Detailed course information

The first semester is where students in this track follow courses. These are full-time (42 hours of study per week) and consist of roughly 15 contact hours (lectures, exercise classes, etc.) per week. For coursework, students can choose among all available courses from the other four tracks in the MSc Biological Sciences, as well as from Biomedical Sciences and Earth Sciences of the University of Amsterdam, and from other universities (this requires approval of the Examination Board). Keep in mind that admission to courses depends on their admission rules and capacity.

For detailed information regarding the courses and curriculum, please see the UvA Course Catalogue via the link below or download the study schedule.

Research projects

The research variant of the General Biology programme consists of two individual research projects. Students usually carry out their first research project at one of the biological research institutes at Science Park (IBED and SILS), or at closely associated research institutes such as Sanquin Blood Supply Foundation, the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI), or the Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ). For their second research project, students can look for research opportunities elsewhere, in the Netherlands or abroad.

Majors or Minor: if you want more than research

Students of the Master's programme Biological Sciences further have the option to choose one of three professional majors (60 EC) or a minor (30 EC), each designed to train a specific set of skills needed as a secondary school teacher, in policy and communication or elsewhere outside the academia:

• Students of the Master's programme Biological Sciences further have the option to choose between two professional majors (60 EC) or a minor (30 EC), each designed to train a specific set of skills needed as a secondary school teacher, in policy and communication or elsewhere outside the academia:

• The major Big Biomedical Data Analysis (BBDA) is a 60 EC major available to students of all tracks within Biological Sciences. This one-year programme is developed to teach students of Biological and Biomedical Sciences the essential bioinformatics, to be able to handle, analyse and interpret big omics data sets. The major consists of courses on Genomics, Transcriptomics, Proteomics and Metabolomics, plus an internship of 42 EC.
• The major Teaching prepares students to become a teacher in Biology at secondary schools and Higher Vocational Education (Dutch: HBO). This major is offered by the Interfacultaire Lerarenopleidingen (ILO).
• The minor Collective Futures trains skills needed in interdisciplinary environments by tackling real business or societal cases with external partners. The minor Collective Futures has recently been developed by the Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies (IIS) at the Faculty of Science.

Accreditation and academic title

General Biology is a track of the Master's programme in Biological Sciences. The Master's programme in Biological Sciences has been legally accredited by the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO). This means that upon successful completion of the programme, students will receive a legally accredited Master's degree in Biological Sciences and the title of Master of Science (MSc).

Bring your own device

All students enrolled in Biological Sciences are requested to bring their own laptop, due to the nature of the programme. More information on specific system requirements can be found here.