The Control track combines academic depth with a strong practical orientation. The curriculum includes courses such as Incentives and Control, Strategic Value Management, and Judgment and Decision Making in Financial Management, all grounded in economic and behavioural theory. At the same time, the programme is deliberately applied: in Business Lab & Professional Skills, you work on real cases from partnering organisations, learn Python programming and apply data analytics to actual management and control challenges, such as evaluating manager performance, designing incentive systems, or improving the reliability of financial reporting within an organisation. Theory gives you the frameworks and practice teaches you how to use them. 

The Control track prepares you for a career as a strategic business partner. Courses such as Strategic Value Management, Incentives and Control, and Judgment and Decision Making in Financial Management train you to interpret financial data, design performance systems and support organisational decision-making. In Business Lab & Professional Skills, you apply these skills to real business cases, such as designing performance systems, building the practical competencies employers expect. The Research Seminar and thesis complete the programme by sharpening your ability to independently tackle complex problems. This capacity for independent judgement gives Master’s graduates an edge in their careers. 

The Control track constantly asks you to switch between perspectives: one moment you are analysing financial data and designing performance systems, the next you are reflecting on human behaviour and organisational dynamics. Mastering that combination of technical rigour and conceptual thinking is what students find most demanding, and what ultimately prepares them best for the complexity of the workplace.

After completing the Control track, you are eligible to apply for the Executive Master of Finance & Control (EMFC), a joint programme offered by the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and VU Amsterdam (VU). The EMFC is a part-time  post-Master's programme that leads to the title of Register Controller (RC). The EMFC is offered both in Dutch and in English.