Welcome!

Welcome to the Faculty of Arts of VU University Amsterdam! A university with a special character: Abraham Kuyper, Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1901 to 1905, founded the VU in 1880 with the idea of developing an independent institution for the Christian society. Nowadays we welcome students from all cultural and religious backgrounds, but our Christian roots are still expressed in the emphasis placed on social involvement in the university’s teaching and research programmes.

VU University Amsterdam is a broad-based university in which education and research are closely intertwined. As a student you will benefit from small-scale classes that allow you to have in-depth discussions with professors and fellow students. And since all our faculties are located on one campus, we find that our research and education is becoming more and more interdisciplinary. Another advantage is that the campus has an intimate atmosphere with a café, basketball and beach-volleyball courts in the middle of academic life. And all of this is located no more than 15 minutes from the vibrant city centre of Amsterdam.



Our high level of research and education has caused VU to be one of the fastest rising universities in the Shanghai ranking, now in the top 3 in the Netherlands. The Dutch Elsevier survey shows that several programmes in the Faculty of Arts are actually the best in the Netherlands. For international students we offer the possibility of joining us as an exchange student. We also developed various International Master's programmes, completely taught in English. If you are interested in studying at a high-quality and socially involved university, with good facilities and an informal atmosphere, we would like to welcome you at the Faculty of Arts of the VU University Amsterdam!

Sanne Boomsma, Coordinator International Office (l) 
Ilin Sen, Secretary International Office (R)