Netherlands University - Holland Degree Courses

Amsterdam University College:
Amsterdam University College (AUC) is a joint excellence initiative of the University of Amsterdam and VU University Amsterdam. AUC offers an international liberal arts and sciences bachelor programme with courses in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. Courses are taught in English. As a residential honours college we attract students from all over the world. They engage on a daily basis in intensive and small-scale seminars with our high caliber international staff. Discussions start from the “Big Questions in Science and Society” and lead to in-depth study in a wide range of disciplines.

As a typical AUC student, you have a good brain, broad interests, an international orientation, strong motivation and commitment, and a lot of energy. You work hard, and you care about the world and its future. Your interests cross the boundaries of languages, cultures and academic disciplines. You want to contribute to debates on important scientific and social questions, preferably at the international level. In short, you want to make a difference! The AUC programme challenges you from day one to think about the ‘big questions’ in society and science, and you will learn how to participate in debates on them. As students of today and leaders of tomorrow, you need to learn how to cooperate and compete at the international level.

AUC offers a wide range of courses in the sciences, social sciences and humanities and you can design your own individual study programme, making a selection from the many courses offered. Substantial emphasis is placed on the sciences, including interdisciplinary themes such as: Health and Well-being; Energy, Climate and Sustainability; and Life, Evolution, and the Universe. AUC enrolls up to 50% science majors. The AUC programme is small-scale and intensive. Only 200 students are admitted each year. AUC is characterized by excellence and diversity. Our student body is international with 50% of the students coming from abroad. They come from all over the world and form an international academic community. AUC students live and study together on our modern international campus, located near Science Park Amsterdam. Of the AUC faculty 70% is international and 40% has a PhD from a university ranked in the top 100 worldwide (Shanghai ranking).

As an AUC graduate, you will be qualified to continue your studies at Master and PhD level at major research universities in the Netherlands and abroad, or to pursue a career in international corporate or public organisations.

AUC offers a liberal arts and sciences programme, taught in English, with courses in and across the natural sciences, humanities and social sciences. Your programme begins with Academic Core courses that introduce you to 'big questions' in science and society Universities / Graduate Schools, as well as developing your skills in writing, presentation and scientific reasoning, and improving your intercultural competences.

Subjects include humanities, social sciences and sciences with themes examining
* Energy, Climate and Sustainability
* Life, Evolution, Universe
* Health and Well-being
* Information, Communication, Cognition
* Social Systems (peace & conflict; equality, inequality & diversity; market & regulation)
* Cities and Cultures

The AUC programme has been formally accredited by the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO).

AUC will be an academic community in the best traditions of the liberal arts and sciences, actively oriented to the demands and challenges of the 21st century. You will live and study on an international campus, following a programme that creates new pathways across traditional dividing lines, and trains you to approach complex issues from different perspectives and academic fields of knowledge. You will be offered a wide range of courses in the humanities, social sciences and sciences, and there will be opportunities for you to focus on science and science-related majors in a liberal education context.

AUC is embedded in the rich academic traditions and high standards of the University of Amsterdam and VU University Amsterdam, both rated among the top 100 European universities in the Shanghai world rankings. You will directly benefit from the research facilities and international networks of these two major research universities. You will also benefit from interaction with the communities and business life of the multicultural and international city of Amsterdam, that has warmly welcomed the AUC initiative as a valuable addition to the city's academic community and international profile

Amsterdam University College will be a residential institution, where the students live and study together in a close-knit academic community. AUC is an interuniversity institute of the University of Amsterdam and VU University Amsterdam, and students will, of course, have access to the facilities of both these institutions, but AUC has its own study programme, its own academic buildings, and its own student accommodation complex.

All AUC students are housed in a recently completed purpose-built complex on the Carolina MacGillavrylaan in the Science Park Amsterdam, in the Watergraafsmeer neighbourhood of the city. These modern student residences are owned and run by DUWO housing association.