Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

How does literature influence our culture and our daily lives? How do different expressions of text and image complement each other? How do our stories make us who we are? And what makes a story worth reading?

Typical questions on which you develop a critical, sharp view during your studies in Literature and Society. Literature is a broad concept and varies from the first written texts to the last spoken word performance. As a student you are not just reading: of course, you love literature, but your interests are broader. You want to learn how stories shape us and how they can be linked to our contemporary challenges. You’re interested in culture and social issues and also enjoy writing yourself.

Within the bachelor's program in Literature and Society, you choose one of our 2 tracks, which, in addition to the language of instruction, also differ in focus:

• Creative Writing Dutch
  A study in literature and creative writing: the first Dutch bachelor's degree in creative writing, which gives you a scientific basis plus practical writing skills: creative writing. Main language in this track is Dutch.
• Literature and Society
  This bachelor's program teaches you to look at (written and visual) literature with a critical eye. Here too you will work on your writing skills, but the focus of the course is broader.

How can we ensure that countries and companies tackle climate change? What influence do technological developments have on politics? As a political scientist, you want to change the world and help others to understand society better. You closely follow shifting power relationships in Europe and the rest of the world and are interested in their underlying causes, such as technological developments and climate change.

During the Bachelor of Political Science programme, you will study how societies are organised politically and at what level decisions are made. You will delve into topics such as the power and powerlessness of the EU and the influence of new media. In our close-knit, yet international community, you have ample freedom to choose the scale on which you want to change the world.

In the Global Politics programme, you are exposed to diverse viewpoints, experiences and cultures, giving you a broader field of vision. You learn to reflect on your own opinions, assumptions and the things you consider 'common sense'. As befits a future political scientist, you also pay attention to developing your debating and presentation skills. By working together with students and lecturers from programmes such as Sociology, Cultural Anthropology, and Governance & Organizational Sciences, you will become familiar with multiple perspectives.

How has democracy become a global standard while other types of government are considered ‘deviations’? What are the historical origins of global inequality and climate change? Learn about the historical origins of our global society

History and International Studies is the English-language degree for you if you want to understand the origins of our global world by combining history with a focus on modern languages and international relations.

Students go beyond Eurocentric perspectives and analyse global power dynamics and conflicts from multiple viewpoints, addressing contemporary challenges with attention to marginalised voices and alternative frameworks

Small scale seminars and intensive supervision ensure that you are part of an academic community and do not disappear into anonymous lecture halls. The freedom we offer in research projects challenges you to develop and defend original arguments. At VU Amsterdam, you will not only earn your degree, but also become an independent thinker.

Five reasons to choose History and International Studies:

• Global perspective on world history.
• Attention to current themes.
• Combination of History, Social Sciences and International Relations.
• Attention to modern languages.
• You can benefit from the teachers' network.

Why do some people always want the cheapest product, whereas others will buy a more expensive one? How do you stop a bank from collapsing? Are nuclear plants the solution to the climate problem?

During the Bachelor of Economics and Business Economics you study the many different facets of economic systems. You gain insight into how people, companies and governments behave, from the choices of individual consumers to decisions on a global scale.

In today’s society, massive amounts of data are collected. But how is all that data used? How can a bank efficiently combine econometric models and machine learning methods to predict the expected inflation in a country? Which time series and statistical methods can a supermarket use to forecast the inventory levels of fresh products, such as vegetables and fruits, based on seasonal influences and consumer demand? Additionally, how can a soft drink company make a reliable quantitative analysis of the impact of a television advertisement on the sales of a specific product?

How do we deal with the enormous amount of data produced on a daily basis, all over the world? What can we do to prevent election results from being hacked? How can we keep our interaction with computers understandable? During the Bachelor of Computer Science programme at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, you will be trained as an expert in the underlying technology of computer systems.

Information technology (IT) is everywhere and provides us with an unprecedented range of possibilities. During the Bachelor of Computer Science programme, you will investigate the logic on which computers are based and gain insight into a variety of programming languages. You will learn how computer networks share information efficiently and securely, and explore the nature of the interaction between computer and user. You will study the hardware of computers, but also subjects like linear algebra, software design, web technology, algorithms, intelligent systems, and databases. You will be taught by top lecturers and guest speakers from the industry. This way, over the course of three years, you will gain a solid footing in the field. From the development of self-driving cars to the protection of sensitive data, there are countless ways in which you can make a valuable contribution to the fascinating world of IT.

During this challenging programme, you will receive an excellent foundation in both pure and applied mathematics. In the international classroom you will be surrounded by other math fanatics.
How do prime numbers help us understand modern cryptography? How does geometry help explain the fundamental principles of physics? How does mathematics contribute to computer programming? Most scientific questions with societal impact can only be answered by using mathematics. During this Bachelor's programme, you will have the chance to work on assignments about topics like these.

You can also study Mathematics part time. You will follow the same classes as the full time students, but fewer classes per year. The lectures are not on fixed days and no lectures are given on weekends or evenings. If you assume 20 study hours per week, you will study for about 6 years. You can make a personal study plan with the study advisor.

Many of our teachers are top researchers themselves, with their research relating not only to the mathematics department but also to other disciplines like computer science or econometrics. Our professors have an open-door policy, which means you have many opportunities to drop in and ask questions.

How do you introduce the people of India and engage them with a Dutch cheese brand? How do other cultures view topics like Corporate Social Responsibility and responsible finance? How can you respect diversity and establish trust in an international, virtual team?

Your Bachelor degree in International Business Administration from VU Amsterdam will not just prepare you to work in an international environment. It will immerse you in it.

Technology has made our world smaller than ever before. Businesses across the globe connect with a simple click. Cultural differences and values play a crucial role in a business’s success. When you study International Business Administration (IBA) at VU Amsterdam, you’ll not only explore the principles and standards of good business, but also the cultural nuances and behaviours that can have a major impact.

Amsterdam University College (AUC) offers a Liberal Arts and Sciences programme leading to a joint Bachelor's degree issued by the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam. All students live on campus in affordable apartments and studios that are guaranteed for the three years of study. The campus is located in Amsterdam Science Park in the vibrant neighbourhood of Amsterdam East. All classes are taught entirely in English, and the programme is small-scale and selective, admitting 300 students each year based on academic performance and motivation. Students choose to major in the Sciences, Social Sciences or Humanities. Within each of these majors are a variety of tracks through which students gain expertise in more specific areas of knowledge. These concentrations make the programme cohesive and ensure students attain a certain level of expertise to proceed to Master’s programmes. Tracks include Maths, Physics, Earth & Environment, Chemistry, Biology, Biomedical, Health, Information, Anthropology, Sociology, Economics, Law, Political Science, International Relations, Environmental Economics & Policy, Cognition, Literature, Film, Philosophy, History, Culture, Art, Media. Students think beyond traditional disciplines and classes are focused on themes involving "big questions" in science and society that require knowledge from all three majors.

Are you interested in not only using social media but also understanding how to use language and images to design communication for these media? Do you want to study how social media influence the way companies communicate with customers? Then the Language and Media track of the Bachelor's degree in Communication and Information Studies at VU Amsterdam is perfect for you!

It’s impossible to imagine life today without social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Signal, and LinkedIn. We use them to discover the latest hotspots in town, find health information, and stay in touch with friends and family. The rise of these platforms has dramatically changed both professional and personal communication.

Five reasons to study Language and Media

• You learn how and why organisations use new (and old) media in business-to-business and business-to-consumer interaction.
• You explore the fields of Communication Studies, applied linguistics, media analysis, interaction and intercultural communication.
• You learn how digital media impact professional and personal interaction.
• The programme has a small-scale setup and offers plenty of personal contact with lecturers.
• You learn how to design, conduct and report scientific research, both to other academics as well as to a broader audience.

This programme is taught entirely in English.

Why do people lash out at relief workers during emergencies? How can you help someone who no longer feels life is worth living? Do genes play a role in ADHD or addiction?

The Bachelor of Psychology at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam focuses on the intersection between health, behavioural patterns, and ways of thinking. How do these differ from one person to the next, and how we can influence them?

Human behaviour in all its forms is endlessly fascinating.

During the interdisciplinary Law in Society Bachelor’s (LL.B.) at VU Amsterdam, you’ll tackle global societal challenges from both a broad legal and social sciences perspective, drawing on insights from quantitative and qualitative research. Instead of studying public, private or criminal law separately, you’ll discover how different fields overlap when addressing today’s complex issues. The curriculum is built around four pressing themes: security, migration, sustainability and the globalisation of markets.

Besides law, you’ll explore criminology, sociology, psychology and artificial intelligence (AI). This interdisciplinary approach helps you see how the law shapes everyday challenges. And how you can respond when clear rules are missing.

By the end of the programme, you’ll be equipped to think critically, propose fair measures and contribute to solving today’s and tomorrow’s societal challenges. Are you socially engaged, eager to fight injustice, and open to different perspectives? Then Law in Society at VU Amsterdam could be your next step.

Language plays a role in virtually everything that we do. To understand how that works, we need to study language from different perspectives: How are languages structured and in which aspects are they similar and where do they differ? How do we learn language - as a child but also as adults? Why do we communicate differently in one situation or the other? And what does it mean to live in a multilingual society or in a world where generative AI increasingly participates in our conversations?

If you choose the Applied Linguistics specialisation of the Bachelor’s programme in Communication and Information Studies, you will dive into all these questions. All courses in this programme are in English.

You will study topics such as the structures of languages and how to analyse processes of language acquisition and language use. This applies to the individual level (why do not all children acquire their language effortlessly?) and to the societal level (what is the role of language in cultural interconnection in a multilingual society?) as well as to area of technology (how do Large Language Models work and how reliable is their output?).

Are you interested in linguistics, language development, language use and the role that language plays in society, then you are at the right place in the Bachelor’s track in Applied Linguistics!

What does the journalism of the future look like? Why do certain words evoke particular associations? How do companies use social media to persuade you to buy things?

In Communication and Information Studies at VU Amsterdam you will learn how communication works and what role language plays in it.

• In the specialisation Language and Media you will learn how and why organizations apply new media in business-to-business and business-to-consumer interaction.
• The specialisation Language and Mind bridges the gap between what linguists know about the learnability of languages and what language teachers experience in daily life.

How is climate change impacting people’s lives, not only in Europe, but also in countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America? Why are there people in Europe who label refugees as freeloaders?

In a world in which the differences between people are getting bigger, you, as an anthropologist, look for ways to help people better understand one another. You will get to work straight away on issues from your own surroundings, city, country or region. Your own senses are your research tools: you observe, listen, interview and sometimes follow people for even months at a time. As a student of Cultural Anthropology, your goal will be to discover what is going on under the surface.

In the course of the Bachelor’s programme in Cultural Anthropology you will interact with people from different backgrounds. VU Amsterdam itself is also diverse and international, and you will see that in the lecture rooms. Internationalisation at home. Your fellow students come from all corners of the globe and are of many different origins. You learn from and with one another. You will also work with students from other disciplines to look for solutions to social challenges such as globalisation, diversity and digitalisation.

Do you want to analyse data to improve business results? Are you interested in mathematics and business? With the bachelor's in Business Analytics, you will use the power of mathematics, data analysis, computer science and business to improve the results of companies, government, non-profit organisations, municipalities and services. You will help organisations with issues such as:

• Where do you place solar panels to generate as much energy as possible?
• How do you determine the optimal prices of seats in a football stadium?
• Which people are best to give a discount card to at a large pizza chain?

During the programme, there are three main areas of study:

• Data Analysis/Mathematics (50%, statistics & optimisation)
• Computer Science (35%, artificial intelligence & programming)
• Business (15%, organisation, finance & logistics)

These areas of study are interspersed with challenging real-life projects of renowned organisations in small project groups.

Was Caesar the first populist? Can Harry Potter be regarded as a mythological hero? The Bachelor's programme in Ancient Studies investigates the Classical cultures that lie at the roots of our modern world. You will gain insight in the art, literature, philosophy, history, and mythology of Antiquity. You will learn to conduct solid research into ancient topics and use your historical knowledge to develop a critical outlook on contemporary trends and developments.

Five reasons to choose Ancient Studies at VU Amsterdam:

• You use historical knowledge to understand contemporary events and phenomena.
• You approach these topics from different disciplinary perspectives, from archaeology and history to language and literature studies.
• You can tailor your degree to your own interests by choosing one of five specialisations: Archaeology, Ancient History, Ancient Near Eastern Studies, Ancient Greek or Latin.
• The programme has a small-scale setup and you enjoy close personal contact with your lecturers.
• The programme is offered in a unique collaboration between the two Amsterdam universities, VU Amsterdam and the University of Amsterdam (UvA).

Bring the past to life! Are you curious about the role of archaeological heritage in our society? Do you want to know what an archaeological find can tell you about the person who used it? Do you find it challenging to roll up your sleeves?

In the Bachelor’s Archaeology, you investigate the significance of archaeological artefacts and their impact on the present. You conduct research into the remains of all kinds of cultures, both in the classroom and in the field.

Five reasons to choose Archaeology at VU Amsterdam

• Focus on the whole of Europe: the Mediterranean region as well as central and western Europe.
• The ideal combination of study and fieldwork placements in the Netherlands, Italy and Greece.
• VU Amsterdam and the UvA have combined their knowledge and expertise in a unique collaboration.
• You can specialise in periods and areas that match your interests.
• All lectures are in the centre of Amsterdam.

What do we really know? Does the world really work the way we think it does? In what does just differ from unjust?

During your Bachelor of Philosophy study, you will learn to inquire into reality by asking fundamental questions on topical themes. You will develop a critical perspective on science, religion, and society. During the Bachelor of Philosophy programme at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, you will study relevant social issues from a theoretical, historical, and practical philosophical perspective. Together with fellow students, you will learn to condense complex problems to the core issues. You will hone your understanding and practise fashioning reasoned arguments, preparing you to contribute to solving problems facing today's society.

You can follow the Bachelor of Philosophy in either English or Dutch. If this is your second study programme, you can opt for the abbreviated version.

What’s the impact of financial shocks like Brexit on inter-bank lending? How can hospitals make the most efficient use of the beds and the doctors they have available? How can production processes be optimised so that they make the most sustainable use of materials and energy?

Econometrics and Operations Research are tools to approach these questions in a quantitative way, so that you can make the best decisions based on the results of your research.

If you choose the Econometrics and Operations Research track, you’ll get a broad and solid foundation in econometric theory, as well as courses on the application of Econometrics in practice.

Econometrics and Operations Research is highly important within the field of economics and business, as it uses quantitative skills to solve problems and make decisions. How do we predict the next big stock market crash and how should we respond to it? How should a tech company price its latest smartphone so that it is both profitable and competitive? Besides learning skills such as mathematical modelling and programming; you’ll also learn to question decisions from an ethical perspective.

The Econometrics and Operations Research programme – at both Bachelor’s and Master’s level – has been rated as a “topopleiding” (high-quality education) by the Keuzegids Universiteiten two years in a row.

In what kind of world do we want to live? How might societies be organised to foster fairness? What kinds of challenges do democracies currently face? What underlies economic downturns? How can we formulate environmental policies that are progressive, yet attainable?

During this intensive, small-scale, selective bachelor's programme, you will benefit from a truly interdisciplinary programme that applies politics, philosophy, and economics directly to public policy issues in practice.

Through studying PPE at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam you will cover not just core courses in the three disciplines, but you will also learn to apply those disciplines to challenging social themes like climate change, welfare policies, ethics of markets, or the formation of political coalitions. Plus, you will master mathematical theories and methods in order to improve your analytical thinking.

The programme is truly international in its orientation: 50% of the students who follow PPE come from abroad, and all students have a very international outlook on life. That's important, given that almost all PPE students take one semester at a partner university abroad - whether in the US, Europe, Asia or South Africa.

Is Instagram the new museum? Is living in a tiny house hip or sustainable? How are designers and artists dealing with an increasingly mediated and globalised world?

Pursue a bachelor's degree in Media, Art, Design and Architecture (MKDA-EN) at VU Amsterdam and study the significance and contested histories of images, objects and environments. Media, art, design, and architecture cannot be understood in isolation from each other or outside of the contexts in which they appear.

Five reasons to choose this bachelor:

• A unique interdisciplinary programme, combining and integrating four disciplines.
• You will learn to look, think, write and talk critically about objects, paintings, buildings, films and clips from multiple perspectives.
• You choose your specialisation in your second year: Media, Art, Design or Architecture.
• You will acquire a broad substantive and theoretical basis.
• You will study in the cultural hotspot of the Netherlands.

How should the law deal with artificial intelligence, online platforms, or self-driving cars? And what responsibilities do legal professionals have in a rapidly digitalising world?

Technological developments raise a wide range of legal issues. New technologies can challenge existing legal concepts, threaten human rights, and require new legislation to stimulate innovation or protect individuals, communities, and societies. Think of facial recognition technology, large language models, killer drones, and automated decision-making affecting consumers and citizens. The International Technology Law track examines these and many other emerging technologies and their implications for the law.

Are these topics of interest to you? If so, the International Technology Law track within the Master’s in Law at VU Amsterdam is the right choice for you.

The Master's in Cognitive Neuropsychology is a two-year Research Master's programme that operates on the cutting edges between cognitive psychology and clinical neuropsychology.
While cognitive psychology is geared towards general theories of brain function, neuropsychology focuses on individual patients with brain damage, whose condition can often provide us with new insights into how the human brain works. Combining these two approaches into one Master's programme is unique in the Netherlands.

The curriculum combines in-depth courses about normal and abnormal cognitive functioning across the life span with essential research skills in the neurosciences. You will learn to interpret fascinating clinical cases using solid cognitive and neuropsychological theories, but also learn to critically evaluate these theories. You will have the opportunity to make excursions into the emerging fields of educational neuropsychology, social cognition, or other related research areas. Look at our selection of exciting scientific questions we are working on. After choosing the research master in cognitive neuropsychology you might be working on this as well!

Are you interested in how we can create a healthier society and make healthcare smarter, fairer, and more sustainable? The specialisation in Health Economics and Management equips you to help shape that future.

In this specialisation, you will learn how health is shaped by factors such as income, education, work, social security, and the environment—and how healthcare systems respond to these challenges.

The growing need for care raises pressing questions:

• How can we safeguard access to affordable, high-quality healthcare—while new, costly treatments emerge, populations grow older, and fewer people are available to support those in retirement?
• And what policies are needed to address urgent public health challenges such as mental health problems, pandemics, and climate change?

You will dive into how healthcare systems are organised, funded, and regulated, and how patients, providers, and insurers make decisions within them. You will analyse how economic incentives and institutional structures shape health outcomes. With solid training in data analysis, you will gain the skills to design and evaluate policies that strengthen healthcare, promote health, and ensure fair access to care, both in the Netherlands and across the globe.

This two-year international master programme aims to educate talented students who are willing to be educated as top scientists in clinical life sciences.The programme is focussing on different aspects of clinical and translational research, medical imaging, medical technical development and personalized medicine necessary to set up and carry out scientific research. The focus is broad and is not on a specific disease. Some examples are metabolic disorders in children, neurology, oncology, movement disorders and cardiovascular sciences.

In addition to knowledge about different research methods and the use of measuring instruments, the most important statistical techniques needed for data analysis and biobusiness are discussed.

As a student of the track Exploring a Discipline, you are given both the freedom to delve deeply into a religious topic of your choice, and the guidance to get the most out of this specialisation. This track is unique to Europe and is taught at VU Amsterdam.

Studying in the inspiring environment of the city of Amsterdam and the multi-religious School of Religion and Theology at VU Amsterdam, you will be able to pursue your own area of interest within the field of theology and religious studies.

You will find this one-year programme ideal if you:

• want to deepen your expertise in, and knowledge of, a particular discipline or topic within theology or religious studies;
• are already a professional in the field of theology or religious studies (minister, teacher, chaplain, etc.) and want to deepen your knowledge.

You can either create a fully personalised programme, or follow one of the study routes; these are offered through the centres and chairs of the School of Theology and Religion and its affiliated institutions.

Why is one person a leader while others follow? How can organisations attract competent and trustworthy employees? What are the best ways to reward employees? If you choose the Work and Organizational Psychology track, you’ll answer questions like these that focus on human behaviour within organisations [VH1] and work situations. Because this track is work-related by definition, the programme is sure to have a lasting impact on your career. What’s more, this one-year programme prepares you to put what you’ve learned into practice: you’ll gain insights into the individual characteristics and social processes that shape organisations. You’ll not only understand the theories behind problems you’ll encounter in the workplace – you’ll also learn to apply these theories to everyday work-related situations. Your courses are all taught by people who have experience both in research and in the field. And you’ll get real-life practical experience through your internship.

It’s particularly strange here where we use the UK spelling of organisation but the US spelling in the title of the track (Organizational) in the same sentence.

Why do some cities grow while others struggle? How can we build economies that are green and responsible? What factors push up inflation, housing costs, or traffic jams? How can we prepare the welfare state for an ageing population, improve healthcare systems, and share economic wealth more fairly between countries? These are some examples of the challenges you will tackle in the master's programme in Spatial and Applied Economics.

In this master’s programme, you will choose one of seven specialisations:

• Development Economics and Globalisation
• Environmental Economics
• Health Economics and Management
• Public Economics and Policy
• Real Estate and Housing Economics
• Regional and Urban Economics
• Transport and Network Economics

This is the the only university in the Netherlands offering a master’s programme that fully integrates urban, transport, environmental, real estate, health, development, and public policy economics. Spatial and Applied Economics has been recognized for its excellence, ranked as the Best Economics Master’s in the Netherlands by Keuzegids Masters 2025, consistently receiving high ratings in the National Student Survey, and awarded a bronze medal in Elsevier’s Best Studies 2023.

How do toddlers learn to walk? How can augmented reality help patients with Parkinson’s Disease? How do top athletes get maximum performance out of their muscles? What’s the best training to improve stability and prevent falls among elderly people? As a student in the two-year Research Master Human Movement Sciences at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, you will learn how to answer urgent and socially relevant questions while conducting research aimed at unraveling the secrets of human movement through fundamental and applied scientific studies in Sport and Health.

Human movement is essential for understanding how we function, perform and stay healthy, yet it remains one of the most complex and dynamic areas in science. It is shaped by intricate interactions between the body, brain, behaviour and environment, and affects nearly every aspect of daily life. Questions about motor control, physical resilience or recovery after injury, exploring human movement opens the door to deeper scientific insight with direct societal relevance.

You will specialise in one of four scientific domains (biomechanics, movement neuroscience, psychology, physiology) , while developing advanced research and academic skills that prepare you to address complex questions in application areas such as sports, prevention and health, physical education, and high-demand professions (e.g., police, military).

What role does language play in communication within various types of organisations, such as governmental, commercial, media and healthcare organisations? That is the central question in the master's programme in Communication and Information Sciences.

During the programme, you will write and analyse texts, study the experiences of news users, research the role of images in communication, look at how body language influences our communication, and much more. Although the exact content differs per specialisation, each track trains you to become a communication specialist.

The tracks of the programme are:

• Multimodal Communication (English)
• Journalistiek (Dutch)
• Dialogue, Health and Society (English)

Research cutting-edge attacks and defenses in Cyberspace

Do you want to make global news headlines with groundbreaking Cybersecurity research or impact the security of billions of computers worldwide? Your first stop is our top Master’s programme Computer Security, powered by world-class researchers (VUSec and other CompSys groups). The programme addresses the most ambitious technical challenges in Cybersecurity, with a focus on computer systems and networks security and topics such as hacking, side channels, hardening, verification, malware, vulnerability analysis, and reverse engineering. The emphasis on low-level systems security is unique: other programmes tend to favor breadth over depth or focus on more theoretical Cybersecurity aspects.

If you are interested in the molecular basis of every day health problems like cancer, antibiotics or food production, come study Biomolecular Sciences!
Modern society faces an ever-increasing variety of challenges in the Life Sciences. Improved medical care has resulted in an ageing population, creating a greater need to understand and treat age-related disorders such as various forms of cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer's disease. Bacteria under high selective pressure are acquiring broad antibiotic resistance, so we are constantly forced to develop new and innovative antibacterial drugs. And the potential risks inherent in industrialized food production are only just becoming apparent.

It is more and more obvious that a thorough understanding of the molecular basis of the underlying cellular processes is essential to any successful and safe intervention. Moreover, the Biomolecular Sciences are increasingly encroaching into the realm of technology. The MSc Biomolecular Sciences aims to prepare students for a career within the international Life Sciences research community.

Turning opportunities into action

Thinking and feeling like an entrepreneur benefits your career as employee or business owner. That is why the Master’s programme Entrepreneurship aims to provide students with cutting-edge knowledge on entrepreneurship, relevant skills, and an entrepreneurial attitude. Students will be able to bridge theory and practice by applying and creating relevant academic knowledge on entrepreneurship in real life settings to solve challenging problems.
You will be equipped to assess and successfully develop new business ideas in uncertain environments with limited resources but with decent foundations, in the context of both new ventures as well as established firms.

The programme broadly positions the concept by looking at different types of entrepreneurship. This broad positioning can also be seen in the enrollment of students from various academic backgrounds; not only students with a degree in business or economics are admitted but also students with degrees in different academic disciplines.

The UvA and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU) have combined their expertise to create an internationally relevant Master’s programme. Professionals from both universities and their individual business networks have been selected to participate. So you will learn from the best of the best.

Have you been studying law but want to understand the political context? Is your background in international politics, but you’re looking for insights into how the law shapes political decisions? Or is your Bachelor’s in a liberal arts subject and you want to focus on something more vocational?

Either way, this multi-disciplinary Master’s programme that combines the study of law and politics with a focus on international security may be just what you’re looking for.

War and peace, terrorism, human rights, criminal law – these are all fascinating areas of research that have never been more pertinent than in today’s global society. Which makes the career prospects afterwards just as interesting.

This track has been developed in collaboration with the Amsterdam Institute of Sport Science , and focuses on the application of scientific knowledge in the field op top sport coaching.

What is the key to creating successful, sustainable careers? How can you ensure inclusivity and equality in recruitment and selection? How can organizations effectively manage their human capital, given major disruptions like digitalization and an ageing workforce? What’s the best way to find – and keep – the best possible people in the right jobs? How are contemporary HR challenges different, and how should you address them?

With your Master’s in Business Administration: Human Resource Management (HRM), you won’t just learn the answers to these and other key HRM concerns. You’ll also know how to put them into practice and develop a career of your own. The programme balances quantitative and qualitative research, hands-on experience and direct contact with major corporations to ensure you have the hard and soft skills you need to excel in the world of HRM. At VU Amsterdam, we focus on making sure you have all the tools and support you need to carve your own path to success.

More and more companies are beginning to realise how crucial recruitment, selection, retention, development and mobility are to business success. We’ll give you the tools to become an invaluable part of any company’s long-term business strategy. In addition to HRM courses, you’ll be able to take electives from other Business Administration specialization programmes.

Climate change threatens humanity. The purpose of law is to protect legitimate human interests. You want to join the new generation of lawyers who engage constructively with these problems. They see practicing law in the context of the wider developments in society -- such as climate change and sustainability -- as the way forward for the legal profession.

Anyone running a business successfully today, cannot ignore sustainability. And, anyone wanting to devote themselves to tackling climate change must have knowledge of how businesses function. VU Amsterdam is the first university in Europe to offer an International Business Law degree that combines an outstanding, all-round Master’s programme in Business Law with a specific focus on one of the most complex legal challenges of our day: climate change.

During this Master's programme, you will be seeking answers to highly important, yet complex, questions such as: What are the legal means to fight climate change? What rights and responsibilities do businesses and governments have in terms of sustainability? Can states be forced to bring their policies in line with the Paris 2015 Agreement? How can corporate law facilitate green startups?

The Environmental Economics specialisation dives into the economic aspects of local, regional, and global environmental challenges, the use and depletion of natural resources, and the role of market-based policies in promoting sustainable practices and technologies.

These issues are crucial for securing a sustainable future and tackling the effects of climate change. You'll explore how governments and societies can manage environmental quality, natural resources, and the energy transition effectively and responsibly.

Some of the key questions you will explore include:

• What policies are most effective in tackling pollution and other negative externalities of economic activity?
• What defines the efficient use of renewable (like forestry and fishery) and non-renewable (like fossil fuels and minerals) resources, and how does that differ from free-market outcomes?
• How do environmental policies stimulate innovation, and what is the role of technology policy in regulation?
• How can climate policy avoid backfiring through effects such as ‘carbon leakage’, the ‘rebound effect’, or the ‘Green Paradox’?

This master’s specialisation in Environmental Economics equips you with cutting-edge economic knowledge and tools to analyse and answer these questions, providing a solid foundation of evidence-based insights.

Financial Econometrics is a specialization of the Econometrics and Operations Research master's programme. Your road to Wall Street: Become the Quantitative Specialist in the Financial Industry

This hands-on study into the econometric methods used on a daily basis in the financial industry will let you become the quantitative financial specialist and will place you at the forefront of a successful professional career.

Financial Econometrics connects different academic disciplines including mathematics, statistics, finance, and business studies, and is primarily concerned with the use of financial economic theory and statistical techniques for an up-to-date quantitative analysis of finance-economic data sets. The econometric methods can be used to analyse financial risks, investment strategies, financial economic policies, monetary policies, high-frequency trading, capital markets, financial stability, and many other topics.

Courses

• Thesis MSc EOR - Econometrics
• Advanced Econometrics
• Multivariate Econometrics
• Time Series Models
• Financial Econometrics Case Study

Make data-driven decisions for transport and supply chain networks

Want to learn how to create sustainable value in fast-moving industries like technology or fashion? Interested in understanding how government regulations and policies impact business opportunities? Then Transport and Supply Chain Management is the Master’s programme for you.

This Master’s programme at VU Amsterdam will give you the knowledge and skills to successfully solve challenges in modern supply chains and transportation networks. You will also understand the impact of legislation and governmental vision on supply chains and the planet. Your quantitative analytical skills and all-encompassing view of supply chains will make you an attractive candidate for many jobs in the field. Unlike any other programme, this Master’s at VU Amsterdam combines Transport Economics and Supply Chain Management into a single degree, giving you a 360-degree view of your field of study. From the supply chain decisions of a single company to the policies and regulations that shape the entire industry, you will understand how it all works, and how to make it all work to your advantage. You will be in high demand for jobs, since you have a better understanding of how all the pieces fit together.

Are you interested in exploring questions about God, the relationship between archaeology and the Bible, and the role of religion in conflicts? Then the two-year Master's programme in Theology and Religious Studies: Research is for you!

The Master's programme Theology and Religious Studies: Research engages you with ins and outs of academic research in a specialized area within theology or religious studies. Your religious convictions are the starting point of a journey, in which you will learn to critically develop your own worldview in dialogue with others.

Endorsing dialogue about theology and religious studies among (young) academics of diverse religious convictions is the first aspect that make this programme unique. Second aspect is developing a sustainable Talent Policy which trains you in the ins and outs of academic research.

After completing this master's programme, you could work as a researcher, policy advisor or editor. Or you could specialise as a coach or spiritual counsellor within religious or church communities.

We encourage our students to become a community of learners and to engage with the life and research at the School of Religion and Theology.

Do you want to understand the growing challenges to international peace and security? Curious about how armed conflicts arise, how they can be resolved, and what role international organizations play in peacebuilding? Interested in the influence of domestic politics on foreign policy, or how historical legacies shape today’s conflicts? If so, our specialization in International Peace, Security, and Conflict is perfect for you.

The specialization International Relations: Peace and Security explores the roots and dynamics of conflict, the mechanisms of conflict resolution, and the role of international actors in peace processes. It equips you with the analytical tools to examine global and regional insecurity, the effectiveness of peacekeeping missions, and the political complexities of intervention. You’ll gain insights into ethnopolitical conflict within states, the impact of colonial and neocolonial structures, and the strategic calculations behind the use of military force. Special attention is given to the interplay between domestic politics and international decision-making.

This track covers the broad field of sport psychology, and also provides potential links to health-related issues.

Companies and people: how they work, what roles they play

An IT start-up and a large corporate bank, or a big online retail firm and an international NGO. Businesses that on a first glance might not have a lot in common. But when you look closer, both are companies that need people to lead, to innovate and to work together. What do different organisations have in common, and what are the differences? How do they complement each other? And why are some more successful than others? If you are curious about the ins and outs of this ‘game’, about the companies active in business services and about the people who work for them, then Business Administration is the Master’s programme for you.

Because business administration is a very wide-ranging industry, so too is this degree. You engage in in-depth analysis of companies from a variety of sectors. You specialize in specific business processes. And you make use of know-how drawn from, among others, information technology, economics, psychology and the social sciences.

This programme has five specializations:

• Specialization in Human Resource Management
• Specialization in International Management
• Specialization in Leadership and Change Management
• Specialization in Management Consulting
• Specialization in Strategy & Organization

The European and Mediterranean Archaeology track will equip you with in-depth knowledge and research skills on new methods and current themes in Archaeology. This track offers specialist courses on Greek and Roman archaeology, and covers themes such as Mobility and Migration, Historical Archaeology, Heritage and how to conduct high-quality research. You will focus on the history of ancient Europe and the Mediterranean world from the Bronze Age until the Early Modern Period. The small-scale setting of the MA programme provides the ideal setting to combine theory and practice. You will acquire in-depth knowledge through thematic courses and research skills through specialised, small-scale research workshops. You will learn to operate academically and professionally, according to the highest standards.

Theory meets practice in this unique Archaeology programme that’s offered jointly by VU Amsterdam and the University of Amsterdam. You’ll benefit from a strong theoretical focus as well as practice-oriented modules in which you’ll interpret field data and study archaeological materials first-hand.

To be able to understand the secrets of life, Bioinformatics and Systems Biology converts huge volumes of genomics data into real understanding. High-throughput methods like massively parallel sequencing and mass spectrometry generate more raw data than conventional computer models can handle efficiently. To process and analyse this data, computational techniques from Bioinformatics – such as sequence alignment, sequence assembly, biostatistics and machine learning – are required in order to make predictions about health outcome and to decide on a personalized treatment for the patient.

Both Bioinformatics and Systems Biology are strongly interdisciplinary fields. This programme combines molecular and cell biology, computer science and mathematical modelling to integrate vast amounts of biological data into fundamental knowledge. You will develop a strong feel for scientific research and high levels of abstraction, and learn to combine the rapid developments in these fields.

Development Economics applies basic tools of economics to key policy issues in developing countries and transition economies. This specialization discusses topics like: the role of constraints (for example through exposure to risk) on the ability of households to escape from poverty through asset accumulation; the potential for sustainable land use in areas with rapid population growth; the economic implications of migration. and the scope for economic growth through industrial development. These topics, along with aggregate aspects of growth and inequality, and broader issues of human development, shape the curriculum of the Development Economics specialization.

The approach of the specialization is strongly empirical, using case studies or survey data for individual households or firms to test competing theories and to evaluate the impact of implemented policy initiatives and specific development projects.

More than 50% of the world’s population lives in cities and this will increase to 70% in the coming decades. This master's specialisation in Regional and Urban Economics explores the economic forces that shape regions, cities, and neighbourhoods.

You will dive into important questions such as:

• Why do people and businesses concentrate in certain areas?
• What makes some cities grow while others shrink?
• How can economic theory help us understand and address urban challenges like crime, segregation, traffic, and pollution?
• What happens to buildings and infrastructure when cities expand or decline?
• How does spatial planning influence a cities’ ability to develop?
• And what are the benefits and trade-offs of investing in sustainable, 'green' buildings?

What makes this specialisation unique is its clear connection to real estate and land, both essential to understanding the dynamics of cities and regions. It therefore explores the sharp rise in property prices in many cities in recent years, and the social and economic problems this can create—from housing affordability issues and inequality to displacement due to gentrification and reduced access to jobs and services.

How can we incorporate (end) user needs in developing eHealth solutions for community-based care? How can notions of patient-centred care best be implemented? How to effectively manage societies’ concerns during the Covid-pandemic?

Providing the best possible answers to these complex questions calls for cooperation between several disciplines and actors in society, from government, industry and social institutions to consumers and patients. The Master Management Policy Analysis and Entrepreneurship in the Health & Life Sciences (MPA) will give you a unique, multi-level perspective on this wide range of disciplines:

• Health & Life Sciences-based Policy
• Health & Life Sciences-based Management and Entrepreneurship
• Health & Life Sciences Communication
• International Public Health
• Community-based Health Technologies

The Master Environment and Resource Management (ERM) is designed to train the next generation of environmental decision-makers to work on the sustainability challenges of our time.
The programme is highly international in character and is open for students from all disciplinary backgrounds, training them to bring in their disciplinary knowledge while co-operating in multidisciplinary teams. Students will become familiar with several key disciplines and learn to integrate different bodies of knowledge in a problem-oriented manner. Students can determine their own focus by choosing a specialization and further establish their own niche through the Master's thesis. The specializations have been selected to cover some of the most fundamental environmental problems of our time, notably the provision of sustainable energy and the sustainable governance of water, climate, and ecosystems.

What determines stock prices? What’s the best way to finance a particular company? And how can the financial markets and financial regulations help a society as a whole to prosper?

Today’s business environment calls for clear financial insight and assured decision-making. Effective capital investments and financing are the lifeblood of every organization. This top-ranked Finance Master’s programme explores these questions through real-life business cases, many of which are led by people who work in the financial industry themselves. The Master equips you with the comprehensive knowledge and thorough understanding you need to manage the flow of funds, from raising and investing capital to accurate and efficient financial reporting. You’ll look at the macro-level of financial economics: how financial markets help maximise economic growth. You’ll also look at the inner workings of financial markets and corporations – and how financial regulation is the bridge between these two sides.

The MSc Finance contains six different tracks:

• Climate Finance
• Finance
• Financial Management
• Duisenberg Honours Programme in Quantitative Finance
• Duisenberg Honours Programme in Finance and Technology
• Duisenberg Honours Programme in Corporate Finance

IIn Global History, you will learn to investigate the dynamics and long-term developments of the global flows of people, goods, and ideas. You will study the role of power, religion and of human attitudes to nature in global connections.

You will learn finding and interpreting compelling source material, critical reflection, and writing well-structured, engaging reports. You will develop a critical attitude and learn to arrive at original lines of questioning based on profound knowledge of your research subject.

You will develop your own, unique, expert knowledge, enabling you to start a successful research career. You are encouraged to make use of the staff’s intensive network with heritage and research institutions at VU Amsterdam (Stevin Center, Environmental Humanities Center Amsterdam and the HDC Centre for Religious History) and outside VU Amsterdam (International Institute for Social History, Huygens Institute for Dutch and Global history), governmental organisations and NGO’s and business partners. Global History offers a dynamic international context where international and Dutch students and scholars exchange views, experiences and historical research questions. Taking part in exchange programmes with universities abroad for up to three months are encouraged, with financial support from the Graduate School of Humanities.

Want to become part of the next generation of neuroscientists? Join the master's programme Neurosciences at VU Amsterdam. Do you want to know how the brain works and why dysfunctions can lead to disorders? To use this knowledge to understand and combat neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS, Alzheimer's and mental disorders. Then join the master's programme Neurosciences. During the programme, you’ll get to grips with all facets of neurosciences – ranging from genes to behaviour, from both fundamental and clinical perspectives. The expert teaching you’ll receive comprises a combination of lectures, research seminars, work groups, demonstrations, lab visits and practicals.

Are you engaged with the political challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, and the global transition to sustainability? Do you want to understand how governments, corporations, and civil society actors shape environmental policy at the national and international level? Then the specialization in Global Environmental Politics is the right choice for you.

The specialisation Global Environmental Politics explores the political dynamics of the climate crisis and the transition to a just and sustainable future. You will study how environmental issues are governed across borders, how power and inequality shape environmental outcomes, and how international agreements like the Paris Accord are negotiated and implemented. Special attention is given to the role of science, activism, and corporate responsibility in shaping environmental governance.

This specialisation centres on the economics of networks, with ample emphasis on transport, traffic, mobility, and accessibility; while also energy, telecommunication and social networks will be addressed. These are all issues that are becoming increasingly urgent as cities face rising congestion, climate concerns, and rapid technological change.

You will explore pressing questions such as:

• How can we combat traffic congestion and protect the urban (living) environment?
• How do we ensure that cities and regions remain accessible while reducing transportation’s environmental footprint?
• How do we secure energy grids for the future?
• What spatial and economic factors are at play in these challenges?
• And how can economic theory and empirical tools help design smarter, more effective transport policies?

The Critical Studies in Art and Culture track focuses on current developments within four main disciplines – visual arts, architecture, design and media – from both a theoretical and a historical perspective.

Boundaries

In a globalised cultural world in which art, architecture, design and media are ever more closely integrated and packaged as ‘creative industries’, disciplinary boundaries are called into question and challenged. But a thorough grounding in older and newer disciplines such as art history, architectural history, design culture and media studies is a prerequisite for asking these questions.

Contexts and networks

Since cultural artefacts and media are produced and circulated in specific social, institutional, economical and ideological contexts and networks, Critical Studies in Art and Culture will equip you with the analytical and critical tools necessary for analysing these. Each of the four main disciplines bring specific theories and methods to the table, and the programme highlights their transdisciplinary interconnectedness, with reference to their specific potential as well as their possible limitations.

This interdisciplinary (research) master track focuses on the entanglements of nature and culture. In our international and interdisciplinary classroom, we interrelate perspectives from within and outside the Humanities to understand and responsibly inhabit the more-than-human world.

The Environmental Humanities track is open to talented students from the Humanities as well as from related fields, who are looking for ways to analyse ecological questions in their full historical and cultural complexity.

The Humanities are vital

If questions of climate change, species extinction, pollution, or the exploitation of natural resources have in the past mainly been analysed from the perspective of the Natural Sciences, it is becoming more and more clear that humans and their cultural, economic and political systems play a major role in these issues. The Humanities are therefore vital in making sense of these complex problems.

First of its kind

In our core courses, we bring these humanities approaches into contact with perspectives from the Natural and Social Sciences, and engage with the views of artists and activists, to shape a transdisciplinary approach.

At VU, our MSc programme goes beyond studying cultures to unwrap the complex layers of society and human interaction. It is an immersive exploration of the interconnectedness of human beliefs, values, and social norms.

Today's global challenges demand innovative perspectives, which is where anthropologists come in. From climate change to social inequality, anthropology addresses society's most urgent issues like no other science can. Anthropologists are the architects of the future, sought after by public, private, and non-governmental organisations.

During this one-year programme, we will teach you critical analytical thinking, advanced research skills, and the profound cultural understanding needed to navigate complex real-world issues. You’ll then immediately put that into practice during a three-month fieldwork research project. Together with your fellow students and under the personal guidance of a lecturer, your intellectual adventure in anthropological research begins. For many students, this is a life-changing experience.

The Social and Cultural Anthropology programme at VU Amsterdam offers two tracks: the social and cultural anthropology track and the professional anthropology track. In both tracks you conduct three months of fieldwork, either far away or close to home, supported by a supervisor at VU.

Keen to develop in-depth knowledge of the theories, methods and techniques of your research field, connecting them with other disciplines? Curious to find out how your research relates to societal issues? Make the connections that lead to inspiring humanities research.

The Humanities (Research) Master is a unique programme that provides extensive training in research design, in an inspiring and sustainable interdisciplinary research environment. The programme offers excellent preparation for an internationally oriented academic career or for other research-related positions.

Depending on your own area of interest, you’ll choose from one of these tracks:

• Critical Studies in Art and Culture
• Environmental Humanities
• Global History
• Linguistics (Human Language Technology and Forensic Linguistics)
• Philosophy

Are you interested in the political challenges of a rapidly changing world order? Do you want to understand how economic globalization and geopolitical rivalries shape national politics, international cooperation, and global conflict? Then the specialization in Geopolitics and Global Political Economy is the right choice for you.

The specialization International Relations: Geopolitics and Global Political Economy explores the complex interplay between global power shifts, economic interests, and political influence. You will study how rivalries - such as between the US and China - impact international relations, how access to natural resources and technology drives new forms of conflict, and how global institutions respond to growing inequality and instability.

The Master's in Classics and Ancient Civilizations (CAC) offers you the opportunity to become an expert in the literature and societies of the Ancient Mediterranean. If you choose the track Classics, you will receive excellent training in Greek and Latin language and literature from Homer to Late Antiquity, including linguistics, intertextuality, narratology and reception.

The one-year Classics and Ancient Civilizations Master's programme allows you to explore the theoretical frameworks and methodologies currently used in Classics or Ancient Studies. During the programme, you’ll gain a thorough knowledge of the Greek and Latin languages or of themes in the field of Ancient History and Ancient Studies, such as Religion, Gender and Urban History. The world of Greco-Roman antiquity has many facets and hence Classics embraces many disciplines. You will be analysing representative primary sources much more in-depth than was the case during the Bachelor's phase. In addition, you will be shown how to relate your specialist, critical knowledge of antiquity to texts and other cultural phenomena from later periods.

ACASA: VU Amsterdam and UvA joining forces

The Master CAC is offered jointly by VU Amsterdam and the UvA – combining their expertise in the Amsterdam Centre for Ancient Studies and Archaeology (ACASA).

How do news reports frame disaster response after tragic events? What role do social media play in political polarisation? How can analysing data help us find solutions? And what are the ethical concerns in mining data? These are big questions that require big answers. The two-year Social Sciences for a Digital Society Master’s programme identifies, investigates and develops solutions for broad social challenges, using qualitative and quantitative methods to analyse data, both big and small.

Social Sciences for a Digital Society is a truly multi-disciplinary and multi-methodological approach to society’s most pressing challenges. And for that reason, it will appeal to students from a wide range of backgrounds. In this Master's programme, you will use computational social science to analyse the social issues of today and tomorrow. It covers different themes: diversity and inclusion, polarization, fake news, governance of algorithms and challenges in care and welfare.

The research master Social Sciences for a Digital Society at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam scores according to the Keuzegids Masters 2024 above average on the components 'content', 'teachers', 'testing' and 'atmosphere'.

This Master’s programme explores and teaches knowledge, skills and experience you will need for a career in the ever expanding, interdisciplinary field of peace and conflict studies.

Religion is often misused to incite violent conflicts, while at the same time it is one of the strongest ethical and spiritual resources for non-violent conflict resolution and transitional justice. Not only between individuals or among groups, but also in reconciliation processes within societies (and their violent histories), between nations, and with nature.

In the Master’s Theology and Religious Studies you will consider and critically reflect on all of these issues, in the fields of research and education as well as in practical application. We will seek to connect with the needs and questions of today's societies by applying multicultural / postcolonial hermeneutical lenses to the study.

The specialisation Ethics, Economics, and Policy (EEP) of the Master's in Philosophy equips students to tackle urgent societal challenges like climate change, AI governance, and migration through ethical insight and policy analysis.

This two-year Master’s track is designed for students with a strong interest in ethical and philosophical questions at the intersection of public policy, economics, and governance. EEP students learn to bridge values and evidence, theory and practice, preparing for impactful careers in government, NGOs, think tanks, and beyond. Grounded in VU Amsterdam’s mission of global citizenship, the programme trains future leaders in ethical, just, and sustainable decision-making.

You’ll follow this track alongside another Master’s programme—such as in economics, political science, or public policy—allowing you to earn two degrees in two years: one in Philosophy and one in another discipline. That makes EEP a powerful combination that gives you a competitive edge.

The track is also well-suited for PPE graduates who are pursuing a Master’s in economics, political science, or public policy and want to continue studying philosophy at the graduate level.

Migration law is at the heart of many urgent legal and political debates. Who has the right to cross borders to work, study, or reunite with family? When is a state obliged to provide asylum? What legal protections exist for undocumented migrants? And how do international and European frameworks shape migration governance and national policies?

From a Syrian refugee seeking protection, to an American reuniting with family in Europe, or an Indian professional working for an international company. All face complex legal systems where international law, human rights and domestic law intersect.

The Master’s track International Migration and Refugee Law (IMRL) addresses these pressing challenges by examining the interplay between international, European and national law.

Are you ready to explore the legal dimensions of migration with both academic depth and societal relevance? Then this Master’s track at VU Amsterdam is the right choice.

The globalization of the economy creates untold opportunities but also creates interdependencies that can be destabilizing and exploitative. Firms, governments and international organisations try to ride the wild horse of globalization and maximise the benefits for themselves, their clients and their populations.

Yet increasingly they have to be aware of the risks and responsibilities that are attached. If businesses and investors are associated with environmental damage, human rights violations, or labour exploitation this creates liability risks, but also commercial ones. A firm that cannot show it is having a positive impact on the world risks losing customers and employees, and looking dangerously out-of-date.

On the government side, regulators and international organisations which create the law of trade and investment find that their legitimacy is constantly under challenge. They too need to find a way to link prosperity to societal and environmental progress, and build this into the law. In the world of global trade today there are few certainties, and the firm or organization that thinks it can ignore current global crises is doomed to fail and die.

Digital technologies are changing businesses. But how do these technologies come about in the first place? What are their consequences for both people and organisations? And how are they disrupting entire industries?

The Master’s programme in Digital Business and Innovation aims to answer such questions by enabling students to form a bridge between business and technology. The curriculum links information systems with innovation management, covering everything from traditional enterprise resource planning systems to chatbots, artificial intelligence and social media. But more importantly, you learn how to innovate on products, services, processes and business models in a business context by using these new technologies. Unsurprisingly, this combination is extremely attractive to companies currently undergoing a digital transformation process or advising others in this phase. The programme provides thorough academic understanding of how organizations can effectively use digital technologies to innovate their business processes, products, services and business models. It builds on the core domains of information systems and innovation management that address the strategic value of information systems for current business and the specific nature of digital innovation processes.

Want to find out if a career as a consultant is for you? In the Management Consulting Master’s programme, you’ll apply various different disciplines in a project-based environment to prepare you for the next step in your career as a consultant. You’ll also come away with the research, communication and presentation skills you need to become an effective consultant.

Prepare to work hard – just like you would at a consultancy firm. Because you’ll be looking at everything from change management and the development of business models to the ethics of management consulting and the acquisition of clients. You’ll be combining an academic mind-set (learning theories and thinking critically) with consulting in practice (gaining real-life experience with businesses in the field). In order to be a management consultant, you’ve got to do a lot of things – and do them well. And this programme is the place to start.

The Management Consulting Master’s will teach you the theories of management consulting and organisational change, but also hone your skills in communicating your recommendations, developing business models and carrying out consulting projects. In addition to Management Consulting courses, you’ll be able to take electives from other Business Administration specialization programmes.

The two-year, selective Research Master’s in Classics and Ancient Civilizations trains you to function successfully in a research-oriented position either in academia or in professional fields.

The Research Master’s programme Classics and Ancient Civilizations trains you to do research, write project proposals, acquire research funding, and communicate your research results effectively to an academic audience and the wider public. It can best be characterised as a disciplinary programme in an interdisciplinary context.

Strengths of the programme

• Selective programme to which only the best students are admitted
• In-depth disciplinary studies in an interdisciplinary context
• Programme uniquely covers both the Classical World and the Near East
• Many opportunities to follow your own interests in specialization courses and tutorials
• Excellent training to develop your research skills

In composing your individual programme, you may opt for a disciplinary specialisation in Classics, Ancient Studies, Archaeology or Ancient Near Eastern Studies. In the core modules, as well as in several elective courses, however, you will be stimulated to broaden your academic horizon by learning to position your discipline within a broader interdisciplinary academic context. You may also choose to give your entire programme, including your thesis, an interdisciplinary orientation.

Operations Research Theory is a specialization of the Econometrics and Operations Research master's programme.

If you are interested in a career defining the rules of the game of industry and production practice by having a deep understanding of the possibilities of cutting-edge techniques, if you want to pursue an academic career, or if you just love the mathematics of operations research, then the Operations Research Theory specialization is for you. It offers you deeper knowledge and understanding of this research area and eventually, through the thesis, participate in front-line research in operations research.

Next to the core courses of the programme, lectures are provided through the Dutch Network on the Mathematics of Operations Research, a collaboration of the top researchers from throughout the Netherlands. This way, the specialization offers the opportunity of learning from a wide range of leading researchers in the field.

The specialization challenges you to deepen your knowledge and understanding of the mathematics behind Operations Research models and methods, so that you will be able to contribute to the further development of the field. Next to the theory in the core courses, you will also get hands-on experience in turning the models and methods you learn, or design yourself, into practical code.

Interiors, fashion, artefacts, graphics and digital design define affect every aspect of our lives. Learn about how design shapes our world.

Design Cultures takes a Humanities perspective on the study of design. In this program you explore the history and theory of design, but also discover how design intersects with contemporary issues such as identity, mobility, ecology, overconsumption and inequality. Other programs train students to design objects. On this program you learn to interpret, reflect and write about design.

This programme raises these questions: What makes a design iconic? How is design used to construct national identity? How can we approach design from a post-colonial, ecological and feminist perspective? How do designers think and work? How can the very same object mean different things to different users? What is the future of design?

Amsterdam

The opportunities for collaboration between the design sector, cultural institutions and social enterprise in Amsterdam are endless. Through our wide-ranging academic courses, taught by our international team of distinguished researchers, you can explore the dimensions of these contexts and combine them in unique and exciting ways.

Design Cultures is one of the tracks of the master's programme in Arts & Culture.

Have you ever noticed how, despite all the planning ahead, things turn out completely different from what was planned? Or how difficult it can be to get people to work together? Organisations are typically complex. There’s no one-size-fits-all management solution. Cultural bias comes into play. People make mistakes. Messages get lost along the way. It’s this focus on complexity and backstage behaviour that sets this master’s programme apart, as no other university offers this human-centred perspective on organizations and management. Explore key issues of culture and identity in the ever-changing world of management and organizations.

The masters' programme of Culture, Organization and Management puts organizational problems in a broader social and cultural perspective. Are you interested in organizations and topics within organization culture, change management and cultural changes? Then the masters' programme of Culture, Organization and Management could be just what you are looking for.

Relationships and working processes on the inter-organizational as well as on the intra-organizational level are the central focus point of the international Masters' programme of Culture, Organization and Management. Within organizations you explore how people cope with colleagues and themselves and also research culture and management styles.

In today’s globally integrated economy with an almost unlimited access to data and information, the connection between business and finance is stronger than ever before. The fast-changing business environment calls for business professionals that are able to understand financial management problems and recognize new opportunities and risks.

Are you curious in what ways a firm can attract capital, a corporate can be valued and how corporate financial managers make their decisions? Are you a highly motivated, excellent student who is interested in topics ranging from raising capital to identifying new investment opportunities and from corporate social responsibility to corporate governance? Follow the Finance: Honours Programme in Corporate Finance! This broad, multi-disciplinary programme approaches today’s world of financial management from various angles.

On the one hand, the programme pays attention to classical corporate finance questions like capital allocation and corporate valuation. But the programme also offers new topics in the field of financial management such as corporate social responsibility and sustainable finance. The programme provides in-depth knowledge on this wide range of topics.

We welcome you in the fast-developing world of econometrics and data science methods for ultra-high dimensional data sets. In this specialization we cover statistical theory of high-dimensional spaces, the computer science skills of handling big data, the econometric methodology of identifying causal economic relations in a data-rich environment. You further learn the practical skills of analyzing, modelling and forecasting key financial and economic variables, for the purpose of improving policy and decision-making.

The specialization Econometrics and Data Science offers an excellent opportunity for those wishing to enhance their quantitative profile for a career in data science. The programme combines different academic disciplines including statistics, econometrics, computer science, economics and business, but it is more than a simple intersection of these. In essence, it is concerned with the theory and practice of transforming large and complex data sets into pieces of information that are potentially beneficial for a wide range of purposes relevant to corporates, economic and government institutions, and financial service companies. This will give you a distinct and strong profile, placing you at pole position for a successful career as a data scientist in professional, business and academic environments.

Are you looking to fast-track your way to a career in accounting? Whether you’re on our full-time one-year programme or our two-year part-time programme, this Master’s in Accounting and Control is the way to get there.

From an accounting perspective, you’ll look at the financial information required to run any organisation, and the information flow needed for managers to make business decisions. And of course control is a key element here: you’ll learn how to use monitoring and reporting to make sure that organisations are governable and performing in the right way. All business enterprises, governmental entities and not-for-profit organizations rely on accounting systems to produce essential information for management, control, informing external investors and for accountability. Such systems operate in complex settings involving both institutions and markets.

The Master Accounting and Control prepares you to embark on a career as preparer, user, or auditor of accounting information. By considering the technical aspects of accounting in relation to the institutional setting, in relation with ongoing developments in information technology and in the light of relevant academic research, you will learn to consider issues in accounting and control at an advanced academic level.

In selecting the specialisation Contemporary Art History, you devote your attention to what is at stake now – to artworks that take on the challenges of the globalised information society, and of living in the Anthropocene.

You do so from a firm basis in an established discipline that has much to offer but also continuously adapts in keeping up with the art of the present.

Contemporary Art History is one of the tracks of the master's programme in Arts & Culture.

Five reasons to choose Contemporary Art History at VU Amsterdam

• Focus on visual, process-based, and digital art from the 1960s until today.
• You will follow a class on art criticism to further develop your skills in writing and in critically assessing contemporary art.
• You will delve into the depth of digital and process-based art while following a class specifically dedicated to new media art.
• You will go on a field trip, to prove and further develop your analytical skills onsite.
• The Netherlands, and Amsterdam especially, is pioneering in contemporary art.

How are our thoughts, feelings and behaviours shaped by our social environment? And how do we shape that environment with our minds? The Research Master’s in Social Psychology at VU Amsterdam focuses on evolution, morality and cooperation. Your research will inform not only the basic aspects of individual-level psychology like genetics and neuroscience, underlying personality, emotion and behaviour. But also more complex, society-wide phenomena like moral and political behaviour within a society. Or even ecological influences on cooperation across societies. The Social Psychology programme enables you to develop the knowledge and skills you’ll need in every step of the research process. Courses provide comprehensive training in research methods, statistics, writing and making presentations. Plus, you’ll get an overview of the theoretical perspectives used to understand and address critical issues for science and society

The specialization studies in market analytics focuses on various aspects relevant for understanding economic markets. This specialization discusses both theoretical concepts on measuring for example market power and competition as well as methods for data driven analysis of relevant processes. The theoretical analysis uses techniques from microeconomics on firm behavior, price setting and innovation, but also considers public policy of market authorities that aim at reducing market power of a firm within a single market. The empirical part focuses on how the effectiveness of public policy can be evaluated and introduces students with big data and machine learning techniques that can be used to analyze processes relevant for firms. A thesis in this specialization can be theoretical or empirical and can focus on firm behavior or on public policy.

After completing this specialization you are well equipped to work either for a market authority or for a firm using data science techniques which can for example be found in the financial and tech sector.

Courses

• Intermediate Microeconomics (P1)
• Introduction to Econometrics (P1)
• Advanced Microeconomics (P1)
• Applied Econometrics (P1)
• Advanced Macroeconomics (P2)
• Free Elective Course (P2)
• Research Project (P3)
• Data Analytics for Economists (P4)
• Industrial Organization and Competition Policy (P4)
• Thesis (P5/6)

Create the future of high-tech healthcare! Translate fundamental research into biomedical engineering solutions. The Master's in Biomedical Technology and Physics combines Medical Physics, Biophysics.
The Master's programme in Biomedical Technology and Physics covers the fields of Medical Physics, Biophysics, and Clinical Technology. This combination will enable you to translate research into the fundamentals of physics, biology and chemistry into innovative biomedical engineering solutions for healthcare. A multidisciplinary background like this will equip you perfectly for tomorrow's approaches to medical research, in all their complexity. Biomedical Technology and Physics is directly accessible to students with a bachelor degree in Medical Natural Sciences and to students with a similar background, like a bachelor in Biomedical Engineering, Physics, University College and BètaGamma. Biomedical Technology and Physics (BMTP) is a collaboration between the researchers of the Science department of VU and the medical centers VUmc and AMC (together Amsterdam UMC).

How can we control infectious diseases in the Netherlands and abroad? What is the role of nutrition in chronic disorders like obesity or type 2 diabetes? What causes healthcare costs to rise? If you want to master the skills needed to analyse complex health or healthcare issues, then the Health Sciences Master’s is for you. The programme will enable you to contribute to the development and implementation of interventions that solve major health problems. Note: Academic year 2025-2026 will be the final year this programme is offered in English. From academic year 2026-27 onwards the programme will be taught in Dutch.

Are you looking for excellent expertise in linguistics, coupled with a challenging specialisation in newly developing research fields that are fundamentally relevant to today’s society? The Linguistics track trains you as a professional linguistic researcher, specialised in either Human Language Technology or Forensic Linguistics.

Human Language Technology

Human Language Technology is a rapidly evolving research field that holds an unique position between linguistics and computer science. A firm background in language technology and the ability to process large data sets are valuable tools in linguistic research. Through our intensive programme, you’ll become a true professional in human language technology.

Forensic Linguistics

Forensic Linguistics is a rapidly evolving field, which entails the application of linguistic analysis to legal issues and criminal investigations. The programme includes a mix of lectures, seminars, and hands-on practical work, where you'll have the opportunity to work on real-life case materials, analysing written and spoken language.

You'll do research with real-life implications, from solving linguistic puzzles as encountered in criminal investigations to improving professional communication and protecting those who may be at a linguistic disadvantage.

Do you want to understand the growing loss of confidence in global leadership or the rise of populism? Curious about the future of democracy or the EU? Interested in the causes of persistent economic and political inequalities, or how digital technologies are reshaping democracy? If so, our specialization in Democracy, Power, and Inequality is perfect for you.

The specialization Democracy, Power, and Inequality delves into institutions, power, democracy, and representation. It equips you with the tools to analyse how societies are politically organized and how this impacts policy-making and the distribution of income and wealth. You'll gain insights into the dynamics of power and representation, the role of democracy, and the effects of different political structures on decision-making and society. Special attention is given to the international repercussions of national decisions.

The VU Master Political Science is set up as an integrated programme with a special focus on the interactions between national and international politics. From 2025-2026 onwards, we offer four specialisations in which you can graduate under the guidance of our expert faculty:

• Democracy, Power and Inequality
• Global Environmental Politics
• International Relations: Geopolitics and Global Political Economy
• International Relations: Peace and Security

The programme is interactive, international and inspirational. You will be introduced to new ideas and concepts, build expertise in knowledge, research methods and writing. You will debate with students from different cultural backgrounds on international political issues and conflicts. You will learn, for example, how to construct a persuasive argument, conduct thorough research, present your ideas effectively, and write a blog. The option to specialise while also having a solid basis as a political scientist is unique and will give you an edge in the job market.

How can we forecast extreme weather events using data-science techniques? What is the impact of climate change on economies and societies in an increasingly interconnected world? How are financial markets affected by the implications of disasters?

Climate change is one of the most pressing issues of the 21st century and affects people, economies and the environment all over the globe. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has underscored the complexities of the climate system. At the same time, econometrics and data science methods for ultra-high dimensional data sets are developing rapidly. Understanding the complexities of climate change require people with very strong data analytics skills and a thorough understanding of climate system dynamics. In this unique specialization, we cover econometrics, statistical theory of high-dimensional spaces, computer science skills for handling big data in a data-rich environment and apply those skills to climate change challenges.

It is the first in The Netherlands to bring together the field of econometrics and climate change science. In this specialization, you will enhance your data science skills and apply them to complex climate change science. The programme allows you to understand, create, and estimate econometric (climate-)models in order to analyze economic effects and to assist in policy making on climate change.

Conflicts lead to looting, killing, recruitment of child soldiers, genocide, and terrorism. They can also fuel cross-border crimes such as human trafficking, kidnappings and wildlife crimes. International organisations, NGOs and governments are tasked with preventing and responding to such criminal acts, and dealing with their harmful consequences. But a lack of knowledge means that effective responses often do not get off the ground.

Please note: the application deadline for this master is 31 March

This Master’s programme is unique in several ways: literally, in that it’s not offered by any other university in the world. But also in its scope, because you’ll learn to combine insights and methodologies from several different disciplines: criminology, law, psychology, sociology and political science. And finally, VU Amsterdam is close to The Hague – home to the UN’s International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court – the legal capital of the world. This programme will truly prepare you for an international career in the field.

Do you want to dive into global water challenges and find sustainable solutions?

Water is one of the Earth's most important and fascinating natural resources. We simply cannot do without it. However, safe and clean water is becoming increasingly scarce, and conflict over water is growing. So how can we make sure there is enough water available for everyone? Can we ensure good quality water for agriculture, ecosystems and people? And how can we minimise the impact of extreme flood events in dense urban areas?

Hydrologists are needed everywhere. The Netherlands is internationally known for its experts in the field of water management. Thus, where better to study hydrology than in Amsterdam? In our Master, you will investigate water challenges and processes from a systems perspective. The Master offers interdisciplinary perspectives, a personal teaching style, and has a hands-on, international and real-world approach.

During the programme you will gain skills, including modelling and fieldwork, that allow understanding the processes driving the water cycle, and enable you to address risks related to water quantity (such as floods and droughts) and water quality (such as pollution).

Does social media lead to a less social society? What is the impact of negative media coverage on a company? And how do you communicate life-saving guidelines in times of crisis? As a Communication Science student you will focus on today’s communication issues within one of three tracks:

• Marketing Communication
• Media and Democracy
• Media Psychology

As we find ourselves in a continually changing media landscape, where everyone shares information and can have an impact on the reputation of organizations, brands or politicians, it makes sense that there is a high demand for experts who understand these developments and can manage their impact. During your programme you will learn to conduct independent social science research and analyse communication processes at an academic level. You will identify new developments and examine the complex dynamics between media, people and society from a scientific perspective.

As a student you will be challenged to solve problems in a professional context by giving specific advice to an organization with communication issues. In addition to learning about media developments, this Master will help you to understand these developments. If you understand the media principles that repeatedly apply in places, you will have developed your most important professional skill set.

In this track you learn to apply biophysical (biomechanics/physiology) methods in fields of health and rehabilitation.

Quantitative Economics is a specialization of the Econometrics and Operations Research master's programme.

This in-depth specialization dives into the cross-roads of applied econometrics and economics offers you the challenge to explore the active research fields of microeconomics, macroeconomics and/or macro-finance.

Quantitative Economics connects many academic disciplines including mathematics, statistics, economics, finance, and business studies, and is primarily concerned with the science and art of using economic theory and statistical techniques to analyse economic data. This specialization offers you the chance to explore the classical and general intersection of economics and econometrics. This study will enhance your analytical skills, will invest in your quantitative insights, will introduce you to a scientific approach of analytical thinking and will generally broaden your quantitative horizons.

Courses

• Thesis MSc EOR - Econometrics
• Advanced Econometrics
• Multivariate Econometrics
• Time Series Models
• Advanced Microeconomics
• Intermediate Microeconomics
• Advanced Macroeconomics
• Research Project Economics

How can we respond to grave injustices committed by the state in the past, like slavery and racism? What does it mean to be a free and equal citizen in a modern democracy? What are the ethical considerations behind euthanasia and abortion laws? If you have a legal background, but you’ve found yourself asking questions about the underlying justice behind legal assumptions and provisions, you’ve come to the right place.

In the Philosophy of Law and Governance specialisation of the two-year Master’s in Philosophy, you’ll tackle challenging questions like these, gaining a deeper understanding of the systems of law and justice in Western society. The programme is interdisciplinary. General philosophical courses and specific courses in philosophy of law are combined with a student's own selection of legal courses. The students of this track usually complete simultaneously a one year master's degree in Law.

Financial Engineering is a specialization of the Econometrics and Operations Research master's programme. Become the expert on analyzing and designing financial products.

Expanding markets and the increasing complexity and variety of financial products have generated a growing demand for skilled professionals to create, price and hedge complex derivatives. The specialization in Financial Engineering provides you with advanced qualifications in operations research and finance, from the management of financial portfolios to risk analysis in financial markets. Financial Engineering is the place where finance meets operations research!

Financial Engineering uses techniques from operations research such as simulation and simulation-based optimization for evaluating options or portfolio optimization. Financial analysts find work at major banks, brokers, and institutional investors such as insurance companies.

Courses

• Thesis MSc EOR - Operations Research
• Combinatorial Optimization
• Optimization and Learning via Stochastic Gradient Search
• Operations Research Case
• Optimization and Multiagent Systems
• Econometrics for Quantitative Risk Management I
• Stochastic Processes: the Fundamentals
• Asset Pricing
• Stochastic Processes for Finance and Derivatives Markets
• Derivatives
• Institutional Investments and Asset Liability Management

How can companies compete in a global environment? What is the best way to do business in an emerging market? What do international teams need in order to overcome challenges and work effectively? How do we prepare individuals and teams to excel in cross-border businesses?

The Business Administration: International Management Master’s programme will combine several teaching methodologies to answer these questions. The right blend of lectures that explore theoretical developments and hands-on experience with real-life cases ensures that you will not only learn the methods it takes to succeed, but also how to apply those methods in practical ways. You’ll be challenged to distinguish yourself among your like-minded colleagues, and will have the opportunity to address real-life, multinational business challenges. You’ll learn how the international context affects different aspects of business, and learn the practical skills necessary to address complex international business challenges. What’s more, you’ll learn what it takes to lead the international business world into the futur

Your Master’s degree in International Management combines a variety of teaching methodologies to ensure you emerge as a well-rounded manager with the skills and experience to lead. You will also participate in workshops that give you hands-on experience with current international business challenges.

Do you want to investigate the relationship between organisms and environment from the molecular level to the global scale, and contribute to science and sustainability? Then this is your master!
As a master's student you will study how nature works both as an aim in itself to understand and explain why the world looks like this as well as to develop the tools to predict and combat problems caused by pollution, biodiversity loss and climate change. You will study Ecology from a plant, animal and systems perspective. Moreover, ecological processes are investigated from the molecular level on to the regional and global scale, where field observations and experiments are used to identify ecosystem patterns and functions.

VU Amsterdam masters' programme in Ecology and Evolution has an explicit research-oriented character and is designed to provide its students the knowledge, skills and insights to operate as an independent professional scientist in the fields of ecology and evolution and to become a promising candidate for a subsequent PhD position or other research-related function in a fundamental or applied ecological field.

How can households escape from poverty? What are the economic implications of migration? Has globalization gone too far?

More than 700 million people still live in extreme poverty, and many more lack access to basic services like healthcare, education, and clean water. Globalisation has lifted millions out of poverty but also triggered inequality, environmental damage, and growing scepticism. Tariffs, trade deals, and aid flows remain contested, making rigorous, evidence-based analysis more important than ever.

In the Development Economics and Globalisation specialisation, you will use economic research to explore key policy challenges in developing countries—ranging from poverty traps and health to social norms, migration, and industrial growth. You will apply microeconomic theory and empirical analysis to topics such as poverty measurement, the impact of microcredit, contract farming, and the role of corrupt elites in foreign aid. From both a micro and global perspective, you will examine how globalisation affects inequality, trade, capital flows, and labour and environmental standards. Using real-world data and rigorous methods, you will gain insight into the forces shaping development and how policy can respond at household, firm, and national levels.

This one-year Master's programme in Theology and Religious Studies focuses on different professional fields, and you can choose between three different tracks:

• Peace, Trauma and Religion (this track is offered in English), where you will study peace and conflict studies;
• Spiritual Care (this track is offered in Dutch), where you will learn about spiritual care in healthcare institutions, prisons and the military;
• Exploring a Discipline (this track is offered in English), which allows you to explore one particular discipline such as Buddhism, Islam in the West, Biblical Studies or Digital Humanities.

You can study this programme part-time.

VU Amsterdam will help you become a geoscientist who is aware of how crucial it is to learn about the intriguing interrelations of System Earth, because that is important for everyone.
Many staff members and students involved in Earth Sciences at VU Amsterdam come from abroad, making it a truly international Master's programme. Furthermore, it is a programme in which the whole world is your field of study.

VU Amsterdam is renowned for combining all Earth Sciences specializations with other subject areas. Earth Sciences at our university are closely linked to Biology and Environmental Sciences. Why limit yourself to being just a geologist or a geographer? Become a true Earth Scientist, with far-reaching background knowledge that allows you to really make the most of your future. How exactly do ice ages, life, plate tectonics and CO2 cycles in the Earth's crust and oceans interact? What is the relationship between landscape and fault movements in the dating of rocks or in processes like uplift and erosion?

The programme's excellent reputation is partly due to the fact that it is small enough to facilitate personal contact between all participants but large enough to encompass the full range of specializations. In that sense, Amsterdam and the programme are much alike: impressive but small enough to make you feel right at home.

Dutch households spend about 30% of their income on housing — a figure that’s on the rise in many countries worldwide. The ongoing housing affordability crisis is a central concern in real estate and housing economics, as it highlights the growing disconnect between housing costs and household incomes.

This raises urgent questions about housing supply, housing policies such as rent control, public housing, and mortgage interest deductibility, and the consequences of unequal access to housing. The energy transition, the increased popularity of working from home and the rise of e-commerce also have important consequences for real estate markets.

Real estate values, including commercial rents, vary widely across time and locations. For instance, house prices in Amsterdam are many times higher than in more peripheral regions. Even within cities, office rents in central locations can be several times higher than in outlying suburbs.

This master's specialisation addresses housing and real estate challenges from an economic and policy perspective but also covers the finance-side of real estate and housing, including investment analysis, mortgage markets, and risk assessment. You will investigate how prices are determined, how real estate portfolios are managed, and how land use regulations, infrastructure, and government policy influence property values.

Much of our communication involves combining different modes at once, like written text and images, or spoken words and gestures. How do we integrate them? What effect does the medium or the genre that we are using have on how we formulate our messages?

Communicating using a variety of modes or methods

Some think of multimodal communication as something modern—as combining text and videos on websites, or as both hearing and seeing people when we communicate using apps on our smartphones. But it simply means communicating using a variety of modes or methods.

Face to face

Even a simple face-to-face interaction usually combines the modes of speech and gesture. Humans have been engaging in multimodal communication since prehistoric times, using sounds in combination with visible actions. And despite the fast pace of digital technology development, we still play videos largely on the same real-time scale as that of face-to-face interaction—the human time scale.

How to make the right capital budgeting and financing decisions? How to valuate the strategic value of projects? What is the impact of sustainability on investors’ investment decisions and its implications for firms operations? Today’s business environment calls for clear financial insight and assured decision-making. Effective capital investments and financing are the lifeblood of every organization. The Financial Management programme at VU Amsterdam equips you with the comprehensive knowledge and thorough understanding you need to manage the flow of funds, from raising and investing capital to accurate and efficient financial reporting. It aims to provide you with a solid and multidisciplinary core for starting a career in corporate financial management and a coherent academic framework and mindset to expand their knowledge and understanding as needed later in your careers. The programme also applies ethical questions to financial management, for example, allowing students to discuss dilemmas they may face in doing business.

The Financial Management specialization has a focus on the corporate (financial and non-financial) and its decision making in a wider sense. Key topics a financial management specialist is concerned with are: capital budgeting, capital structure, pay-out policy, enterprise risk management, accounting, financial sector management.

How do you formulate and implement a business strategy that keeps you competitive in a dynamic market? What does it take to strategically engage with other organisations – including competitors, consumers and NGOs? What are the components of a strategy that not only ensures financial success, but also sustainable and socially responsible business practises?

If you're curious about the answers to these questions, then you’re the right fit for the Strategy & Organisation Master’s programme. You’ll learn to manage strategic and organisational challenges and develop profound skills in analytics, reflexivity and critical thinking. You’ll gain the skills to act responsibly and with foresight in complex and dynamic environments. In short, you’ll learn what it takes to not only develop the strategies that succeed, but also how to bring them to life within complex organisations looking to you to solve their real-life challenges.

The Strategy & Organisation Master’s from VU Amsterdam will teach you how to develop and design competitive strategies and how to put them into practice. After two core courses, you can choose one of two study tracks. One related to rethinking relationships with competitors, the other related to stakeholder demand for improved Corporate Social Responsibility.

Financial Econometrics is a specialization of the Econometrics and Operations Research master's programme.

Your econometric challenge for a life-time career enhancer

In the master specialization Econometric Theory, you explore and master the active research field of econometrics. This in-depth specialization into the foundations of econometric methods offers you the challenge to explore and master an active research field that will place you first in any academic or professional career.

Econometrics connects to many academic disciplines including mathematics, statistics, economics, finance, and business studies, and is primarily concerned with the science and art of using economic theory and statistical techniques to analyse economic/finance/marketing data. This principle can be used in so many directions that econometrics can be regarded as a very general study.

Courses

• Thesis MSc EOR - Econometrics
• Advanced Econometrics
• Multivariate Econometrics
• Time Series Models
• Econometrics Research

Are you fascinated by the world of art and culture? Then follow the master's programme in Arts and Culture.

The MA Arts & Culture is characterised by a broad focus on various domains of the cultural sector. Here you will take courses in specialisations that are in line with developments in art, media, creative industry and design. While some specialisations place current affairs in a historical perspective, others deal explicitly with the contemporary context of art, culture and media. In our programmes you will learn more about history, theory, analysis, the many interrelationships and you will become acquainted with the research of the staff, but also with research projects in all kinds of cultural institutions and companies. The city of Amsterdam - the cultural heart of the Netherlands - offers a unique breeding ground for linking academic depth to the expertise of professionals.

Specialisations:

• Comparative Arts and Media Studies (English)
• Contemporary Art History (English)
• Design Cultures (English)
• Kunst, Markt en Connaisseurschap (Dutch)

Technology and linguistics go hand-in-hand at the specialisation Language and AI in VU Master’s degree in Linguistics.

There is a revolution going on in language technology: the use of Chat GPT and other generative AI systems has grown tremendously in a short period of time, for instance by students. But there are many questions. How do they work? What can they do and what not? Are they dangerous for society? What are the ethical aspects of using these systems? In the specialisation Language and AI we are searching for the answers.

Automated systems are more and more part of our lives. What people often do not realize is that language is at the heart of these systems. This is why they are called Large Language Models. Understanding these models also means understanding how we use language. To prepare for the future, you need to have the knowledge and skills to use this technology. The Language and AI Master’s programme prepares you as a scholar and as an engineer how to build and use this technology in professional context such as government, health, legal, education domains and many others.

Language and AI is one of the specialisations of the Master's programme in Linguistics.

The specialization International and Macroeconomic Policy focuses on trade, growth and coordination of fiscal and monetary policy. This specialization builds upon foundations of advanced macroeconomics: What determines long-run growth and productivity; what is the use of fiscal and monetary policy for economic stabilization?

Specialization courses discuss, inter alia, strategies in coordination and cooperation needed to maintain and promote the integration of Europe: How are tasks divided between EU and national authorities, can the Euro area be stabilized and is further expansion desirable? Another area focuses on growth in developing nations: What role do institutional (social and political) factors play in promoting growth, how do incentives affect savings and investment of households and firms, and what is the impact of foreign aid on development?

In the programme, you will also gain insight into the drivers of growth in industrialized countries, specifically the strategies of firms to boost innovation and growth, and the role of policy.

Our highly reputable teaching faculty has an international track record in academia, central banking, and policy advice.

Nature and nurture: are they enemies or allies? Is health and wellbeing in our genes? And can we use DNA to predict our health?

Both twin studies and molecular genetic studies have highlighted the influence of our genetic code on behaviour and health. To adequately understand and influence behaviour and health, we need to increase our knowledge of the way our genes play their part, by themselves and when interacting with our environment.

During the two-year Genes in Behaviour and Health Research Master’s programme, you’ll delve into these questions in depth to understand the influence of our genetic code on behaviour and health.

The Genes in Behaviour and Health Research Master’s programme is unique in the Netherlands, and is one of the few programmes worldwide to offer such a comprehensive curriculum with behaviour and molecular genetics. It is taught entirely in English by internationally renowned experts who are active researchers themselves. They regularly publish in leading international journals, and are actively involved in large international collaborations.

The practice of business law is changing. Economic, climatic and societal upheaval is forcing businesses to develop a sense of context in the world, and challenging uncontrolled globalisation. Tomorrow's legal advisors need to be flexible, creative, open and well-informed, to guide firms and regulators through tumultuous times.

VU Amsterdam offers two English-taught International Business law specialisations. Each has a clear identity and offers a pathway to many careers. Both have an outspoken and up-to-date approach to today's business law. They are focused on what is going on right now:

• Climate Change and Corporations
• Trade and Investment

VU is proud to be the first university in Europe to offer a specific International Business Law degree that combines an all-round Master's in Business Law, with a specific focus on some of the most complex legal challenges of our day: climate change, and the societal and environmental effects of economic globalisation. These specialisations consist of compulsory and optional courses, which are taught by both legal practitioners and academics.

The VU campus is located in the heart of the Amsterdam business district Zuidas, the beating heart of the Netherlands’ legal community. The university has well-established relationships with many internationally operating companies based there.

The specialisation English Literature: Writing the 21st Century is taught entirely in English and focuses on the dynamics between literature and visual culture. This includes, for example, the role of illustrations in 19th century literature or how the choice of a particular cover affects the sale of a book. You will also study the graphic novel, which has long grown well beyond its limitation to superheroes and even deals with themes such as the Holocaust. The content of the courses is linked as much as possible to the scientific research of the lecturers. This helps you become familiar with current developments in the field. All courses are taught in English.

Based in Amsterdam, a world heritage site with a vibrant everyday life, this master’s programme in Architecture, Cities, Landscapes: History and Heritage offers the unique combination of architectural history and heritage studies. History examines why the spatial environment looks and works in particular ways; heritage explores the value and meaning created around space in the present by diverse communities and understands creative approaches to the uses of the past. Thus, during this programme you will develop a multi-disciplinary analytical approach through the lenses of history and heritage.

The programme focuses on ongoing societal challenges as a point of departure, like climate change, diversity in cities, sustainable re-use of abandoned sites, decolonial perspectives, and landscape heritage and sustainability.

Are you curious about how to integrate both the scientific and the business side of innovations? Do you want to play a crucial part in determining the economic success of innovations? Come study SBI!
As an SBI graduate you are trained to integrate scientific aspects in a business and innovation context while taking organizational, social and cultural variables into account. Professionals who are able to bridge the gap between laboratory, work floor and boardroom are rare and highly sought after. Practice and theory go hand in hand in your Master SBI. The SBI courses feature real world business cases and the things you learn in the classroom are directly applicable in your future career.

Tackle healthcare’s hardest dilemmas

What are the ethical considerations behind palliative care and euthanasia? Where do we draw the line between preventing serious handicaps in children and creating “designer babies”? Who determines whether a patient’s personality has changed after neurological surgery?

Puzzling questions

The field of bioethics has surged in recent years due to breakthroughs in medicine and technological advances. But these have also led to new and puzzling questions – not just for scientists and doctors but for society as a whole.

In the Philosophy, Bioethics and Health specialisation of the two-year Master’s in Philosophy, you’ll tackle challenging ethical and philosophical questions in the context of medicine and health. This is truly a programme for today’s evolving world.

The Artificial Intelligence Master’s programme at VU Amsterdam looks specifically at hybrid intelligence, where AI and humans collaborate. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is widely used in our society: from cars that detect pedestrians to our smart phones’ virtual assistants. These applications use AI techniques to interpret information from a wide variety of sources, and in turn to enable intelligent, goal-directed behaviour.

The Artificial Intelligence Master’s programme at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam looks specifically at hybrid intelligence, where AI systems and humans collaborate. The first year is made up of broad courses that focus on core AI topics, while the second year is devoted to your chosen area of specialisation.

AI’s applications are highly diverse, ranging from optimising internet searches to supporting elderly people with dementia. The VU’s Artificial Intelligence programme allows you to analyse, develop and apply new AI techniques to come up with solutions that make sense within their social context. In collaboration with the Psychology department, we offer the specialised Cognitive Science track. In collaboration with Medical Informatics (UvA, Amsterdam UMC) we offer the specialised AI for Health track.

This specialization studies economic aspects of pressing global issues. Course work straddles areas of environmental policy, global warming and climate change, but also the division between developed countries and the developing world, affecting life and decisions of billions (poverty, access to health and education, migration). All courses feature the application of relevant theoretical and empirical insights to practical issues. You will learn to use modern tools of analysis to investigate potential solutions and formulate policy recommendations. Global challenges are much wider, and thesis work can further delve into issues of, for instance, global diffusion of technical change and innovation, international tax and welfare competition, or international political economy.

The specialization is jointly supported by teaching staff from the Department of Economics and of Spatial Economics. Both host internationally renowned staff, all actively participating in national and international economic policy debates. After completing course work and thesis you are well equipped for a career as a policy economist in international or national government agencies such as the European Commission or ministries, policy analysis institutions, internationally operating consultancy firms, or NGOs.

Lead the way in digitalisation for a smart, sustainable society
In what ways can a company capitalize on green ICT for profit? How might a company's data system contribute to fostering a sustainable society? Armed with insights into these questions, you will be able to provide guidance to companies, organizations, and society at large in the realm of green digital solutions. During the Master's in Information Sciences, you will evolve into a digital designer with a holistic perspective, looking beyond the technical aspects of ICT solutions. A key component in the programme is the cultivation of responsible and sustainable software and data systems.

Dialogue, Health and Society focuses on the theoretical and practical role of language in health communication and medical care. In a world of polarization and empowered citizens and patients, dialogue has become indispensable.

You will gain advanced theoretical knowledge about how language is used in real-world contexts ranging from doctor-patient interaction to online debates about vaccination or conversations about sustainable and healthy eating. You will also apply these insights during your internship as a dialogue specialist in organizations such as the WHO, municipal health departments or NGOs.

The English track of the Master’s in Public Administration focuses on a topic of high societal relevance: Artificial Intelligence and Governance. The rise of algorithmic governance and the digital economy requires a new generation of trained experts that are both well-versed in the theory and practice of governance as well as technologically-savvy. This programme trains this next generation of ambitious students. You will be at the forefront of the latest iteration of the technological revolution in governance.

People, businesses and society are looking for change and answers in an uncertain world. At VU, we help pioneering leaders to dig deep to uncover their purpose, their ambitions and to use that energy to transform the world for the better.

Because like you, we stand on the side of progress and are committed to helping you take the next step.

Breaking free from conventional approaches, our Executive MBA: Leading with Purpose is all about knowledge co-creation and working together to ask the big, challenging questions and go deeper into the issues of today and tomorrow. In doing so, the programme will help to accelerate your development into a more forward-thinking and purpose-driven leader.

Here, you’ll gain not just the skills, knowledge and confidence needed to tackle some of the biggest challenges facing us today, but also the mindset and support to equip you for what’s to come tomorrow, and to develop into a forward-thinking and purpose-driven leader.

More than a programme, it’s an opportunity and challenge to join a truly progressive community of change-makers ready to move the world forward.

Economic solutions to global challenges
How does the EU contribute to economic stability? How does globalization impact local economies? How can we address the challenges of affordable education, effective healthcare and the aging population across the globe?

The Economics Master’s programme seeks answers to these questions by exploring modern economic theory, data analysis and real-life case studies. It prepares you for a career as a professional economist, whether your interests draw you to a career in the public or private sector, research or consulting.

Versatility is key in the programme, allowing you to explore all aspects of Economics before deciding on the path that is right for you. You can choose from one of the specializations or are free to pick and mix from our extended list of elective courses. If you’re hard working and dedicated and have a real interest in addressing global issues from an economics perspective, this is the programme for you!

There are five specializations within the master's programme:

• Development Economics
• Global Economics
• International and Macroeconomic Policy
• Market Analytics
• Public Policy

The Master's in Classics and Ancient Civilizations (CAC) offers you the opportunity to become an expert in the literature and societies of the Ancient Mediterranean. In the track Ancient Civilizations you will specialize in themes related to Ancient Studies, such as religion, gender and urban history. You will be able to follow and develop your personal interests, among others by tapping into the wide array of expertise of eminent scholars at UvA and VU Amsterdam.

The Master Classics and Ancient Civilizations is offered jointly by VU Amsterdam and the UvA – combining their expertise in the Amsterdam Centre for Ancient Studies and Archaeology (ACASA).

How can you effectively lead a group of people to a common goal when they each have differing interests? How can you create a compelling call to action when addressing multiple stakeholders?

The Leadership & Change Management Master’s programme offers a unique proposition: it teaches you to lead a team through organisational change, to manage the change project, and to get buy-in from all involved. Leadership and change are a natural combination – no change management can be effective without good leadership, and only an effective leader can create positive change. Having completed the programme, you’ll come away with the organisational, political and rhetorical skills you need to be a successful future leader. Whether you want to find a role in consultancy, work internally for a large firm, or become an entrepreneur or project manager – this is the first step.

The Leadership & Change Management programme will set you up as an academic professional, with knowledge of the theories of organisational change and leadership, as well as skills in implementing change and being an effective leader. In addition to courses that are unique to the Leadership & Change Management programme, you’ll also be able to take electives from the other Business Administration specialization programmes.

Are you ready to unravel the complexity of global health challenges and contribute to better health for all? Then this Research Masters in Global Health may be the Master's you are looking for.
Our programme offers you the opportunity to learn about and work on global health challenges, by crossing disciplinary boundaries and collaborating with social stakeholders. Many diseases, such as Zika virus do not stop at national borders, and most health problems have social, political and economic impacts. With the world's population becoming increasingly interdependent, there is need for a vision on health that spans the globe and promotes shared responsibility. Global health is defined as the broad field of study, research and practice geared towards improving health and achieving equity in health. Global health researchers need inter- and transdisciplinary approaches in order to study and unravel complex health problems. They need to cross disciplinary boundaries and interact with health professionals, patients, policy-makers, public and private sector stakeholders to gain an in-depth understanding of global health problems. However, their role does not stop here. Global health researchers also need to bring these different stakeholders together to set out cohesive and strategic action to solve these problems.

Are you interested in the dynamic interrelations between media, arts and the environment?

Audiovisual media are essential to our society. Platforms, interfaces and networked infrastructures have become ubiquitous and influence all aspects of private and public life, and media culture is enmeshed with politics and the living world like never before. Digital media have not only radically reconfigured how we sense the world and create, exhibit and interact with film, television, art and cultural objects. Media also represent, communicate and contribute to global environmental crises.

Comparative Arts and Media Studies is one of the tracks of the master's programme in Arts & Culture.

Five reasons to choose Comparative Arts and Media Studies at VU Amsterdam:

• You will learn in a globally unique way to combine a focus on media, art, and environment.
• You will have the opportunity to study cultural phenomena across various formats and art forms.
• You will gain a strong conceptual and theoretical grounding.
• You will learn to analyse concrete cultural, curatorial, and artistic practices.
• You will gain media literacy skills to historically contextualise a fast-paced audiovisual culture.

Did you know that modern cryptography uses prime numbers, or that bacterial growth is governed by differential equations? Or that the spread of forest fires and infections can be predicted by stochastic models? How about the discovery of gravitational waves, which confirms Einstein’s prediction that spacetime is described by Riemannian geometry?

If you join the Mathematics programme, you can learn about both the fundamental aspects of mathematics and its applications. At Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam we develop fundamental mathematical theory in algebra, geometry, number theory, analysis, dynamical systems, probability, statistics and operations research. But we also apply this theory in areas as business analytics, data science, forensic statistics, systems biology, neuroscience, complex systems and many more.

In the specialisation Pure Mathematics you focus on one of the classical sub-fields of mathematics: Algebra, Geometry and Number Theory; Analysis and Dynamical Systems; or Probability and Statistics. In the specialisation Applied Mathematics you can choose Biomedical Mathematics, or Data Science and Optimization.

Or you can choose the Education specialisation.

Are you ready to build the government of the future? In a time of rapid technological change, demographic shifts, and increasing global uncertainty, the need for smart, effective public policy has never been greater. But designing good policy is not easy.

You will dive into important questions such as:

• How can we make welfare, pension, and healthcare systems sustainable as populations age?
• How do we tackle rising inequality through tax reform without undermining work incentives?
• What is the right way to regulate big tech and curb the growing market power of dominant firms?
• And how should governments respond to unexpected shocks — from financial crises and pandemics to climate change and energy insecurity?

In the specialisation Public Economics and Policy, you will gain the skills to answer these questions — and many more. You’ll start by learning how markets work and when they may fail. Then you’ll explore how economic policies influence behavior and shape society. You’ll see how well-designed policies can address market failures and promote a fairer, more resilient society.

What sets this specialisation apart is the integration of core courses in public economics and applied policy analysis with a broad range of electives for exploring specific policy domains in depth.

If you are fascinated by the development new pharmacological therapies and studying interactions between molecules and the human body, then this is the Master's program for you.
In the Master's programme Drug Discovery Sciences, you will examine the interaction between molecules and the human body from a range of perspectives: chemical, medical, toxicological, pharmacological and genetic. You will focus on a specialization that suits your specific interests while working in a multidisciplinary environment where you will be challenged to address key questions about the medicines of the future. Sixty per cent of diseases are still incurable, so there are still many challenges for researchers to tackle.

Learn the academic and the practical skills to become a curator. Are you ready to investigate museum displays from multiple perspectives? Are you keen to intern at a museum, directly contributing to curating exhibitions yourself? And are you looking to become a curator of the future?

Interdisciplinary Master's programme

The Dual Master’s in Curating Art and Cultures is a unique, two-year programme offered jointly by VU Amsterdam, the University of Amsterdam (UvA), and leading museums and cultural institutions in the Netherlands. Taking place in both the lecture hall and the exhibition space, this interdisciplinary Master’s programme prepares you for a career as a professional curator by strengthening your disciplinary and theoretical foundations, and equipping you with the research skills and practical experience needed to achieve your ambitions.

Work as a curator-in-training

Most importantly, you will have the opportunity to work as a curator-in-training during a year-long internship at one of the programme’s partnering museums or cultural institutions.

If you decide to follow the track Digital Archaeology and Heritage, you'll focus on current digital methods and techniques in archaeology and their application in the field of cultural heritage. This track covers core digital methods and theory, including 3D visualization and virtual reconstruction, as well as advanced spatial analysis and data science. The small-scale setting of the MA programme provides the ideal setting to combine theory and practice.

Theory meets practice in this unique Archaeology programme that’s offered jointly by VU Amsterdam and the University of Amsterdam. You’ll benefit from a strong theoretical focus as well as practice-oriented modules in which you’ll interpret field data and study archaeological materials first-hand. The specialisation in Digital Archaeology has several possibilities to do an internship, for example at the UvA’s 4DR lab.

Shape our connected future

Technology has become ubiquitous in our global, connected society. Globally distributed information processing services have taken centre stage, with the internet connecting a variety of information processing devices, ranging from embedded sensors to data centres operated by world-leading companies.

The Computer Science programme is a joint degree between VU Amsterdam and the University of Amsterdam (UvA). It’s structured according to six specialisations, of which you’ll choose one depending on your own area of interest:

• Big Data Engineering
• Computer Systems and Infrastructure
• Foundations of Computing and Concurrency
• Software Engineering and Green IT
• International track: Software Engineers for Green Deal

As a Computer Science Master’s student in Amsterdam, you’ll benefit from the expertise, networks and research projects at both VU Amsterdam and the UvA, as well as affiliated research institutes. Courses are taught at locations of both universities, and you’ll receive a joint degree certificate on graduation. Not only is the programme unique in that it offers a joint degree – it also allows you to specialise in one of six distinct tracks.

Human capital is the most valuable asset of individuals. Sufficient human capital allows people to be successful on the labour market and if individuals work they gain additional human capital. Health is a very important determinant of human capital. A well functioning labour market and health care market are therefore essential for any economy. Not surprisingly, these markets are the most important areas of attention of governments. However, the degree of regulation differs between markets and is often heavily debated.

In this specialization, you learn about the trade-offs between efficiency and protection faced by policy makers when making decisions on the welfare state. This implies that you study the pros and cons of government interventions concerning for example benefits systems, health insurance markets, provision of long-term care and how to regulate care providers. Since there is no one-size-fits-all policy available for the labour market and markets associated to health, this specialization is largely empirical driven and compares different institutional settings.

Are you passionate about finance and quantitative methods?

This Honours programme, which is named after Wim Duisenberg, the first President of the European Central Bank, will give you not only a thorough understanding of quantitative finance methods, but also the hands-on practical experience to be able to implement quantitative strategies in the workplace from day one. That’s why all our students have job offers before they graduate with their Master’s – and also why they’re ready to hit the ground running when they start their careers.

The MSc Finance is ranked in the Financial Times Masters in Finance Ranking and has been a top ranked programme according to the National Student Survey (NSE) for several years. Furthermore, the MSc Finance has been voted the most popular Master in The Netherlands by employers in 2023.

Are you ready to tackle the complexities of climate finance and drive positive change in the world? Do you want to master the art of navigating policy uncertainty and financial risk in the face of climate change? Are you passionate about harnessing the power of finance to build a sustainable and resilient future for generations to come? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then the master’s programme in Climate and Sustainable Finance is something for you.

Whether one runs a small company, a large international company, a government or and NGO there is always need of a person who understands the company from the perspective of its finances. Next to that we are in times where climate change and climate risks are more and more affecting our daily lives. Therefore, society wants to see companies managed differently and asks company leaders to take these pressing issues into account.

What makes our Climate and Sustainable Finance programme unique is that it is a collaboration between the Finance department and the Institute for Environmental Studies, one of the world's leading institutes in sustainability science. Students in this programme will, therefore, be taught by leading experts from the field of climate science as well as from leading experts in finance.

Quantitative Logistics is one of the specializations of the Master's in Operations Research.

In an interconnected world, organizations increasingly collaborate in order to efficiently distribute their services to customers. This requires the integration of various key processes across organizations. The specialization Quantitative Logistics equips you with expertise on supply chains, as well as the sophisticated quantitative methods and tools from optimization, that you need to effectively design, implement and manage supply chain processes.

The core courses of this program are oriented to computation with a solid basis in mathematics. This will enable you to master a broad spectrum of models and solution methods, and to design and analyze novel methods applicable to new situations.

Logistics is the oldest area of application of optimization. Supply Chain Management is the most advanced and nowadays one of the most relevant topics in this field. Courses in supply chain management and a case study illustrate a wealth of practical situations in which the operations research models and methods that you learned can be applied or adapted to the particular problem. You will be able to work and communicate in teams with people who are not experts in operations research. You will learn how to report the results of your investigations, both in academic and business environments.

In this track your learn to tackle sports-related issues from a, predominantly biophysical perspective (muscle and exercise physiologics and biomechanics).

Marketing Data Science is a specialization of the Econometrics and Operations Research master's programme.

This hands-on specialization into econometric methods for analyzing marketing data to facilitate better marketing strategies let you become the quantitative marketing specialist and place you at the forefront of a successful professional career.

You learn how data science can improve marketing strategies and gain a quantitative edge in the e-commerce of tomorrow. In the Marketing Data Science specialization you study econometrics and data science methods for the analysis of marketing data to facilitate better marketing strategies. We connect many academic disciplines including mathematics, statistics, economics, and marketing. This study is primarily concerned with the use of microeconomics, consumer behaviour and statistical techniques to analyse data sets with multiple hierarchies such as product, brand, location, distribution, etc. The econometric methods are used to analyse volume shares, advertising effects, sale strategies, consumer behaviour, brand loyalty schemes, TV and social media advertising, and many other topics.

Courses

• Thesis MSc EOR - Econometrics
• Advanced Econometrics
• Multivariate Econometrics
• Time Series Models
• Marketing Data Case

Are you interested in different perspectives on psychopathology? Ready to unravel trends in brain and behaviour? Looking for in-depth insights into the developmental origins of mental health and clinical presentation of disorders? Then the Clinical and Developmental Psychopathology Research Master’s may be the programme for you!

The programme gives you the opportunity to work on theoretical and practical problems, through varied learning activities and settings. In a small-scale teaching environment, you’ll learn about the etiology, development and course of psychopathology, as well as cutting-edge psychologically informed methods for its prevention and treatment.

This challenging programme, for talented and motivated students, offers an extensive study of the origins of mental health. The best researchers in the field present high-quality teaching on the latest insights into the relationships between mental health, biological endowments and environmental resources, the neuropsychological substrate and human relationships, and adaptive and maladaptive developmental pathways.

Do you want to combine human biology with molecular biology? Or learn about the other possibilities of biomedical sciences after a year of research? This master's programme will offer you just that!
While pursuing a Master's degree in Biomedical Sciences you can opt to study a combination of different specialisations. The research specialisations will enable you to embark on a career in research. In the second year you decide on your profile, either with a focus on research or more into biomedical related specialisations. These will enable you to work in professions like policy officer, sciencific journalism or advisor, and the education specialisation (only in Dutch) will enable you to teach at pre-university or higher vocational education level.

Can European and international law help address the challenges of our time, such as climate change, migration, new technologies, and cultural conflicts? How can international law bring order and justice to global relations? How does the EU work, and how does it affect life and government in Europe?

In the European and International Law track, you will explore legal frameworks that go beyond national borders. You will study the foundations of European and international public law and examine how these legal domains complement and sometimes conflict with each other. How do they contribute to solving cross-border challenges such as climate change, migration, inequality, technological transformation, and war? And how do they relate to national legislation and democratic decision-making? You will investigate the role of law in a globalising world and seek to understand tensions between sovereignty and democracy.

Do you aspire to a career in European and international law, and are you interested in the political, economic, and social context in which the law operates? If so, this track within the Master’s in Law at VU Amsterdam is the right choice for you.

The availability of big data, in combination with rapidly increasing computing power, is uncovering mechanisms not visible before. Blockchain has the ability to fundamentally change the way we register and administer information. Networks provide the opportunity to build robust and stable interactions. Major challenges lie ahead in understanding what these fascinating new technologies imply for our financial infrastructure. These developments call for a new type of finance graduate.

The MSc Finance is ranked in the Financial Times Masters in Finance Ranking and has been a top ranked programme according to the National Student Survey (NSE) for several years. Furthermore, the MSc Finance has been voted the most popular Master in The Netherlands by employers in 2023.

This one-week intensive course explores how poverty and inequality shape — and are shaped by — individual behavior, markets, and policy in developing economies. Through a microeconomic lens, participants will examine how households, firms, and governments interact in contexts of constraint and opportunity. The course combines conceptual and empirical perspectives on key dimensions of development: financial inclusion, human capital, labor markets, and welfare measurement.

This course focuses on the societal and political dimensions of the energy transition, while taking into account the physical and technical limitations of the energy system, as well as earth’s environmental boundaries. You will be equipped with a comprehensive overview of the global energy transition’s needs, its challenges and solutions, and the trade-offs generated by different (policy) options. The course will introduce you to the leading theories, concepts, proposed solutions, and current governance efforts in the energy transition. You will be taught by experienced academics and other key stakeholders in the energy and climate arena in the Netherlands and beyond.

One of life’s great challenges for each and every one of us is to learn how to deal with our emotions. Effective emotion regulation is linked to better mental and physical health, relationship satisfaction, and work performance. It is therefore vital to learn more about the psychology of emotion regulation. This summer course aims to provide students with a) knowledge regarding the state of the art of modern emotion regulation research; b) critical thinking and presentation skills; c) tools for developing new research and real-world applications of emotion regulation research. Among the topics covered in the course are: Emotion regulation strategies, emotion regulation flexibility, mindfulness, embodied emotion regulation, interpersonal emotion regulation, psychopathology and psychotherapy.

Human processes of all kinds are complex and adaptive. Mental, social, and health-related processes can all change and adapt over time with human behaviour. Thought-based processes can change as a result of learning, social interactions can evolve over time, and health-related processes are susceptible to change too.

This course will present theories and findings from a wide range of disciplines, including various branches of cognitive, social, health and neuroscience, to gain insight into underlying mechanisms of human processes that can be exploited in human AI modeling and simulation. The various scientific theories form a factual basis for modelling the processes. We can understand these often adaptive mechanisms through causal relations and causal pathways, which we can model as networks. Using this theoretical framework and the software provided, students can easily simulate a variety of scenarios.

patial and functional data analysis has become increasingly important across environmental sciences, economics, finance, and many other fields where complex data structures are now routinely collected. Spatial data can appear in several forms: in some applications they are aggregated over regions or lattices and can be described using classical spatial models; in others they are observed continuously over space, as in air pollution or climate studies, where ideas from functional data analysis provide a natural framework. Functional data methods themselves have a wide and well-developed literature, with applications ranging from modelling curves and surfaces to analysing dynamic processes such as volatility or yield curves. While both areas are broad, this course focuses on a selection of classical models together with a few recent developments, offering an introductory yet coherent view of how these tools are used in practice.

This intensive summer school equips participants with cutting-edge skills to contribute to the knowledge and understanding of AI. It offers a dynamic learning experience designed to equip each participant with practical skills and fresh perspectives. It will give an overview of how the status of Gen AI is evolving and the way in which experts are championing it and advising regulators on emerging tech policy.

This course will introduce you to classical logic and the different systems of reasoning that arise as variations. Explore how logical formalisms can be used to model diverse phenomena spanning from social sciences to natural languages and the notion of categories and categorisation in the handling of applications. Learn to model knowledge, agency, and language with logical tools.

In this course you will learn more about how to start your own business with an international team. Two aspects play an important role here: sustainable entrepreneurship and the life cycle of the small firm. You will be supported by an excellent team, consisting of academic professors and guest speakers who have applied their knowledge to real world situations.

Non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) is a powerful tool which can be used to ask questions about cause-and-effect relationships in the brain of healthy and pathological populations. It can also be used as a treatment in various psychiatric and neurological conditions.

To harness the full potential of NIBS and use it optimally, it is essential to have a strong theoretical foundation that allows users to make informed decisions about study design or treatment parameters.

The main aim of this course is to provide students with that foundation by drawing on the extensive experience and expertise available at the VU. As such, the main target audience consists of students who want to use NIBS for their research, or would like to learn more about NIBS to determine whether it is a suitable technique for their research questions.

International crimes and gross human rights violations pose a threat to international peace and security and call for effective action. An effective response, however, is often hampered by a lack of knowledge on the true nature and aetiology of international crimes.

This Summer School on International Criminal Justice aims to create a better understanding of the complex nature of international crimes, their perpetrators and the reaction by the international community. By taking an interdisciplinary approach, students will examine the juridical and empirical sides of these mass atrocities and by combining theory, interactive discussions and visits to the International Criminal Tribunals in The Hague, students will quickly develop a basic understanding of the most important issues concerning international criminal justice. Together with a group of expert lawyers and criminologists, you will explore what 'doing justice' means in practice and identify and discuss the most pressing challenges. In doing so, you will make the most of our location just 30 minutes away from the legal capital of the world, The Hague. Accompanied by experienced professionals, you will visit the most celebrated legal institutions of the world, such as the International Criminal Court, the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

Many policy related empirical questions in economics are answered using detailed individual data and require analyzing individual behavior. This often implies that a causal parameters should be estimated to assess how a public policy affects individual outcomes. In many settings regression models provide correlations which only in special cases have a causal interpretation. In this course we discuss methods dealing with these confounding factors, such as omitted variables, reverse causality, measurement errors and non-random sampling. In particular, we consider limited dependent variable models, instrumental variables estimation and panel data models. We introduce the potential outcomes model, which is the most general model for defining treatment effects such as average treatment effect, average treatment effect on the treated, quantile treatment effects and local average treatment effects. The emphasis of the course is on identification, estimation and interpretation rather than a thorough treatment of the asymptotic properties of the estimators.

This one-week Deep Learning course covers theoretical and practical aspects, state-of-the-art deep learning architectures and application examples. The lectures will introduce to students the fundamental building blocks of deep learning methods and the weaknesses and strengths of the different architectures. Students will learn how to tailor a model for a particular application. During tutorials students practice the theory using exercises and have the opportunity to ask for additional explanation for those parts of the material perceived as more difficult. Computer lab sessions aim at making the material come alive and train students in how the methods learnt in class can actually be applied to data. The lab sessions are meant to work on the assignments, such that the students automatically keep up with the material.

Topics covered

• Introduction to Deep Learning (High-level definitions of fundamental concepts and first examples)
• Deep Learning components (gradient descent models, loss functions, avoiding over-fitting, introducing asymmetry)
• Feed forward neural networks
• Convolutional neural networks
• Embeddings (pre-trained embeddings, examples of pre-trained models, e.g., Word2Vec)
• Generative Adversarial Network (GAN)
• Advanced architectures (Densely connected networks, Adaptive structural learning)

In today’s rapidly changing world, the intersection of finance and sustainability has never been more important. The global challenges we face—climate change, social inequality, and resource depletion—are reshaping how businesses, governments, and investors think about long-term growth and success. The financial industry plays a key role in tackling these issues. Sustainable finance integrates financial decision-making with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations to create value not just for investors, but for society and the planet as well.

Throughout this course, we will explore how finance can be leveraged to promote sustainability across various sectors. We will dive into topics such as asset pricing, responsible investing, green bonds, impact investing, and the growing role of ESG metrics in corporate and financial decision-making. You will also gain insights into the tools available to finance professionals to drive positive change while still achieving financial returns.

Global Health is a discipline that tackles health issues affecting low- and middle-income countries and high-income countries (LMICs and HICs): problems that transcend national boundaries.

In a globalizing world, health issues become increasingly complex and challenging. A two-way flow between developed and developing countries with regards to sources, expertise and knowledge, involving stakeholders from different disciplines as well as patients, can potentially generate effective and innovative solutions to deal with the health issues at hand and to create equitable global health systems.

The Global Health summer school course is designed for (advanced) BSc students who are motivated to gain in-depth insights into complex health issues in a global context. The course consists of lectures and assignments. The lectures provide insight into the growing complexity of the burden of disease, challenges facing healthcare systems, and child and reproductive health, all approached in a global context. Course assignments aim to provide students with the opportunity to acquire and practice key research skills, gain insight into career opportunities, and broaden their knowledge of issues in Global Health.

Why do unemployment and job vacancies coexist? Why do some workers struggle to find jobs while firms struggle to hire? And how can public policy shape these outcomes?

Many markets—from labor to housing—are characterized by search frictions: buyers and sellers do not meet instantaneously, matching requires time and resources, and markets do not clear smoothly. These frictions generate unemployment alongside unfilled vacancies, slow job creation, and create persistent mismatches between workers, firms, and locations.

This summer school offers a rigorous research-master/PhD–level introduction to the core models used to study frictional markets. We place particular emphasis on labor markets and the policy implications that emerge from modern search-and-matching theory but we also consider housing and product markets.

In cooperation with FC Twente, we organize a course to help you learn how to recruit the right players for a professional football club. Although the recruitment strategy also works for other sports, during the course we focus on football (soccer).

While player recruitment is one of the most important aspects of running a club, it is also one of the least understood processes. For that reason, we look into five different sciences that support better decision making in the recruitment of players.

These five sciences are:

1) Viable System Model. (VSM)

2) Cybernetic Big Five Theory (Cb5T)

3) Organizational Behaviour Management (OBM)

4) Subjective Bayesian statistics

5) Triangulation

The course provides students with a comprehensive understanding of political, social, and military conflicts in states influenced by the Soviet legacy, including former Soviet republics and states of the former Warsaw Treaty Organization. It explores their historical roots, geopolitical implications, and the role of international actors. It explores their historical roots, geopolitical implications, and the role of international actors. The course focuses on key contemporary cases such as the Russian–Ukrainian war, the Armenia–Azerbaijan conflict, and the ongoing tensions in Moldova, Georgia, and other tensions caused by Russian hybrid influence.

This course provides a hands-on introduction to statistical methods for causal inference. Over two weeks, students are introduced to experimental and quasi-experimental methods which allow them to infer cause-and-effect relationships robustly. We teach these methods from both a theoretical and applied lens, supplementing lectures with hands-on computer tutorials in the R programming language to help students learn by doing.

An intensive summer course designed to equip students with a solid foundation in leadership and organisational behaviour (OB). The course introduces students to the key principles that explain how individuals and groups behave in organisations, and how leaders can shape that behaviour in ethical and effective ways. The course is taught by an organisational behaviour academic with over two decades of experience as a senior executive in global organisations, thus seamlessly blending practical insight with academic rigor. Through a balance of lectures, case studies, role-plays, and team-based learning, students will not only explore classic and contemporary OB theories but also apply them to real-world scenarios. The course emphasises global applicability, helping students develop the cultural intelligence needed to navigate today’s complex international work environments.

Crime imposes substantial social and economic costs, and designing effective crime-reduction policies requires a deep understanding of the mechanisms that drive criminal behaviour and how institutions respond. This intensive summer school brings together leading international scholars in the economics of crime to introduce participants to cutting-edge empirical research on human capital and crime, discrimination in labour markets and the criminal legal system, policing and incarceration, organised crime and immigration, and the consequences of victimisation.

Water is central for ecosystems, human wellbeing and development. The relationship between society and water resources is critical and complex. Water issues have been historically treated as a technical problem, something to be resolved through hydraulic and engineering solutions. However, the increasing and exacerbating competition over water resources due to expanding global population, climate change and conflicting production activities raises new political and democratic challenges. Understanding water governance implies developing interdisciplinary knowledge about the different problems, approaches, perspectives and controversies related to how societies cooperate and compete over water resources.

The main objective of this course is for you to build an expert understanding of the multidimensional challenges of governance of water resources. Collectively as a class, and individually, you will develop expertise in the water governance world by engaging with the core scientific literature, discussing, and tackling real world problems and independent research activities. By the end of the course, you will have gained an understanding of the complexity of water governance: the various models of governance, its structures and institutions at multiple scales, the different values and uses of water, and the main frames and debates from multiple perspectives.

The summer school offers an intensive one-week program designed to equip PhD students and early career scholars with the knowledge, tools, and mindset required to conduct credible and rigorous management research.

Across five days, participants explore the roots of the credibility crisis in management research and the social sciences in general, learn how to apply open science practices, master research designs that support robust causal inference, and develop their own credibility-focused research proposals.

This summer school responds to a growing demand from both scholars and scientific journals for greater transparency and rigor in management research. Through a combination of expert lectures, interactive workshops, and group projects, participants will learn to critically assess existing studies, implement credibility-enhancing practices in their own work, and position themselves at the forefront of a movement reshaping the future of management scholarship.

Research, policymaking, and business rely on ever-bigger data to answer wide-ranging questions. What are the risk factors for developing a disease? How to assess the risk profile of a new customer, when determining the appropriate insurance premium? How to best forecast unemployment? How to optimally target online advertisements? Machine-learning techniques are well-suited to answer such data-driven questions.

In this course, we provide a fast-paced and solution-oriented introduction to machine-learning algorithms. Special attention is paid to the theoretical foundations of machine-learning algorithms, as well as real-life applications.

During the lectures, we will introduce you to a wide variety of machine-learning techniques, ranging from linear and nonlinear regression models to dimensionality-reduction techniques and clustering methods, as well as deep learning using neural networks.

During the lab sessions, we will guide you step by step through real-life case studies in economics, business, and medicine. We discuss how to implement machine-learning solutions, from conceptualizing the problem and implementing the appropriate techniques in Python, to evaluating the quality of your solution and ensuring its scalability, as well as overcoming challenges such as overfitting

In this course you examine different approaches to coping with climate change, from international agreements to climate actions by companies, cities and individual citizens. Each week, we delve into different topics and challenges, ranging from the history of climate change governance, to how we adapt to perhaps irreversible climate-induced effects in an equitable way. We also critically engage with questions around responsibility and accountability for and in the climate crisis.

Theory is mixed with practice throughout a set of interactive lectures, where discussions, games and excursions are used to provide concrete examples of how the issue is being addressed at various levels and by various actors. Along the way we invite you to question scientists, policymakers and lobbyists.

As the world changes and becomes more interconnected, there is an increasing need for experts who know how to tackle global challenges. In this course we focus on the Global South, i.e. the economically disadvantaged regions, and how people can empower themselves to improve their well-being and tackle the inequalities and global challenges we are facing. From a global perspective we will discuss the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Students will emerge with new knowledge and skills for critical reflection and analysis within the field of international and global development practices.

The course offers an in-depth exploration of the structure and function of the central nervous system, with strong emphasis on clinical relevance. Stretching from bench to bedside, the course enables students to understand the relationship between anatomical structures and systems and different neurological disorders.

This course is about one of the greatest challenges of our time: climate change. What are the latest insights of the science of economics into its causes and potential solutions? How large are the costs of climate change? Should we tax carbon, cap-and-trade emission rights, or subsidize solar and wind power? Why is it so difficult to stick to environmental agreements such as ‘Paris’, despite the evident benefits to all? How can we prevent our industry from moving abroad if we take a leading role and ‘go it alone’ in taking environmental action? What is the role of economic growth and development? Should we stop it to avert a climate catastrophe and biodiversity loss, or can we pin our hopes on green growth?

Topics

• Introduction to the economics of climate change (Poelhekke)
• International environmental agreements (Wagener)
• Climate policy instruments and carbon leakage (Fischer)
• Green growth, limits to growth and degrowth (Van der Meijden)
• Climate policy with unequal households (Douenne)

This course will teach you why the Circular Economy is vital, what it is, how it tackles social and ecological problems, and why urban transformations contribute to a circular economy. Benefit from passionate teachers, experience the city of Amsterdam, and develop your own symbiotic circular experiment. You will participate in active and creative workshops and excursions, and you attend lectures from experts about the essentials of the Circular Economy, how it tackles social and ecological problems, and which innovations in business, policy, and civil society are important for the Circular Economy. We will pay special attention to how human and non-human beings can live together in urban environments, with real-world examples from the city of Amsterdam.

This two week-long summer school aims to provide a comprehensive, interdisciplinary understanding of neurodegenerative diseases, blending scientific rigor with practical applications. By engaging with cutting-edge research, real-world case studies and practical labtours, participants will gain invaluable insights into the complexities of neurodegenerative diseases, preparing them to contribute meaningfully to care and research. In addition, students will obtain valuable skills in critical and constructive thinking. Also, students will learn how to translate obtained knowledge and ideas into a high-quality presentation with students from various backgrounds.

Explore one of the most urgent challenges of our time—how to make environmental action just. This interactive summer course delves into environmental justice, asking: who benefits, who loses, and why? You'll engage with contemporary philosophical debates, real-world case studies, and justice movements from around the globe. Learn how environmental decisions affect vulnerable communities, ecosystems, and future generations across land, sea, and climate. With expert lecturers, guest practitioners, and a hands-on city walk, this interdisciplinary course invites you to critically rethink sustainability, justice, and your role in shaping a more just world.

Data is everywhere but to retrieve the valuable insights requires important analytical skills. The large number of active programmers creating R packages makes R suitable for a range of data analysis techniques, from basic hypothesis testing to generalized linear regression, and multivariate analysis such as principal component, factor analysis, or clustering. You will apply what you have learned right away in short exercises using Rmarkdown. You will be graded using an assignment in which you will learn to deal with messy data and integrate the knowledge you obtained in the exercises. The course is highly intensive as it focuses both on interpreting statistics while also learning to program in R.

The course delves into the multifaceted nature of AML compliance, emphasizing its impact on designated non-financial businesses and professions (DNFBPs). We'll explore the evolving legal and regulatory landscape, the critical role of DNFBPs focusing mainly on legal professionals in combating money laundering, and your ethical and professional obligations. This program equips law students and practitioners alike with the expertise to ensure compliance and navigate the ever-changing world of AML.

Navigate the evolving landscape of blockchains and digital currencies through the lens of finance, cutting through the media hype. This course delves into the economic forces that govern the parallel financial ecosystem of blockchain and digital currencies. It aims to equip participants with the knowledge and analytical skills to critically evaluate the implications of blockchain and digital currencies from a finance perspective. The course begins by laying a foundation in the technical aspects of blockchains and cryptocurrencies. It then shifts to analysing economic models related to exchange rates, consensus mechanisms, initial coin offerings, and decentralized exchanges, and it concludes with a discussion on the emergence of potential central bank digital currencies.

Why does racial discrimination and inequality remain a problem in modern society? By now, most people accept that the idea that ‘race’, when used to describe people, is not a biological fact, but a social construct. However, explaining how this social construction works in practice can be difficult. This course aims to remedy that difficulty. Using the Netherlands as a case study, it provides historical context and concrete examples of how ‘race’ has functioned as a legal concept throughout history and how laws regulating race have adapted to the postcolonial, some say even post-racial world. By examining how race is enacted through laws in different eras and territories, we will get to the central question of why racial inequality and discrimination persist.

This course shows that the core of economic theory is actually very broad, and highlights the linkages to other social sciences. It will also go into the question of why this core seems to have been forgotten in economics.

Hence, during the Summer School, we follow the trail from individual preferences to individual choices, and from the latter to societal dilemmas and social choice—all under varying physical, monetary, political, or psychological circumstances. Along the way, we encounter utility maximization of the individual under a budget constraint—the bedrock of standard welfare economics—but also alternatives, such as lexicographic ordering and representations of individual and social choices on immaterial aspects of life (democratic values, concerns on equality, inclusivity, safety). We discuss interpretations of circumstances that determine freedom of choice, varying from marketing tools to concepts in game theory, political science and psychology. For decision making under uncertainty, the course contrasts maximization of expected utility with alternative models that can handle catastrophic risks, different types of uncertainty, and qualitative assessments of future outcomes. Throughout, the course connects theoretical representations with quantifiable model representations and includes hands-on exercises.

Marketing is an academic discipline with its own traditions and standards, drawing from psychology, economics and other disciplines. In this course we zoom in on consumer behavior. While some of the work in this area is very fundamental in nature, the focus of this course is on research that translates directly into policies for brands, organizations, NGOs and other stakeholders, including governments. The course revolves around key insights and recent advances in marketing, with a focus on the societal impact – or, as we like to call it at VU School of Business and Economics: Marketing with Purpose. This course will draw on academic papers from leading journals. It is built around interactive discussions about recent articles in the field. But it is not only about reading and analyzing existing research. We will also help you generate and develop ideas for your own research, so that after the summer you will be able to launch or revamp your own research in this area.

Participants are expected to read & present assigned papers, and to actively participate in class discussions and exercises. We will dissect the ideas, writing and set up of recent papers, and use our learnings to generate and develop new research ideas.

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) is transforming how you read, write, and learn. In this intensive two-week course, you explore how tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini shape your academic practice while challenging ideas of understanding, authorship, and integrity. You examine how AI systems work, analyze AI-generated content for bias and misinformation, and apply learning, cognitive, and ethical theories to real study situations. Through discussions and workshops, you develop a Personal Education Plan (PEP) to guide responsible, independent, and meaningful learning in an AI-rich university environment.