Courses
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First year
The programme has a course load of 60 EC, all of which take place in the first year. Your courses will be carefully chosen in consultation with the track coordinator. You are encouraged to conduct several research projects inside and outside academia, focusing on academic physics research, interdisciplinary research and applied, or societal research.
The following courses are compulsory:
- Current Sustainable Energy Technologies (6 EC)
- Project Sustainable Future (6 EC)
- Academic Skills courses (6 EC in total, academic course or an individual, society oriented research project)
- SfES project (6EC, applied or academic research project or academic literature thesis)
Besides these core courses, four restricted choice courses (24 EC) are required. For example:
- Emergent Energy Materials (physics, 6 EC)
- Photovoltaics and Organic Photovoltaics (physics, both 6 EC)
- Photosynthesis (physics, chemistry, biology, 6 EC)
- BioSolar Cells (physics, chemistry, 6EC)
- more chemistry-focused courses for physicists: Environmental Chemistry, Green Chemistry (both 6EC)
- more society-related courses: Energy and Climate Change: Science, Policy and Economics and Management of Sustainable Innovation (both 6EC)
In addition, 12 EC of free choice can be used to wilful specific requirements, e.g. for advanced courses or deficiencies, or to broaden your intellect.
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Second year - thesis and research project
The second year of the programme consists of:
- a research project (60 EC in total, two projects are also possible )
You conduct your research project within one of the research groups at the Amsterdam universities or at another university (in the Netherlands or abroad) or, in case of two projects, a research internship at a company or industry is also possible (24 EC max). Every internship is concluded with a Master's thesis, which you present during a colloquium.
Detailed course information
For detailed information regarding the curriculum and courses, please see the UvA Course Catalogue via the link below.
Extra scholarships available
For Physics and Astronomy only, we have in addition to our regular Amsterdam Science Talent Scholarships, extra scholarships available for excellent (non-Dutch) EU/EER students. The Amsterdam Physics and Astronomy Scholarship.
Pre-Master's programme
If you lack the required knowledge and skills to be admitted to the Master's programme Physics and Astronomy, you can close the gap in our pre-Master's programme.
Majors and minors
At the UvA you can choose to do your Master's programme with a society-/ business-oriented major or minor that focuses on other skills than doing research. In this case you will follow the programme of your chosen scientific discipline during the first year of your Master's (although slightly adjusted), and a society-/ business-oriented major or minor during the second year. You will graduate as a Master of Science. If you have the ambition to do a professional specialisation make sure to inform about conditions early in your Master's programme.
Accreditation and title
Science for Energy and Sustainability is a track of the UvA Master's programmes Physics and Astronomy, and Chemistry. These programmes have been legally accredited by the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO). This means that upon successful completion of the programme (a total of 120 EC), you will receive a legally accredited Master's degree in Physics or Chemistry - depending on the specific focus of your course load and research project - and the title of Master of Science (MSc).
Bring your own device
All students enrolled in the Physics and Astronomy Master's programme are requested to bring their own laptop. More information on specific system requirements can be found here.