Study Liberal Arts and Science Degree Programs in Amsterdam
Location
Netherlands: Amsterdam
Description
Do you have broad interests, do you enjoy discussion and debate, do you like
to be challenged, and do you feel at home in an international environment Then you're warmly invited to join the international AUC student community!
* The AUC programme
Amsterdam University College (AUC) is a joint institute of the University of Amsterdam and VU University Amsterdam and offers a liberal arts and sciences honours bachelor programme. A commitment to excellence, diversity, and the global perspective defines and drives AUC. The AUC programme challenges you from day one to think and debate about the big questions' in science and society. You will engage on a daily basis in intensive and small-scale seminars with high calibre international staff. As students of today and leaders of tomorrow, you will learn how to cooperate and compete at the international level.
You can major in the sciences, social sciences or humanities.
* Description curriculum
Our programme begins with Academic Core courses that introduce you to 'big questions' in science and society, as well as developing your skills in writing, presentation and scientific reasoning, and improving your intercultural competences.
At the end of your first semester, you select one of the six AUC themes. These themes examine complex and far-reaching questions in science and society that require the integration of insights from different fields of knowledge. The six interdisciplinary themes provide an orientation to your personal programme within your major:
- Energy, Climate and Sustainability
- Life, Evolution, Universe
- Health and Well-being
- Information, Communication, Cognition
- Social Systems
- Cities and Cultures
You choose your major at the end of your first year (sciences, social sciences or humanities). The choice of major will then guide your decisions on which courses to take during your second and third years. At the same time, part of your programme is reserved for freely chosen elective courses, where you have room to explore other interests and broaden your education.
In your third and final year you then return to your theme for an advanced course. Finally, you round off your Bachelor programme with the capstone experience
Each semester you will select your courses from the AUC course catalogue. Outside of the obligatory academic core courses, your course options will be influenced by your choice of major and theme. An AUC tutor will support you in this process, to ensure that the programme you put together is solid and coherent.
Substantial emphasis is placed on scientific reasoning within an interdisciplinary approach. AUC enrolls up to 50% science majors.
* The AUC campus
Your time at AUC will become a true intercultural and social learning experience. AUC students live and study together on our modern international campus, located in the Science Park Amsterdam. The Science Park's concentration of education, research exploration and enterprise is the perfect academic environment for AUC, as well as being the location of the University of Amsterdam's sports centre and other sport and social facilities.
* After AUC
AUC graduates are well prepared to continue their studies at Master or PhD level at major research universities in the Netherlands and abroad, or to pursue a career in international corporate or public organisations. They join the community of AUC alumni who have already been accepted on to Master/PhD programmes at not only the University of Amsterdam and VU University Amsterdam but also prestigious institutions in the USA and across Europe.
Highlights
AUC is:
* A small, selective Honours college
* A full-time three-year liberal arts and sciences programme at Bachelor level, taught in English.
* Aiming high at academic excellence with an international and intercultural focus, as well as outreach to the (local) community.
* An engaging academic and social context, supported by small class size, residential college setting and state-of-the-art facilities.
* A joint initiative of two major European research universities, the VU University and the University of Amsterdam, located in the global city of Amsterdam.
Minimum Education
There are certain minimum requirements for admission to AUC. These include:
* a secondary school diploma equivalent to the Dutch VWO
* very good written and spoken English
* good mathematics skills
For more information see our website.