Biomedical Sciences

Check whether you meet the programme requirements and apply

• I have a Dutch university level (WO) Bachelor’s degree (VU Bachelor’s degree, VU pre-master's or Bachelor’s degree at another university)

  The Biomedical Sciences programme is open to both Dutch and international students. The Faculty’s Admission Board will decide upon your admission after having evaluated your complete online application.

  Specific requirements for the Biomedical Sciences Master’s programme:

  Admission to the Master's programme is possible for an applicant who has obtained a Bachelor of Science degree at an institution of academic higher education, which demonstrates the following knowledge, understanding and skills:

  Knowledge and understanding:

  A minimum of 24 EC in molecular biology, including at least 3 EC in each of the topics mentioned below:

  • Cell Biology;
  • Biochemistry;
  • Genetics.

  And a minimum of 24 EC in human biology, including at least 3 EC in each of the topics mentioned below:

  • Immunology;
  • (Medical) Microbiology.

  And at least one course in Statistics

  Skills:

  • Practical laboratory techniques in cell biology, biochemistry, genetics, immunology and/or microbiology gained in courses;
  • And a Bachelor’s research internship/thesis of ≥12EC, working on a biomedical research question. The internship should have been performed at a research group within a university, academic medical centre or acknowledged research institute.
  • And academic skills and critical thinking demonstrated through critical reading, analysis, and comprehension of scientific literature at an academic level.

  Direct admission:

  You are directly admissible if one of the following Bachelor’s degree programmes at VU Amsterdam has been obtained:

  VU Bachelor Biomedical Sciences

  VU Bachelor Gezondheid & Leven with a biomedical major

  VU Bachelor Biologie, including the optional course Immunology

  Required documents: 

  • Motivation letter: if you are not directly admitted (see above) please write a letter of one A4, at least including how you think you meet our admission requirements skills requirements:
    • The courses that contain practical laboratory techniques in cell biology, biochemistry, genetics, immunology and/or microbiology
    • Description of the internship: title, period, location, ECTS, short description including methods
    • Demonstrate academic skills at academic level
  • Transcript: if important courses are missing on your transcript up to now, please describe those in the motivation letter.

• I have a Dutch higher vocational education (HBO) Bachelor’s degree

  The master's programme of Biomedical Sciences programme is open to both Dutch and international students. The Faculty’s Admission Board will decide upon your admission after having evaluated your complete online application.  

  Only a Bachelor's degree “Biology and Medical Laboratory Research” obtained at higher vocational education (HBO) can grant admission, when you fit the requirements below and you have passed the assessment procedure (no premaster offered).

  Other Bachelor's degrees obtained at higher vocational education (HBO) in most cases do not grant access to the programme (only exceptionally high ranking students with a biomedical internship stand a chance of admission).

  Specific requirements for the Biomedical Sciences Master’s programme:
  Admission to the Master's programme is possible for an applicant who has obtained a Bachelor of Science degree at an institution of academic higher education, which demonstrates the following knowledge, understanding and skills:

  Knowledge and understanding:
  A minimum of 24 EC in molecular biology, including at least 3 EC in each of the topics mentioned below:

  • Cell Biology;
  • Biochemistry;
  • Genetics.

  And a minimum of 24 EC in human biology, including at least 3 EC in each of the topics mentioned below:

  • Immunology;
  • (Medical) Microbiology.

  And at least one course in Statistics

  Skills:

  • Practical laboratory techniques in cell biology, biochemistry, genetics, immunology and/or microbiology gained in courses;
  • And a Bachelor’s research internship/thesis of ≥12EC, working on a biomedical research question. The internship should have been performed at a research group within a university, academic medical centre or acknowledged research institute.
  • And academic skills and critical thinking demonstrated through critical reading, analysis, and comprehension of scientific literature at an academic level.

  
  Assessment procedure: 
  Assessment procedure to assess your academic skills and critical thinking at an academic level.

  Required documents: 

  Motivation letter: please write a letter of one A4, at least including how you think you meet our admission requirements skills requirements:

  • The courses that contain practical laboratory techniques in cell biology, biochemistry, genetics, immunology and/or microbiology
  • Description of the internship: title, period, location, ECTS, short description including methods
  • Demonstrate academic skills at academic level
  • Transcript: if important courses are missing on your transcript up to now, please describe those in the motivation letter.

  Language requirements:
  Students with a HBO degree (in Dutch) must take an English Language Test, if requested, unless you qualify for an exemption of this requirement or by proven proficiency during the assessment procedure. Check the further requirements and exemptions on the webpage.

  You can also submit the result of the English language test after you have been conditionally accepted, the deadline for submitting the test result is August 31st. Please send a scan of your test result to toelating.beta@vu.nl. For more information see under the heading ‘Application with a Dutch degree’ below.

• Application with a Dutch degree

  The Biomedical Sciences programme is open to both Dutch and International Students. The Faculty’s Admission Board will decide upon your admission after having evaluated your complete online application. You find all information about the general application procedure with a Dutch degree on the application page.

  Use this form to apply for the Master’s: Application form Master's Biomedical Sciences.

  The application deadline is:

  1 June for holders of a Dutch bachelor’s degree (with a Dutch or EU/EEA nationality).

  Your application will be rejected in case you didn’t upload the required documents in ‘your dashboard’ within 6 weeks after your enrolment in Studielink, OR in case you’ve uploaded (one or more) of the required documents after June 1^st. Applications and documents submitted after the deadline will not be accepted.

  Required documents (deadline June 1^st)

  This Master’s programme requires students with a Dutch bachelor's degree to upload the following documents (in English) as soon as possible and in any case 6 weeks after your enrolment and before 1 June.

  • Motivation letter: if you are not directly admitted (see above) please write a letter of one A4, at least including how you think you meet our admission requirements skills requirements:
    • The courses that contain practical laboratory techniques in cell biology, biochemistry, genetics, immunology and/or microbiology
    • Description of the internship: title, period, location, ECTS, short description including methods
    • Demonstrate academic skills at academic level
  • Transcript: if important courses are missing on your transcript up to now, please describe those in the motivation letter.

  Your online dashboard gives you an overview of the submitted and missing documents. Check your dashboard regularly.

  Additional required document (only for HBO students, deadline August 31^st)

  • HBO students need to send in a sufficient English language test result if requested.

  You can also submit the result of the English language test after you have been conditionally accepted, the deadline for submitting the test result is August 31^st. Please send a scan of your test result to toelating.beta@vu.nl.

• I have an international degree

  Students must meet the following admission requirements:

  1.  Academic requirements

  Your previous education needs to be deemed equivalent to at least a Dutch academic Bachelor’s of Science degree (wetenschappelijk onderwijs, WO) obtained at a research university (nominal duration 3 years). Please find more information about your admissibility with a non-Dutch degree here. We do not require a GRE or GMAT test score.

  2. Programme-specific requirements

  Knowledge and understanding

  • A minimum of 24 ECTS in Molecular biology, including at least 3 ECTS in each of the topics mentioned below:
    • Cell Biology;
    • Biochemistry;
    • Genetics.
  • A minimum of 24 ECTS in Human biology, including at least 3 ECTS in each of the topics mentioned below:
    • Immunology;
    • (Medical) Microbiology
  • At least one course in Statistics

  Research laboratory skills

  • Practical laboratory techniques in cell biology, biochemistry, genetics, immunology and/or microbiology gained in courses;
  • Bachelor’s research internship/thesis of ≥12ECTS, working on a biomedical research question. The internship should have been performed at a research group within a university, academic medical centre or acknowledged research institute.
  • And academic skills and critical thinking demonstrated through critical reading, analysis, and comprehension of scientific literature at an academic level*.

  * the Admissions Board will assess your academic skills through an assessment.

  How to demonstrate that you meet the above requirements

  You are required to indicate in the course description section of the Application Form how you meet the programme specific admission requirements.

  Whether you meet the admission requirements, is determined by the Admission Board based on your complete application.

  3. English-language proficiency requirements

  You will have to demonstrate sufficient English language proficiency. You can find an overview of relevant information to demonstrate your English language proficiency on the language requirement page. 

• Application with an international degree

  Application documents

  To apply you are required to provide the following documents:

  • Scan of your passport or national ID card (ID for EEA students only) valid at the start date of the programme
  • Master Application File please download the correct file from this page. In this file you can see which documents are required to apply for your programme.
  • Proof of English language proficiency (if already obtained): upload your proof of English language proficiency or English language test results. Please find the English language requirements here.

  After having prepared the required documents, please follow the online application procedure. 

  Application fee & deadlines

  All students seeking admission to an international Master’s programme with an international degree are required to pay a non-refundable €100 application fee. Only after you have paid this fee will we be able to start the evaluation of your application file. If you are applying for more than one programme, you will only need to pay the application fee once. Your application fee payment is valid for two years.
  
  Information on how to apply with an international university degree and deadlines can be found here. 

  Grants and scholarships

  As an international student planning to study at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, you can apply for a variety of grants and bursaries. Detailed information about scholarships and deadlines can be found on www.vu.nl/scholarships or www.grantfinder.nl.

  International Student and Alumni Ambassadors 

  Our International Student and Alumni Ambassadors are happy to tell you all about their experiences with studying at VU Amsterdam and living in Amsterdam.

  • Our Student Ambassadors are current students at VU Amsterdam that represent a wide variety of programmes and countries.
  • Our International Alumni Ambassadors are VU Amsterdam graduates who are currently either working in the Netherlands or abroad, or doing a PhD or (second) Master's.

  You will find the full overview of our Ambassadors here: vu.nl/ambassadors. There you can chat with them directly.