To apply for this Master’s programme it’s important to register in Studielink AND apply for the programme at the Faculty of Science through DataNose, even if you have not completed your Bachelor’s programme yet.

Start your application procedure on time

If the UvA needs to assist with applying for a residence permit, we strongly advise you to apply before 30 April.

Make sure your registration in both systems is completed on time. Registrations in Studielink and DataNose and getting all documents ready will take several days. Therefore, we strongly recommend to start the application procedure at least a week before the deadline.

Please note that applications received after the deadline will not be considered for admission.

Deadlines

If your previous education took place at a Dutch institution but you do not hold the nationality from one of the countries of the EU or EEA (Switzerland included), your application deadline is 31 January 23:59 CET. 

No Pre-Master Information Studies
From the academic year 2021-2022 on, the Master's programme Information Studies will no longer offer a pre-master programme due to an enormous increase in interest and students in the Master's programme.

Deadline with a UvA Scholarship 

Please note that if you want to apply for a UvA Scholarship, other deadlines for application to the Master's programme apply.

Entry requirements

Admission to the Master's Programme Information Studies: Track Data Science is possible for students with the following qualifications:

An academic Bachelor's degree, and an affinity for data and technology.
Students from various disciplines are eligible, such as: Artificial Intelligence, Business Studies, Communication Studies, Computer Science, Information Science, Information Studies, Media Studies or Psychology

Academic Skills (6EC)
Knowledge on the following topics at university level is required (adequacy will be determined by the Admissions board):

• Literature research
• Academic writing
• The ability to make abstractions from different contexts based on analytical thinking
• Research skills, scientific reasoning
• Reflection: critical assessment on general accepted theories
• Ability to framing: the use of different interpretation schemes (frames) to reason about reality
• Statistics (research methodology)
• Empirical research

Programming skills (12 EC)
Good programming skills in any language, but preferably Python. Good understanding of the basics of computing, algorithms, and data structures.

• Students must be able to:
  • Collect and read in datasets in various formats and write scripts to do basic data pre-processing
  • Take an algorithm of moderate complexity described in pseudo-code and programme it in one or more programming languages
  • Write scripts for applying basic machine learning, statistics, and visualisation on the basis of a library with tools

Statistics (6 EC)

Good understanding of the following topics:

• Random variables, basic distributions such as the normal and binomial distributions, expectations, mean and variance;
•   Multiple regression, correlation, and hypothesis testing.
• Students must be able to:
  • Calculate a confidence interval for the expectation on the basis of outcomes of an experiment  do multiple regression in an appropriate tool and interpret the outcomes such as R^2
  • Do calculations with the distribution function of for example binomial random variable

 Data and information Modelling (12 EC)

• Knowledge and data: Entity – Relationship Diagrams, Ontologies, Knowledge Representation fundamentals, Semantic Web technologies (RDF, OWL)
• Databases and data structures: SQL, Relational Model, Relational Database use.

Students with HBO background

If you are a Bachelor graduate from a University of Applied Sciences (in Dutch HBO) we still welcome you to apply if you meet the requirements and have taken academic skills courses on a university level.

Please note that we require formal academic European Credits (EC), or its equivalent, from a higher education institution. Online courses, work experience and other forms of experience will not be accepted.

Additional requirements

In addition to the admission requirements referred to above the student has to comply with the following additional requirements:

• The Bachelor's Grade Point Average (GPA) is at least 6.5 (according to the Dutch grading system). The GPA is the average of the Bachelor's course grades weighed by course/study load.

Limited programme capacity and ranking criteria

A maximum of 150 students are admitted to the entire Master's programme Information Studies (Data Science and Information Systems track) each academic year.

Candidates will be selected in the following way. First, candidates will have to meet the requirements and additional requirements as stated above. Subsequently all the candidates eligible for admission to the programme will be ranked by the ranking criteria. Each ranking criterion will be classified/assessed according to five categories: excellent, very good, good, sufficient, insufficient.

Selection will be based on the following ranking criteria:

• GPA score (minimum of 6.5)
• Academic skills
• Programming skills and/or Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) experience
• Data and Information modelling skills
• Relevant interdisciplinary Data Science project(s) completed 
• Relevant work experience or community outreach and engagement experience

The ranking criteria apply to all candidates who have met the requirements and additional requirements as stated above.

The Admissions Board will judge requests for admission on criteria mentioned above and select students on an individual basis and in comparison to the other applicants. These criteria will not be applied mechanically, but manually with careful consideration and judgement. For example, the value of the GPA may depend on a students' curriculum, publications may be more or less high ranked, etc.

The top 150 candidates on the ranking list will be admitted to the Master's programme. The Admissions Board will grant admission to the selected candidates. Students who aren’t ranked in the top 150 will be placed on a waiting list in case a student who is placed decides to not take the spot.

No pre-registration advice
Unfortunately, due to the large number of applications, it is not possible to give any individual pre-registration advice (by e-mail) or to meet to discuss prior education and/or a possible admission in the upcoming academic year. To inform you about your (possible) admittance to the Master's programme it is necessary that you apply for the programme.

Assignment for all applicants 

All applicants for the Data Science track are advised to complete an assignment to check their programming experience and statistical background before they apply. The assignment is a good representation of the level of knowledge expected at the start of the Master's programme. More information on the assignment can be found here:

Before you can apply to the UvA, you will need to submit an enrolment application in Studielink. Studielink is the national online system for students who would like to pursue a degree programme at a Dutch university. You can’t switch from fulltime to parttime or back after you have submitted your application. Please keep this in mind when choosing.

Check your DigiD (before starting in Studielink)

A DigiD (Digital Identification) is an online ID that provides access to government administration websites.

• Students who do not live in the Netherlands can use Studielink without a DigiD.
• Students who currently live in the Netherlands will need their DigiD to use Studielink. We strongly recommend you to apply for your DigiD at least three weeks before registering in Studielink.

Read the step-by-step guide to Studielink

Before starting your enrolment application in Studielink, read the 'Step-by-step guide to Studielink'.

Important! While selecting the Master’s programme of your interest in Studielink, make sure to select the regular programme (option 1). Do not select option 2 (after a temporary termination of enrolment) or option 3 (elective) if you are a degree seeking student. You can select the track of your interest later on in DataNose.

Within 48 hours after submitting your enrolment application in Studielink, you will receive an email with your UvAnetID and an email with instructions for the next step of the application process. Follow the instructions in the email to activate your UvAnetID as you will need it to complete your UvA application.

Only after activating your UvAnetID, you can submit your UvA online application via DataNose.

Please make sure to upload the required documents in PDF format. Applicants who (will) hold more than one academic degree must merge copies of all academic transcripts into one PDF.

In DataNose we expect you to upload the following documents:

1.  A motivation letter in English (max. 500 words)
2.  Your Curriculum Vitae in English
3.  A copy of your Bachelor’s transcript including your GPA
4.  A copy of your Bachelor’s diploma/certificate (or, if you have  not yet finished your current academic programme, a list of courses of your final year)
5.  A description of your Bachelor thesis/project

Please make sure you have uploaded all the required documents, as you can't add any documents after submitting. Only your English scores can be sent in later.
If you have any questions about the required documents as a student with a Dutch degree, please contact the Education Desk.

As soon as you have submitted the (sufficiently) complete online form in DataNose, your application file will be acknowledged. It differs per programme how long it takes before you are informed via email about the decision on admission. We strive to process each application within 6 weeks. An admission will always be conditional as we must still verify your documents (consult step 8).  You can track the status of your admission using the checklist in DataNose.

If you are conditionally admitted to the Master’s programme you will receive an admissions letter by means of email. In the letter you will find a link to DataNose to accept or decline your place in the programme. This has to be done within two weeks. If you have questions about this, please contact the Education Desk.

If you are (conditionally) admitted then do check your DataNose application. The link in your checklist gives you all required information about the verification of your previous education.

A student ID card is a personal card which serves as proof of identity for examinations or borrowing library books. After admission, you will receive instructions on how to request your student ID card. 

In order to complete your enrolment for a degree programme at the UvA you will need to pay the tuition fee.