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

Start your application procedure 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.

Deadlines

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.

According to our formal regulations we distinguish between the following qualification categories:

Category 1
Bachelor’s degree in (Technical) Computer Science, Informatics or similar from a research university (in Dutch: WO) in the Netherlands;

Category 2
Bachelor’s degree in (Technical) Computer Science, Informatics or similar from a university of applied sciences (in Dutch: HBO) in the Netherlands with a grade point average of 7 or higher and successful completion of an individual pre-Master’s programme (see below);

Additionally, your ability to write and speak in English must be at an academic level. To prove your level of English please provide us with your scores of one of the following tests:

• the TOEFL Test,
• the test of the International English Language Testing Service (Academic IELTS)
• a Cambridge Examination Score  (C1 Advanced (CAE) and C2 Proficiency (CPE).

The deadline for such a proficiency test depends on your starting date of the Master's programme Software Engineering. As long as you provide team Software Engineering with your proficiency test before you actually start the Master's programme (1 September) your enrolment will be handled correctly and without delay. If you have to complete a premaster's programme first this means you have more time do such a test, since the proficiency test is not an entry requirement of the premaster programme.

Other tests will not be accepted.

Category 3
Completion of a substantial part of a higher education degree programme in Informatics or a closely related subject supplemented by several years of relevant practical experience in the field of software engineering in an industrial context and successful completion of an individual pre-Master’s programme (see below).

The Admissions Board evaluates each application. Depending on the above category applicants may be asked to complete a questionnaire detailing their individual competences, may be invited for a cognitive capacity test and, in the final step, may be invited for a personal interview with a member of the Admissions Board.

The outcome of the intake process is one of the following three:

• The Admissions Board accepts the application for the upcoming academic year.
• The Admissions Board rejects the application.
• The Admissions Board defines an individual pre-Master’s programme. Upon successful completion of all parts thereof, the applicant will be admitted to the programme in the following academic year.

Rejected candidates are allowed to re-apply in subsequent academic years. New academic skills or more industrial work experience in the software engineering field may let the Admissions Board come to a different conclusion in the future.

Pre-Master's programme
For category 2 and 3 applicants the Admissions Board will define a tailor-made pre-Master’s programme. Our objective is to equip you with the necessary knowledge and skills to successfully complete the Master’s programme. This personalised pre-Master’s programme helps us to achieve one of the university’s highest success rates.

The pre-Master’s programme consists of UvA Bachelor's courses or self-study courses: 

UvA Bachelor's courses

• Automaten en Formele Talen (6 EC)
• Besturingssystemen (6 EC)
• Compiler Construction (6 EC)
• Datastructuren (6 EC)
• Programmeertalen (6 EC)
• Project Software Engineering (5 EC)

All courses are part of the Bachelor’s programme Informatica and are taught in Dutch. 

Self-study courses

• Logic in Action 
• Functional Programming 

Workload
The workload per course is 20 hours a week for a period of 2 months. The schedule of the UvA Bachelor’s courses is set by the Bachelor’s programme Informatica. The self-study courses are largely independent from the UvA schedule and can be completed in your own time.

The Admissions Board may waive courses from the above list based on your knowledge and skills. For details regarding these courses see the study guide of the Bachelor's Informatica (in Dutch).

It may be possible to include the UvA Bachelor's courses from the pre-Master’s programme in an on-going Bachelor's education. This depends mainly on your Bachelor’s programme. Due to their nature, the self-study courses can't be included in a Bachelor's programme under any circumstances.

Admission during COVID-19

In exceptional cases, the UvA will allow you to start your Master’s programme before having fully completed your Bachelor’s degree or pre-Master’s. The study delay must be COVID-19 related and concern courses from the second semester of the 2019-2020 academic year (February through June 2020). For information on how to submit your request for admission with study delay, check under Step 8.

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.

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
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. However it will not take longer than 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.

Between 1 July and 31 August you can submit your request for admission to the Master’s programme with an unfinished Bachelor’s or pre-Master’s in DataNose (link available below). To submit this request, you should meet all the requirements listed below. In addition, you should have completed all the exams and resits in your Bachelor’s programme and know for sure that you cannot complete your Bachelor’s before 1 September. If there is still a possibility you might complete your Bachelor’s on time, please wait with submitting your request. You will need to complete any missing courses during the 2020-2021 academic year.

Please note: in order to complete your Bachelor’s you will have to re-enroll in your Bachelor’s programme! 

Admission requirements with unfinished Bachelor’s

• You have applied for the Master’s programme in Studielink and Datanose before the deadline
• You have received a (conditional) offer of admission to the Master’s programme
• The deficiency in your Bachelor’s programme does not exceed 15 ECTS. This may comprise courses and/or your Bachelor’s thesis (or project)
• In case the deficiency does exceed 15 ECTS due to a larger Bachelor’s thesis/project, you should have completed a large part of the project and the remaining workload should not exceed 15 ECTS

Admission requirements with unfinished pre-Master’s

• You have applied for the Master’s programme in Studielink and Datanose before the deadline
• You have received a (conditional) offer of admission to the Master’s programme on the condition you complete a pre-Master’s programme
• You have completed at least 80% of your pre-Master’s programme

Admission requirements pre-Master’s with unfinished (hbo) Bachelor’s degree

• You have applied for the Master’s programme in Studielink and Datanose before the deadline
• You have received a (conditional) offer of admission to the Master’s programme on the condition you complete a pre-Master’s programme
• The study delay in your Bachelor’s does not exceed 6 ECTS
• You will need to complete the pre-Master’s and your Bachelor’s degree before you can start with the Master’s programme

If you wish to make use of the option to start your Master’s programme with an unfinished Bachelor’s degree, you will need to seriously consider the overall achievability of your combined study programme. Unfortunately, we are not able to make provisions for any overlaps in planning concerning exams, classes, etc.

This regulation applies to Dutch and international students who want to start their Master’s at the UvA in September 2020 and are enrolled in a Bachelor’s or pre-Master’s programme at the UvA in 2019-2020, or in a Bachelor’s at another university.

How to submit your request

• Go to https://datanose.nl/#enrolmaster 
• Check the tab ‘Master enrolment’ for your enrolment status
• Below ‘Actions’ you’ll see a button for submitting your request with study delay
• The Central Student Administration will inform you per email whether your request for admission has been granted or not. The decision will also become available in DataNose under ‘enrolment status’ in the tab ‘Master enrolment'.

If you are conditionally admitted please consult DataNose for details on which exact documents are required and when and how to send them.

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.