You are eligible to apply for admission if you hold an academic Bachelor's degree from an accredited research university in the humanities, law or social sciences with a minimum of 30 ECTS (equivalent to a full-time semester of academic studies) taken in the field of Religious Studies. You are expected to have an awareness of basic theoretical notions in the field of Religious Studies.

You are expected to convincingly demonstrate in the motivation form that your background and academic interest in the field will allow you to successfully complete this study programme.

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.

Hbo-bachelor not eligible

It is not possible to apply to this programme with a degree from a Dutch University of Applied Sciences (hbo). We do not offer a pre-Master's programme (schakelprogramma) for this Master's.

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:

• you already meet the English language requirements based on your prior education; or
• you need to arrange to take an official English language test. If you have serious reasons to believe you should be exempted from taking an official English language test, you will need to file a strongly motivated, official exemption request at the Graduate School of Humanities’ Examinations Board. Please note that there is a strict deadline in place for such a request, which is one month prior to the Master's application deadline.

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.

Grade average

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

• A/3.6 (American system)
• 2.1 HONS (an upper second class honours degree in the British system)
• B (ECTS-system), or 
• 7.5 (Dutch system)

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 Religious Studies need to submit an enrolment request in Studielink for the Master's in Theology and Religious Studies (Research). 

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.

Applying for programmes at multiple Graduate Schools?

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:

• If you have or will obtain a bachelor’s degree from a Dutch research university or university of applied sciences (HBO).
• If you have already applied and have paid the application fee for another master’s programme at the UvA for the academic year 2025-2026.
• If you are an exchange student.
• If you are applying through the Foundation for Refugee Students (UAF).

* 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.

Application documents

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:

• curriculum vitae;
• proof of language proficiency (if required, see language requirements);
• transcript of records, up-to-date and issued by your home institution (if you are already a student at the UvA, a screenshot from SIS is sufficient);
• diploma (if already obtained)* or list of courses yet to complete;
• translation of your diploma and transcript of records (if they are not in English, Dutch, German or French);
• motivation form (PDF);
• programme specific documents (see below).

*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.

Programme-specific document

Write a research proposal related to the analysis of spirituality and religion in the history of Western culture and in contemporary societies. The research proposal should include the following elements: title, introduction, research question(s), scientific background, methodology and bibliography (max. 2000 words). Please upload this proposal as a programme-specific document in MyInfo.

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.