The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a
public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...
research university
A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are "the key sites of Knowledge production modes, knowledge production", along with "intergenerational ...
located in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
,
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
still in operation.
The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being the
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU). It is also part of the largest research universities in
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
with 31,186 students, 4,794 staff, 1,340 PhD students
and an annual budget of €600 million.
It is the
largest university in the Netherlands by enrollment. The main campus is located in
central Amsterdam, with a few faculties located in adjacent
boroughs
A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
...
. The university is organised into seven faculties:
Humanities
Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...
,
Social
Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not.
Etymology
The word "social" derives fro ...
and
Behavioural Sciences,
Economics
Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...
and
Business
Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for ...
,
Science
Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...
,
Law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...
,
Medicine
Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...
,
Dentistry
Dentistry, also known as dental medicine and oral medicine, is the branch of medicine focused on the Human tooth, teeth, gums, and Human mouth, mouth. It consists of the study, diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases, dis ...
.
Close ties are harbored with other institutions internationally through its membership in the
League of European Research Universities (LERU), the
Institutional Network of the Universities from the Capitals of Europe (UNICA),
European University Association (EUA) and
Universitas 21
Universitas 21 (U21) is an international network of research-intensive universities. Founded in Melbourne, Australia in 1997 with 11 members, it has grown to include twenty-nine member universities in nineteen countries and territories.
The uni ...
. The University of Amsterdam has produced six
Nobel Laureates and five prime ministers of the Netherlands.
History
''Athenaeum Illustre'' (1632–1877)
In January 1632, the ''
Athenaeum Illustre of Amsterdam'' (Latin: Illustrious School of Amsterdam) was founded by the municipal authorities in Amsterdam.
It was mainly devoted to medical teaching.
The first two professors were
Gerardus Vossius and
Caspar Barlaeus. The ''Athenaeum Illustre''
provided education comparable to other higher education institutions, although it could not confer doctoral degrees. After training at the ''Athenaeum'', students could complete their education at a university in another town.
At the time, Amsterdam also housed several other institutions of higher education, including the Collegium Chirugicum, which trained surgeons, and other institutions that provided theological courses for the Remonstrant and the Mennonite communities. Amsterdam's large degree of religious freedom allowed for the establishment of these institutions. Students of the Colegium Chirugicum and the theological institutions regularly attended classes at the ''Athenaeum Illustre''.

In 1815 it was given the statutory obligation “to disseminate taste, civilisation and learning" and “to replace, at least in part, the institutes of higher education and an academic education for those young men whose circumstances unable them to fully spend the time necessary for an academic career at an institute of higher education.” The ''Athenaeum'' began offering classes for students attending non-academic professional training in
pharmacy
Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...
and
surgery
Surgery is a medical specialty that uses manual and instrumental techniques to diagnose or treat pathological conditions (e.g., trauma, disease, injury, malignancy), to alter bodily functions (e.g., malabsorption created by bariatric surgery s ...
in 1800. The ''Athenaeum Illustre'' largely worked together with Amsterdam's theological institutions such as the ''Evangelisch-Luthers Seminarium'' (evangelical-Lutheran) and the ''Klinische'' School (medical school), the successor to the ''Collegium Chirurgicum''.
The ''Athenaeum'' remained a small institution until the 19th century, with no more than 250 students and eight professors. Alumni of the ''Athenaeum'' include
Cornelis Petrus Tiele.
Municipal university (1877–1961)
In 1877, the ''Athenuem Illustre'' became the Municipal University of Amsterdam and received the right to confer doctoral degrees. This gave the university the same privileges as national universities while being funded by the city of Amsterdam. The professors and lecturers were appointed by the
municipal council
A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...
. This resulted in a staff that was in many ways more colorful than the staffs of national universities. During its time as a municipal university, the university flourished, in particular in the science department, which counted many
Nobel prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...
winners:
Tobias Asser,
Christiaan Eijkman,
Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff
Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff Jr. (; 30 August 1852 – 1 March 1911) was a Dutch physical chemistry, physical chemist. A highly influential theoretical chemistry, theoretical chemist of his time, Van 't Hoff was the first winner of the Nobe ...
,
Johannes Diderik van der Waals,
Pieter Zeeman, and
Frits Zernike.
The University of Amsterdam's municipal status brought about the relatively early addition of the faculties of Economics and Social Sciences. After the
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
the dramatic rise in the cost of university education put a constraint on the university's growth.
National university (1961–present)
In 1961, the national government made the university a national university, giving it its current name, the University of Amsterdam. Funding was now given by the national government instead of the city and the appointment of professors was transferred to the board of governors. The city of Amsterdam retained a limited influence until 1971, when the appointment was handed over to the executive board.
During May 1969, the university became the focus of nationwide news when UvA's administrative centre at the ''Maagdenhuis'' was occupied by hundreds of students who wanted more democratic influence in educational and administrative matters. The protest lasted for days and was eventually broken up by the police.
During the 1970s and 1980s, the university was often the target of nationwide student actions.
The university saw considerable expansion since becoming a national university, from 7,500 students in 1960 to over 32,000 in 2010. In 2007, UvA undertook the construction of the
Science Park Amsterdam, a campus to house the Faculty of Science along with the new University Sports Center. Much of the park has now been completed.
The University of Amsterdam began working in close collaboration with the ''
Hogeschool van Amsterdam''. In 2008, the University of Amsterdam and
VU University jointly founded the
Amsterdam University College (AUC), an interuniversity institute that offers a three-year Bachelor (Honors) program in the Liberal Arts and Sciences.
2015 student and staff protests
In February 2015, the university experienced
occupations of two of their buildings in protest over proposed budget cuts. These budget cuts occurred in the wake of the university's attempt to deal with its speculative misjudgments and financial difficulties: in 2011, the university's total outstanding debt had increased to €136 million.
The Bungehuis occupation ended with the arrest of the 46 protesters on 24 February 2015. The following day a group of protesters forced the door of the Maagdenhuis, the main administrative building of the UvA, and began occupying it, once again raising their demands. The occupation lasted 45 days; the occupiers were evicted on 11 April.
University logo
The current logo of the University of Amsterdam consists of a
black
Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
square with three
white
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
Saint Andrew's Crosses and a white "U." This an adaptation of the
coat of arms of Amsterdam which also uses a black background and three white or silver Saint Andrew's Crosses. The three Saint Andrew's Crosses have been said to represent the three plagues of Amsterdam: fire, floods, and the
Black Death
The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...
. Another rumor is that they represent three fords in the
River Amstel. These two explanations have no historical basis, however. It is believed by historians that the coat of arms of Amsterdam is derived from the coat of arms of Jan Persijn, the lord of Amsterdam between 1280 and 1282.
The "U" represents the word "university" while the colours and three crosses represent the city of Amsterdam.
Campus
As a
metropolitan institution, the University of Amsterdam has always been housed in old and new buildings scattered throughout the capital. Because UvA is not a separate, secluded campus, students and city residents readily mix, allowing Amsterdam to maintain close cultural and academic ties to the school. The majority of UvA's buildings lie in the heart of Amsterdam, with only the faculties of Science, Medicine and Dentistry located outside the
City Centre
A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the Commerce, commercial, Culture, cultural and often the historical, Politics, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely e ...
. The university lies within the largest
megalopolis
A megalopolis () or a supercity, also called a megaregion, is a group of metropolitan areas which are perceived as a continuous urban area through common systems of transport, economy, resources, ecology, and so on. They are integrated enough ...
in the Netherlands, the
Randstad
The Randstad (; "Rim City" or "Edge City") is a roughly crescent- or Circular arc, arc-shaped conurbation in the Netherlands, that includes almost half the country's population. With a central-western location, it connects and comprises the Net ...
, with a population 7.2 million inhabitants.
City Centre
The administration of the school and most of the faculties are located in the historic
City Centre
A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the Commerce, commercial, Culture, cultural and often the historical, Politics, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely e ...
of Amsterdam, within the
canal ring which is itself a
UNESCO World Heritage Site
World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
. The facilities in this area date from as early as the 15th century to the 21st-century. Architectural styles represented include the
Dutch Renaissance,
Dutch Baroque,
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...
,
Amsterdam School, and
International style
The International Style is a major architectural style and movement that began in western Europe in the 1920s and dominated modern architecture until the 1970s. It is defined by strict adherence to Functionalism (architecture), functional and Fo ...
. The ''Agnietenkapel'', ''Maagdenhuis'', ''
Oost-Indisch Huis'', ''Bushuis'', and ''Oudemanhuispoort'' are designated as ''
Rijksmonumenten'' (national monuments). The 15th century ''Agnietenkapel'', where the university was founded was first constructed as a monastery chapel around 1470, but was later converted for use by the ''Athenaeum Illustre'' in 1631. The Agnes Gate in front of the ''Agnietenkapel'' is a major symbol of the university and dates back to 1571. It was renovated and moved to its current location in 1631.
Another area is a former hospital converted into university buildings, the ''Binnengasthuis'', which is considered the heart of UvA. The ''Maagdenhuis'' is the current headquarters of UvA and
HvA administration. The building was built between 1783 and 1787 and was formerly an orphanage.
The ''
Oost-Indisch Huis'', the former headquarters of the
Dutch East India Company
The United East India Company ( ; VOC ), commonly known as the Dutch East India Company, was a chartered company, chartered trading company and one of the first joint-stock companies in the world. Established on 20 March 1602 by the States Ge ...
was built in 1606 and now used by UvA.
The ''Oudemanhuispoort'' was made a university building in 1880. It was constructed in 1602 as a retirement house and now houses some departments of the Humanities faculty.
One of the buildings of the University Library complex, the ''Bushuis'', was built as an armory in 1606.
Science Park
The Faculty of Science is located on the
east side of the city at the newly constructed
Science Park Amsterdam. This campus contains UvA's science facilities, research institutes, student housing, the University Sports Centre, and businesses. In order to attract distinguished students and researchers, the campus was built by collaboration between the University of Amsterdam, the
City of Amsterdam, and the
Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research. In 2012, the
Amsterdam University College was housed at the Science Park UvA campus.
Academic Medical Centre
In the southeastern
Bijlmermeer neighbourhood, the Faculty of Medicine is housed in the
Academic Medical Center (AMC), the Faculty of Medicine's teaching and research hospital. It was formed in 1983 when the UvA Faculty of Medicine and two hospitals, Binnengasthuis and the Wilhelmina Gasthuis, combined. Shortly after in 1988, the Emma Children's Hospital also moved to the AMC. It is one of Amsterdam's level 1
trauma centers and strongly cooperates with the
VU University Medical Center (VUmc).
Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam
The Faculty of Dentistry is located in the Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam (ACTA) in the southern ''
Zuidas
The Zuidas (literally ''South Axis'' in Dutch) is a rapidly developing business district in the city of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The Zuidas is also known as the 'Financial Mile'. It lies between the rivers Amstel and ''Schinkel'' along the ...
'' district on the campus of the
VU University Medical Center. It was formed when the University of Amsterdam and the
Vrije Universiteit combined their Dentistry schools in 1984.
Roeterseiland Campus
The Roeterseiland Campus is an open city campus designed to offer future-proof teaching and research facilities. The Faculties of Economics and Business and Social and Behavioural Sciences are located at the Roeterseiland campus. The Faculty of Law has settled in August 2017 on the campus.
Organisation and administration
Faculties
The university is divided into seven faculties, with each faculty headed by a dean. The faculties include the Faculties of
Humanities
Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...
,
Social
Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not.
Etymology
The word "social" derives fro ...
and
Behavioural Sciences,
Economics
Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...
and
Business
Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for ...
,
Science
Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...
,
Law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...
,
Medicine
Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...
, and
Dentistry
Dentistry, also known as dental medicine and oral medicine, is the branch of medicine focused on the Human tooth, teeth, gums, and Human mouth, mouth. It consists of the study, diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases, dis ...
. Students must be admitted to the faculty of their program before beginning their studies.
Faculty of Science
The Faculty of Science (Dutch: Faculteit der Natuurwetenschappen, Wiskunde en Informatica) (FNWI) covers a wide area of research and education. Research at the Faculty of Science covers the full width of the beta sciences. Spread across eight institutes, the main topics are astronomy, physics, mathematics, information sciences, life sciences, chemistry and biology.
The Faculty of Science offers 28 degree programmes for students, 7 of which are a joint degree with the Vrije Universiteit. There are 51 different nationalities studying at the Faculty of Science.
The Faculty of Science has around 6,800 students, as well as 1,700 members of staff working in education, research or support services. Around 50% of the staff are internationals. The main faculty buildings are located on the Science Park Amsterdam campus.
Faculty of Humanities
The Faculty of Humanities () (FGw) comprises six departments:
Dutch studies,
History
History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...
,
European Studies
European studies is a field of study offered by many academic colleges and universities that focuses on the History of Western civilization and the evolution of Western culture, as well as on current developments in European integration.
Some ...
and
Religion
Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...
,
Archaeology
Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
and
Classics
Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...
,
Language
Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...
and
Literature
Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...
,
Media studies,
Philosophy
Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
, and
Art and
Cultural studies
Cultural studies is an academic field that explores the dynamics of contemporary culture (including the politics of popular culture) and its social and historical foundations. Cultural studies researchers investigate how cultural practices rel ...
. With over 6,000 students and about 1000 employees, it is the largest humanities faculty in the Netherlands. It was established in 1997 after a merger of the Faculty of Language and Culture, the Faculty of Theology and the Faculty of Philosophy. In 2011, the faculty was ranked number one in the Netherlands for Philosophy and Linguistics with international ranking in these areas of 37th and 22nd respectively.
In terms of research, the faculty produced 726 academic publications in 2009.
The Centre for Latin American Research and Documentation (CEDLA) is also part of the Faculty of Humanities, with the centre holding one of Europe's largest collections on Latin American information and publishing the European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies (ERLACS)
academic journal
An academic journal (or scholarly journal or scientific journal) is a periodical publication in which Scholarly method, scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. They serve as permanent and transparent forums for the ...
.
Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences
The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences () (FMG) is the largest educational and research institution in the
social
Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not.
Etymology
The word "social" derives fro ...
and
behavioural sciences in the Netherlands. The faculty has approximately 10,000 students and 1,200 staff members. The Faculty is home to six departments:
Political Science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
,
Sociology
Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...
and
Anthropology
Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...
,
Communication Science,
Psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...
,
Social Geography,
Planning and International Development Studies, and
Education
Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...
al sciences. The faculty was ranked the best in the Netherlands in 2011 for Sociology and Geography with international rankings in these areas of 33rd and 40th respectively.
In terms of research, the faculty produced 1,366 academic publications in 2009.
Faculty of Economics and Business

The Faculty of Economics and Business () (FEB) was established in 1922. The FEB, which includes the Amsterdam School of Economics (ASE) and the Amsterdam Business School (ABS), currently has around 4,000 students and nearly 600 staff. It was ranked 44th in Economics & Econometrics and 45 in Accountancy & Finance among world universities.
In terms of research, the faculty produced 517 academic publications in 2009.
Faculty of Law
The Faculty of Law () (FdR) is based in the newly redesigned Roetersiland campus. It was earlier housed in the Oudemanhuispoort, a historic building dating from 1602 situated in the center of Amsterdam. It has approximately 3,700 students and 330 academic staff members. 58% of academic staff is female. The Faculty offers nine
LLM programs, of which two are taught in English. In addition the Faculty offers three advanced LLM programs, which are all taught in English. Research at the Faculty is undertaken by five research institutes which specialize in the following areas:
International law
International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...
,
Private law
Private law is that part of a legal system that governs interactions between individual persons. It is distinguished from public law, which deals with relationships between both natural and artificial persons (i.e., organizations) and the st ...
,
Environmental law
Environmental laws are laws that protect the environment. The term "environmental law" encompasses treaties, statutes, regulations, conventions, and policies designed to protect the natural environment and manage the impact of human activitie ...
,
Labor law, and
Information law. In terms of research, the faculty produced 451 academic publications in 2018.
In the 2018 academic year, there were 41 PhD candidates, 67% of whom were female.
In 2015, a bequest from Trudie Vervoort-Jaarsma to the university established the
Julia Henriëtte Jaarsma-Adolfs scholarship fund for assisting students pursuing an LLM in the law faculty. The bequest of €4 million was the largest single donation left to a Dutch university by a private citizen and was made to honor her mother's legal career. A second scholarship in the name of Vervoort-Jaarsma's daughter, Madeleine Vervoort, provides travel funds to students.
Faculty of Medicine
The Faculty of Medicine () (FdG), each year, approximately 350 first-year students begin their study of medicine at
Amsterdam UMC. The first, three-year phase consists mainly of thematic teaching. The second, also three-year phase consists of training internships in and outside of Amsterdam UMC. In terms of research, the faculty produced 3,206 academic publications in 2009.
Faculty of Dentistry
The Academic Center for Dentistry in Amsterdam () (ACTA) was founded in 1984 through a merger of the two dentistry faculties of the Universiteit of Amsterdam and the
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. ACTA conducts scientific research, teaches, and provides patient care in the field of dentistry. ACTA is one of the largest dentistry education and training programmes in the world, with 500 staff members, an annual new-student enrolment of 128 and a total student body of 1000. It consists of three departments. In terms of research, the faculty produced 228 academic publications in 2009.
Administration
The University of Amsterdam is headed by an executive board. The university is then divided into seven faculties, with each faculty headed by a dean. Teaching and research are carried out in various departments and institutes within the individual faculties. UvA has an annual budget of €600 million (approximately $850 million),.
In 1992, the board of governors of the University of Amsterdam set up the UvA Holding BV in order to bring its commercial activities into a form that is compatible with private law. The University of Amsterdam holds all the shares of the subsidiaries of the holding. The subsidiaries are clustered into four activity areas which are increasingly outsourced to commercial enterprises and other market participants.
International cooperation
The intellectual and cultural atmosphere at UvA is internationally oriented. Amsterdam attracts students from the Netherlands and beyond: with over 2,500 international students and researchers from over 100 countries.
UvA has an extensive network of foreign partner universities, facilitating student and staff exchanges. Within Europe, UvA has
Socrates
Socrates (; ; – 399 BC) was a Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and as among the first moral philosophers of the Ethics, ethical tradition ...
/
Erasmus
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and Catholic theology, theologian, educationalist ...
exchange agreements with over 200 institutions. Outside Europe, it has close ties with approximately 40 universities on all continents.
Academics

The university is accredited by the Dutch
Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, which grants accreditation to institutions who meet a national system of regulations and quality assurance controls. The Ministry has given it WO, or research university status. Dutch students must complete a six-year preparatory program to gain admission to national research universities. Only fifteen percent of students pass this preparatory program.
In terms of tuition in 2015–2016,
EU full-time students are charged €1,951 per year for both Bachelor's and Master's programs, part-time students are charged €1,696 and non-
EU students are charged between €9,000-€25,000 per year for Bachelor's programs and €10,500-€25,000 for Master's and Doctoral programs. Costs for non-
EU students varies depending on the faculty of matriculation. In terms of scholarships, the university offers the UvA Amsterdam Excellence Scholarship (AES), Amsterdam Merit Scholarships, scholarships through the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, Dutch Study Grants, and various European scholarships.
Collectively the faculties offer 59 Bachelor's programmes, 133 Master's programmes, and 10 postgraduate programs.
The university awarded 2,565 propaedeutic, 3,204 Bachelor's, 3,990 Master's, 438 Doctoral, 242 Post-Doctoral degrees in 2009–2010, and 10,438 total degrees in 2009–2010.
The school's academic year lasts from early September until mid-July and is divided into two 20-week semesters. The first of these ends in late January and the second begins in early February. There are no mid-term breaks, only a short holiday around Christmas and New Year as well as Dutch National holidays.
Student body
In 2010, the university had an enrolment of 32,739 students: 20,185
undergraduate students, 9,361
master's students, 1,235
doctoral students, and 412
post-doctoral students.
Of all students, 66% are
Dutch citizens and 34% are
international students.
UvA has over 2,500 international students and researchers that come from over 100 countries.
Full-time students comprised 91% of the student body.
In 2010 students were enrolled in 7 faculties and the
Amsterdam University College: 24% in Humanities, 13% in Law, 7% in Medicine, 1% in Dentistry, 11% in Science, 13% in Economics & Business, 30% in Social & Behavioral Sciences, and 0.5% in the
Amsterdam University College.
The University of Amsterdam has a highly competitive acceptance rate of 4% for international students and 14% overall. This means for every 100 international applicant, only 4 gets accepted to the university.
Overall, 20% of students in
bachelor's
A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ( ...
programs complete their degree within three years, 48% in four years, and 69% in five years; 71% of
master's students completed their degree in two years.
Students on average successfully complete 44
ECTS credits during the academic year.
In 2007, 88% of
master's and
doctoral graduates went on to paying jobs, with an additional 5% going on to continue their education within 1.5 years of graduating.
University rankings
According to the US News rankings of Best Global Universities the UvA is ranked among the top 10 best universities in Europe. Furthermore, the UvA is ranked 53d in the 2023-2024
QS World University Rankings
The ''QS World University Rankings'' is a portfolio of comparative college and university rankings compiled by Quacquarelli Symonds, a higher education analytics firm. Its first and earliest edition was published in collaboration with '' Times ...
. The UvA is one of two Dutch universities in the top 100 universities in the world.
In the 2023 ARWU Global Ranking of Academic Subjects, the UvA is ranked in first place globally in the field of Communication. Other UvA disciplines with high rankings include Psychology (8), Sociology (10), and Political Science (15).
The 2011-12
Times Higher Education World University Rankings
The ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'', often referred to as the THE Rankings, is the annual publication of university rankings by the ''Times Higher Education'' magazine. The publisher had collaborated with Quacquarelli Symon ...
ranked the University of Amsterdam 30th in Arts & Humanities
and 40th in Social Sciences, making it the highest ranking Dutch university in these fields and the highest ranking continental European university in the Social Sciences.
The 2017 CWTS Leiden Global university ranking ranked the University of Amsterdam in the Global Top 8 in the field of social sciences and humanitie
The
College and university rankings, CHE Excellence Ranking rated the school excellent in all seven categories for research, making it the only Dutch institution to accomplish this distinction.
Research

The University of Amsterdam is one of Europe's largest research universities, with over 7,900 scientific publications in 2010.
The university spends about €100 million on research each year via direct funding. It receives an additional €23 million via indirect funding and about €49 million from commercial partners.
Faculty members often receive research prizes and grants, such as those from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). Research is organized into fifteen research priority areas and 28 research institutes within the faculties oversee this research.
The University of Amsterdam has an extensive central
University Library (UB), with over four million volumes. In addition, a number of departments have their own libraries. The main university library is located in the city center. It contains over four million books, 70,000 manuscripts, 500,000 letters, and 125,000 maps, as well as special collections of the Department of Rare and Precious Works, the Manuscript and Writing Museum, the
Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana on Jewish history and culture, and the Department of Documentation on Social Movements. Three reading rooms are available for students to study in quiet. In addition to the main University Library, there are approximately 70 departmental libraries spread throughout the center of Amsterdam. The university's printing arm, the
Amsterdam University Press, has a publishing list of over 1,400 titles in both
Dutch and
English.

In addition to its libraries, UvA has five museums. These include the
Allard Pierson Museum, which houses antiquities from
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...
,
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...
, the Near East, and central
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
during the time between 4000 BCE and 500 CE; the University Museum, with collections showing the history of UvA from 1632 until present; the Museum Vrolik, which houses anatomical, zoological and teratological specimens; The J.A. Dortmond Museum of Script which has exhibits showing the history of writing in the West from 3000 BCE to today; the UvA Computer Museum which houses displays showing how computers of the past worked and how calculations were made before the presence of the electronic computer; the
Zoological Museum Amsterdam at the
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
Artis Zoo contains collection of millions of shells, insects, mammals, birds, fishes and other animals used in scientific research.
Student life

At UvA, students can choose from many student organizations, athletic activities, and student services. These include the
ASVA Student Union, CREA Cultural Center, the newly constructed University Sports Center, and the Agora student restaurant. In addition, the university provides religious services, career counseling, the International Student Network (ISN), counseling, disability services, and student health services.
The students are represented in the different faculty student councils and the central student council.
The University Sports Center (USC) offers over 50 sports activities at discount rates for UvA students and staff including Ice skating, tennis, rowing, aerobics, swimming, dancing, golf, and even skiing.
The CREA Cultural Center organizes courses, working groups and projects in drama, music, dance, photography, film, and visual arts. It also contains a bar and a theater.

The primary mode of transport for students is by
bicycle
A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered transport, human-powered or motorized bicycle, motor-assisted, bicycle pedal, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two bicycle wheel, wheels attached to a ...
.
The city of Amsterdam also has various public transportation options available to students. These include the
Metro, trams, buses, and ferries.
Student housing
The university tries to offer student housing to most international first-year students through
non-profit
A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...
housing corporations not owned by UvA. The housing corporations offer apartment-style housing in the City Center,
Zuid,
Oost,
West,
Zuid-Oost, and
Noord boroughs
A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
...
of
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
as well as in the suburb of
Diemen. Single rooms with private facilities (kitchen, bathroom), single rooms with shared facilities, shared rooms with shared facilities, and couples rooms are available. Students of the opposite sex are permitted to be roommates in all types of rooms. Rooms are anywhere from a few minutes to 45 minutes bike ride to the City Center. The university urges students not to go to Amsterdam for their studies unless they have been able to secure proper housing, as the available housing opportunities are very limited.
Notable people and alumni
Professors and alumni of the University of Amsterdam have included six
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...
winners and seven
Spinoza Prize winners.
File:TMCasser.jpg, Tobias Asser, 1911 Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...
File:Christiaan Eijkman.jpg, Christiaan Eijkman, 1929 Nobel Prize in Medicine
File:Jacobus van 't Hoff by Perscheid 1904.jpg, Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff
Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff Jr. (; 30 August 1852 – 1 March 1911) was a Dutch physical chemistry, physical chemist. A highly influential theoretical chemistry, theoretical chemist of his time, Van 't Hoff was the first winner of the Nobe ...
, 1901 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
File:Johannes Diderik van der Waals.jpg, Johannes Diderik van der Waals, 1910 Nobel Prize in Physics
The Nobel Prize in Physics () is an annual award given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for those who have made the most outstanding contributions to mankind in the field of physics. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the ...
File:Pieter Zeeman.jpg, Pieter Zeeman, 1902 Nobel Prize in Physics
The Nobel Prize in Physics () is an annual award given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for those who have made the most outstanding contributions to mankind in the field of physics. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the ...
File:Zernike.jpg, Frits Zernike, 1953 Nobel Prize in Physics
The Nobel Prize in Physics () is an annual award given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for those who have made the most outstanding contributions to mankind in the field of physics. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the ...
Notable current and former professors
Notable current and former professors include winner of the
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...
in 1911
Tobias Asser,
mathematician
Luitzen Egbertus Jan Brouwer, winner of the
Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1901
Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff
Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff Jr. (; 30 August 1852 – 1 March 1911) was a Dutch physical chemistry, physical chemist. A highly influential theoretical chemistry, theoretical chemist of his time, Van 't Hoff was the first winner of the Nobe ...
,
winner of the
Nobel Prize in Physics
The Nobel Prize in Physics () is an annual award given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for those who have made the most outstanding contributions to mankind in the field of physics. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the ...
in 1910
Johannes Diderik van der Waals,
winner of the
Nobel Prize in Physics
The Nobel Prize in Physics () is an annual award given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for those who have made the most outstanding contributions to mankind in the field of physics. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the ...
in 1902
Pieter Zeeman,
winner of the
Nobel Prize in Physics
The Nobel Prize in Physics () is an annual award given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for those who have made the most outstanding contributions to mankind in the field of physics. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the ...
in 1953
Frits Zernike,
and scholar of religion,
C. Jouco Bleeker.
Arts
In the area of the arts, notable alumni include cultural analyst
Ien Ang,
Leiden University's first female professor
Sophia Antoniadis, writers
Menno ter Braak,
Willem Frederik Hermans
Willem Frederik Hermans (; 1 September 192127 April 1995) was a Dutch author of poetry, novels, short stories, plays, as well as book-length studies, essays, and literary criticism. His most famous works are ''The House of Refuge'' (novella, 195 ...
,
J. Slauerhoff, and
Simon Vestdijk,
Emmy award-winning producer
Michael W. King,
actor
Jeff Wilbusch, art historian
Charlotte Rulkens and
Roman law
Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (), to the (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I.
Roman law also den ...
specialist
Boudewijn Sirks.
File:SophiaAntoniades.jpg, Sophia Antoniadis
File:Menno ter Braak.jpg, Menno ter Braak
File:Willem Frederik Hermans (1986).jpg, Willem Frederik Hermans
Willem Frederik Hermans (; 1 September 192127 April 1995) was a Dutch author of poetry, novels, short stories, plays, as well as book-length studies, essays, and literary criticism. His most famous works are ''The House of Refuge'' (novella, 195 ...
File:Slauerhoff2.jpg, J. Slauerhoff
File:Vestdijk1940.jpg, Simon Vestdijk
Media
In the media area, alumni include
Thomas von der Dunk, Dutch cultural historian, writer, and columnist.
Politics and government
Alumni in the area of politics and government include former
Prime Ministers Pieter Cort van der Linden and
Joop den Uyl,
former Belgian
prime minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
and
president of the European Council
The president of the European Council is the person presiding over and driving forward the work of the European Council on the world stage. This Institutions of the European Union, institution comprises the college of heads of state or governme ...
Charles Michel, former
president of the European Central Bank,
Minister of Finance, and president of the
Central Bank of the Netherlands Wim Duisenberg,
Member of the European Parliament
A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament.
When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...
Thijs Berman,
former
Secretary General of NATO Joseph Luns,
member of the
Dutch royal family and legal advisor
Princess Viktória de Bourbon de Parme, Senate group leader of the Labour Party and former trade union leader
Marleen Barth,
president of
OHIM Wubbo de Boer,
former Minister of
Defence and former
European Commissioner for Internal Market & Services Frits Bolkestein,
former Minister of
Health, Welfare and Sport Els Borst,
state secretary of
Health, Welfare and Sport Jet Bussemaker,
Minister of
Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment Jacqueline Cramer,
Minister of Foreign Trade within the
Economic Affairs Frank Heemskerk,
Minister of
Justice
In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...
Ernst Hirsch Ballin,
Minister of
the Interior and Kingdom Relations Guusje ter Horst,
former Minister of
Social Affairs and Employment and currently deputy director of
UNDP
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...
Ad Melkert,
Minister of
Education, Culture and Science Ronald Plasterk and
Prime Minister of Sint Maarten Leona Marlin-Romeo.
Science
Alumni in the science area include winner of the
Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1929
Christiaan Eijkman,
inventor of
DNA fingerprinting Alec Jeffreys,
physician and one of the founding fathers of
gynecology
Gynaecology or gynecology (see American and British English spelling differences) is the area of medicine concerned with conditions affecting the Female reproductive system, female reproductive system. It is often paired with the field of obste ...
in the Netherlands
M.A. Mendes de Leon,
astrophysicist and Dutch
communist
Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
Anton Pannekoek,
string theorist
Erik Verlinde,
Dutch psychiatrist and World War II resistance hero
Tina Strobos,
ESA astronaut
André Kuipers, Dutch botanist
Hendrik de Wit, nutrition education pioneer in Israel
Sarah Bavly,
Turkish-American high performance computing and supercomputing research scientist
Ilkay Altintas,
malariologist
Arjen Dondorp Menno Sluijter Menno Emanuël Sluijter (born 31 July 1932, Haarlem) is an anaesthetist from the Netherlands.
Sluijter obtained his MD at the University of Amsterdam in 1957 and his PhD at the same institution in 1963 with the dissertation ''The treatment of carbo ...
, anaesthetist who developed
pulsed radiofrequency pain treatment
Prof. dr. M.E. Sluijter, 1932–
at the Album Academicum of the Universiteit van Amsterdam and Alida Edelman-Vlam Dutch social geographer.
Sports
Alumni in the area of sport include Max Euwe, 1935–1937 World Chess Champion. Missionary vicar of the Westerkerk
The Westerkerk (; ) is a Calvinism, Reformed church within Protestant Church in the Netherlands, Dutch Protestant Calvinism in central Amsterdam, Netherlands. It lies in the most western part of the Grachtengordel (Amsterdam), Grachtengordel nei ...
Cristina Pumplun taught at the UvA.
See also
* Education in the Netherlands
* List of modern universities in Europe (1801–1945)
The list of modern universities in Europe (1801–1940) contains all University, universities that were founded in Europe after the French Revolution and before the end of World War II. Universities are regarded as comprising all institutions ...
* List of universities in the Netherlands
A listing of universities in the Kingdom of the Netherlands:
Research universities
Research university, universities in the Netherlands are institutions of tertiary education that in Dutch are called ''universiteit''. Their focus is towards a ...
* CORPNET
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amsterdam, University of
University of Amsterdam
The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public university, public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlan ...
Research institutes in the Netherlands
Educational institutions established in the 1630s
University of Amsterdam
The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public university, public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlan ...
Universities in the Netherlands