On 31 August 2026, the PDPC kicked off its brand-new minor, Preparing for the Next Pandemic and Disaster. The programme aims to empower students as future leaders in the field of pandemic and disaster preparedness. Through interdisciplinary collaboration, students will learn how to strengthen societal resilience, reduce vulnerability and deal with the unpredictability and complexity of these challenges.

The minor uses real-world cases, such as floods, heat waves and pandemics, to explore the background, challenges and opportunities of preparing society for future crises. Students will gain knowledge about different types of disasters and learn from a wide range of various disciplines about topics including early warning systems, forecasting and the use of models, infectious disease control, behavioural sciences, societal impacts and resilient health systems.

The students will also ‘experience’ crises through simulation exercises, where they will learn to make informed decisions and take calculated risks as part of an interdisciplinary team. They will then be able to put this knowledge into practice through a stakeholder project, in which they tackle a real-world problem provided by an external organisation working in the field of crisis, disaster or pandemic preparedness.

To further connect theory to practice, the programme also includes visits to several organisations and facilities at the heart of pandemic and disaster preparedness. Students will visit the Erasmus MC Viroscience laboratory to get a closer look at infectious disease research, the Emergency Department (SEH) to learn about the challenges of responding to crises in a healthcare setting, and the headquarters of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva to gain an international perspective on pandemic preparedness and response.

The minor is a 20-week programme running through January 2027. In this first edition, 22 students have enrolled, with widely different backgrounds ranging from medicine and public health to technical studies, psychology, social sciences, criminology, public administration and safety sciences. This diversity reflects the spirit of the PDPC and Convergence: a collaboration between Erasmus MC, Erasmus University Rotterdam and TU Delft.

We are looking forward to the coming weeks, and wish all students and teachers an inspiring and successful programme!