both is provided below.

Internal Committee

The internal committee of NODE takes care of the more informal activities organized for GIMA students. To involve all students as much as possible, these will mostly be organized in the contact periods at the four universities GIMA students visit around the year. These activities can vary from a relaxing BBQ to an intense pubquiz.

External Committee

The external committee takes care of the formal activities that also serve as a calling card for GIMA as a master program and NODE as an organization. The most important of these is GIS Career Day, a symposium and company market where students, teachers and companies can share knowledge and experiences. Additionally NODE is involved in multiple Missing Maps events and company visits each year.

Tips & Tricks: Best practices from (former) GIMA-students for making the most of your MSc!

 Are you in doubt if GIMA is the right MSc programme for you? We’ve collected some best practices from former first-year GIMA students, which could help you in making a decision:

  1. Think about your learning goals: Why are you thinking about studying GIMA? Think about your motives. Do you want to broaden yourself in geoinformation management and become a future geo-management specialist? Do you want to apply specific coding skills in the building of GI-applications? Or are you more interested in the analyzation of geo-information for the support of spatial policies or in scientific work? All are valid reasons for studying GIMA, however you should be aware that GIMA covers a broad range of topics in the GI-field. Also be aware that there is a lot of flexibility in what you would like to learn in some of the courses’ projects. Thinking beforehand in what you would like to master yourself in, could help you in making the right choices for projects in the course of the year. (Also don’t forget, GIMA is not the only Dutch GI-master, inform yourself also of the programme of Geomatics (TU Delft) or Geo-Information Sciences (Wageningen University & Research)).
  2. Refresh your GI-knowledge: You definitely do not have to be a GI-expert, when starting GIMA. However, it is really helpful if you already got some introductory courses or work experiences with GI-(software) programmes (e.g. Qgis, ArcGIS Pro). If you have no actual experience with geo information (or you question your own skills), contact the GIMA programme director (through GIMA secretary). He or she can give you links to course material what can help you improve your GI-knowledge, when you are submitted for GIMA. The courses will namely start with basic knowledge, but this will quickly be more in depth.  
  3. Contact the right people:  Don’t hesitate to ask your questions upfront before the application deadline. Most relevant formal information can be found on http://www.msc-gima.nl/. If you’ve got other questions about the application process or course schedule, email the GIMA secretary who can also get you in contact with the programme director. If you are curious to know a student's perspective on studying GIMA contact us, NODE, via email, LinkedIn or our Facebook page.  
  4. Stay over during the contact weeks: GIMA is a blended learning programme, where four short contact periods are alternated with long distance periods with no classroom education. The contact periods are organized in the four different university cities. We strongly advise you (especially for the first contact weeks in Enschede) to stay over in the cities. Next to the comfort of short travel time after a long day of lectures is it also rewarding to spend time after lectures with your classmates. NODE organizes every contact week a few activities to strengthen the ties between the GIMA-students. 
  5. Practice together: Studying GIMA asks a great deal of your ability to cope with questions independently. This is due to the blending learning nature of the programme (which requires no physical attendance outside the contact weeks). Course coordinators are of course per mail available for questions, but it might be more helpful to first ask your study mates. Therefore, practice from last years made clear that it can be rewarding (and less frustrating) to study in groups and help each other with difficulties. The University of Utrecht has for example some nice GI-study facilities available. If you are studying abroad and are therefore not able to study in groups, you can try to organize study sessions with other GIMA-students through Discord or MS Teams.
  6. Get ready for some groupwork: Next to individual assignments consists GIMA of some large group projects. In these projects you work for several months with four or more fellow students. GIMA is therefore also a  good playing field for learning to cooperate with other future GI-experts on big topics. The experiences you acquire here can be helpful in your later professional career. 
  7. Work on your planning skills: The blended learning structure and flexible programme of GIMA makes it absolutely necessary that you plan your study activities accordingly. Deadlines are often at the end of course modules, which makes it tempting to postpone study work (for which you will burn your fingers at the end of the module!). Full-time GIMA students spend approximately 40 hours per week on GIMA.
  8. Visit NODE-activities: The objective of NODE is to strengthen the ties between GIMA-students, alumni and the the professional GI-world outside GIMA. Therefore we organize several formal and informal activities to narrow the gap between these parties. From our own experience we believe that regular contact between students helps in finishing GIMA successfully. To stay up-to-date on our activities follow us via social media or check this website. 

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Pictures of Past Events

Due to privacy regulations we have decided to no longer display pictures of activities on the NODE website. As of June 2021 all pictures of upcoming activities can be found on the one and only NODE-instagram page. Follow us on @gimanode!