How to apply to winter school

Important information about your application

• Application process

  How to apply
  
  First of all, we’re thrilled that you want to apply for one of our courses! 

  To go ahead with your application, it’s as simple as filling out our online application form. When completing the form, please make sure that you: 

  1. Write briefly about your motivations for taking the course. 
  2. Upload your Curriculum Vitae/Résumé in English (the file size mustn’t exceed 1 MB).

  Your CV and motivation will be shared with the lecturers before the start of the course.

  Before applying, please make sure that you read through the General Terms and Conditions.

  Payment
  After filling out the application form, you will be transferred to a payment page to complete the process. Your admission will be confirmed once we have reviewed your application according to the following factors: entry requirements, availability in the course, and whether or not your payment has been received. 

  Invoice request
  If you or your department wish to pay via an invoice, please request the invoice by contacting us at: graduatewinterschool@vu.nl.

  Student discount
  Are you currently a student? 

  If so, we kindly ask that you use your university email address when submitting your application so that we can apply your student discount. 

  Application deadline:

  • 5 December 2024 23:59 CET

  Do you have any questions or concerns? If anything comes up, don’t hesitate to reach out using the following email address: graduatewinterschool@vu.nl.

• Fees and discounts

  Tuition fee

  • For 2 ECTS courses:

  Students, PhD students and employees of VU Amsterdam, Amsterdam UMC or an Aurora Network Partner	€580*
  Students and PhD students	€680*
  Professionals	€880*
  Applications received before 15 October	-€50 (Early Bird Discount)

  ^{* Auditor participants receive €100 discount. Not available for all courses. Early Bird Discount is not valid on the auditor fee. Find out more under the section: Type of participation}

  • For 3 ECTS courses:

  Students, PhD students and employees of VU Amsterdam, Amsterdam UMC or an Aurora Network Partner	€630*
  Students and PhD students	€730*
  Professionals	€930*
  Applications received before 15 October	-€50 (Early Bird Discount)

  ^{* Auditor participants receive €100 discount. Not available for all courses. Early Bird Discount is not valid on the auditor fee. Find out more under the section: Type of participation}

  The tuition fee includes: 

  • Application and registration
  • Exclusive course content for a limited number of participants
  • Individual/group guidance from the course organiser
  • Access to all online VU facilities such as the library and online learning environments
  • A certificate of attendance after completing the course 
  • A transcript of records, including the grade and the obtained ECTS
  • The full support of the winter school team
  • Optional social activities

  Invoice request
  If you or your department wish to pay via an invoice, please request the invoice by contacting us at: graduatewinterschool@vu.nl.

• Entry requirements

  Courses are taught at the Master's and PhD levels and are suitable for students as well as staff and working professionals. There are some courses on Bachelor level as well. The entry requirements are as follows:

  • Master's: at least enrolled in the 1st year of Master studies - professionals need to have a Bachelor diploma
  • PhD: at least enrolled in 1st year of PhD studies. 

  Individual courses may have their own entry requirements, so please check the admissions page for the course you are interested in.

  If doubts remain about the student’s academic level based on the documents provided, VU Graduate Winter School reserves the right to ask for additional documents and/or a telephone/video interview. If you are not eligible for the course, you will receive a full refund.

• Certified versus Auditor participation

  • Certified participant: As a certified participant, you will have access to all the lectures and workshops of you winter course. In addition, you will also complete assignments which are graded, so that you can get a certificate for participating in the winter course. Available for all winter school courses. 
    
  • Auditor participant: As an auditor participant, you will have access to all the lectures and workshops of your winter course for a discounted price (-€100). You will, however, not participate in assignments and will therefore not receive a transcript of records or study credits after completing the course.

• English language requirements

  At VU Graduate Winter School, we don’t require proof of your proficiency in English.

  However, we do expect you to understand enough of the language to follow classes taught in English. As such, you should have at least a B2 level of English, as developed within the Common European Framework of References for Languages (CEFR). This is comparable to a TOEFL internet test with a score of 92 or an IELTS score of 6.5.

• Cancellation policy

  If you have been accepted to VU Graduate Winter School and have paid the tuition fee, but due to unforeseen circumstances, need to cancel, the following refunds will be given:

  • Cancellation before 30 November (23:59 CET): 100% of the total fee will be refunded
  • Cancellation between 1 December and 4 December (23:59 CET): 50% of the total fee will be refunded
  • Cancellation after 5 December: no refund will be given

  *If VU Amsterdam cancels the course because the minimum course participants have not been reached or due to other circumstances, a full refund will be given.

• Apply now

  Ready to apply now? Please fill in our winter school application form

  Please be aware that some courses fill up fast and your place can only be confirmed after payment has been made.