The application deadline for this selective Master's programme is 1 March 2025, 23:59 CET (register in Studielink before 23 February, see step 4).
Please make sure to follow the steps of the application process carefully to ensure that your application can be processed.
You are eligible to apply for admission if you hold an academic Bachelor's degree from an accredited research university in the Humanities or Social Sciences with a minimum of 30 ECTS (equivalent to a full-time semester of academic studies) taken in the field of art history, musicology, theatre and performance studies or cultural studies. You are expected to have an awareness of basic theoretical notions in the above fields.
The Artistic Research specialisation is also open for application to students with a Bachelor's degree from an Arts Academy or accredited university with a focus in the Arts/Culture, such as Art History and Curatorial Studies.
The academic specialisation (Art and Performance Studies specialisation) is not open to students with a degree from a Dutch University of Applied Sciences (hbo). We do not offer a preparatory programme (schakelprogramma) for this Master's.
If you obtained your degree outside the Netherlands, the minimum level of your diploma should be at least equivalent to or comparable to three years of a Dutch research-oriented university. The assessment of whether your degree is considered equivalent will be completed by professional diploma evaluators according to the guidelines set forth by Nuffic, the independent organisation for internationalisation in education in the Netherlands. More information on this assessment can be found on the Graduate School of Humanities website.
New Master's students should be able to speak, read, write and understand English at an advanced academic level. Please check carefully on the page below whether:
Because of the limited number of places available, all prospective students are subject to a selection process. We will compare your file to that of other applicants. Distinguish yourself with solid basic academic knowledge in the field of study, sufficient test scores and a convincing and enthusiastic motivation letter.
If you wish to apply for a Research Master's programme, you are expected to have an overall grade point average (GPA) of at least an
If you obtained a lower grade averages you can apply, particularly if you obtained a sufficient grade average for the courses related to the research master’s programme and/or courses taken in the advanced phase of your prior education. Please include an explanation in your motivation form.
All students applying will need to start their application by submitting an enrolment request in Studielink, the Dutch online system for students applying for a degree programme at a Dutch university.
Applicants for Art and Performance Research Studies need to register in Studielink for Arts and Culture - research Master's or Kunst- en cultuurwetenschappen - research master. When asked, select Art and Performance Research Studies as the track you intend to follow.
It is extremely important that you register in Studielink at least 48 hours before the application deadline (see above). This is to ensure that you receive your login information (UvAnetID) in time to fill in your UvA application in MyInfo (see next step).
All students applying for a Master’s degree programme with an international bachelor’s diploma are required to pay a non-refundable €100 application fee*. Only after you have paid this fee, the UvA can start to process your application.
It can take up to 24 hours for your fee payment to be registered in SIS and you are able to submit your application in MyInfo or Datanose. Make sure to pay your application fee at least 24 hours before the application deadline of your programme.
You do not have to pay the application fee:
* Please note that the application fee is non-refundable. You are not entitled to a refund even if you do not submit your application form, if you submit an application form after the deadline (which will not be taken into consideration) or if you submit an incomplete application.
After enrolling in Studielink, you will automatically receive an email with a link to your MyInfo UvA application form. To log in to MyInfo you need your UvAnetID. Please fill out the application form, upload the required documents and submit your MyInfo application form before the application deadline.
Please make sure that in Studielink (step 4) you have selected Art and Performance Research Studies as the track you intend to follow, and it is the selected track in your MyInfo application. Applications for selective programmes that have been selected as a second track will not be processed.
Important: the programme Art and Performance Research Studies has two separate specialisations. Please indicate on the motivation form which specialisation you intend to pursue.
Make sure you are well prepared before you start your application, and you have all necessary documents ready. You are asked to upload the following documents:
*Please note: If you have not yet obtained your diploma but are in possession of all other application documents, you may proceed with your application - as long as you obtain your Bachelor's degree before 1 September. If you have a non-Dutch prior education, please bear in mind that you must submit your certified documents before 1 August.
In addition to the other application documents, students applying to the research master’s Art and Performance Research Studies have to submit programme-specific documents:
* The sample of writing may, for instance, be an article, a review, an essay or BA or BFA thesis.
This programme does not require any other documents, such as a reference letter. Only the above-mentioned documents are taken into consideration by the Admissions Board.
Because this is a selective programme, applications will be evaluated by the Admissions Board after the application deadline has passed. You will be notified of whether you have been admitted to the programme after this time.
If you are admitted to the programme, you will receive a letter of conditional acceptance. In order to proceed with your enrolment, you must accept this offer at your earliest convenience. Read more about the steps you need to take after (conditional) acceptance on the website of the Graduate School of Humanities:
As a student in the Master’s programme in Art and Performance Research Studies you are interested in inter-, intra- and cross-disciplinary themes and propositions, in an active dialogue between art theory and art practice, and in the role of the arts within society. Furthermore, you are expected to have the following knowledge, insight and skills.
Yes, please clearly state whether you are applying for the Art and Performance Studies or Artistic Research specialisation in your motivation letter.
Yes, this is a regular requirement. You need to evidence that you have developed an independent artistic practice. An art school degree provides such an evidence. Exceptions must be discussed with the coordinator.
Yes, you can apply for up to a maximum of four Master’s programmes. Some Master’s programmes offer different tracks. You indicate in Studielink which track you want to follow, and for this you submit an application file via MyInfo. It is possible to submit a second preference for a track within the same master via the contact form. Please note that we will only look at the second track if you are not (conditionally) admitted to the track of your first preference. If you are (conditionally) admitted to the track of your first choice, this does not mean that you will also be admitted to the track of your second choice.
Due to the selection procedure, it is not possible to enter a selective track as your second choice. If you are interested in a selective track, you must select it as your first choice.
Many applicants to Master's programmes have not finished their previous education when they apply. If this applies to you, then you can upload a transcript of records with the courses and grades obtained so far. Make sure to also include a list of courses from your Bachelor's that you still need to complete. This applies to the scholarship applications as well.