Start your application procedure on time!

You need to submit your enrolment request via Studielink, activate your UvAnetID, pay the application fee (if applicable) AND submit your complete application request via MyInfo before the deadline stated below. It may take several days to complete all these steps. We recommend you register in Studielink at least one week before the deadline.

Apply between 1 October 2024 and 1 March 2025 for intake per September 2025.

Application Deadline September 2025

• Studielink (advisory deadline): 22 February 2025, 23.59 hrs (CET) 
• MyInfo: 1 March 2025, 23.59 hrs (CET) 

Please note that our Research Master's programme only has a September start. 

Note: You may apply before finishing your Bachelor's programme. However, you must obtain your Bachelor's degree and show us valid proof of graduation before the following ultimate deadlines:

• If you have a non-EU/EEA nationality in combination with a non-Dutch degree, you must obtain your degree and show proof ultimately per 1 August 2025.
• If you have a non-EU/EEA nationality in combination with a Dutch Bachelor’s degree, you must obtain your degree and show proof ultimately per 1 September 2025.
• If you have an EU/EEA nationality, you must obtain your degree and show proof ultimately per 1 September 2025.

To guarantee the quality of the education within the Graduate School, you will have to meet all entry requirements specified below.

When you have the relevant undergraduate qualifications (academic level and background) but not enough knowledge and experience in required areas, that you may be conditionally admitted based on completing the pre-Master's programme or online course first. Please note, you cannot apply for the pre-Master’s programme directly. You have to submit a full application for the Research Master’s programme first and the admissions board will decide whether you are directly admissible or whether you might qualify for a pre-Master’s programme.

The admissions board will evaluate every applicant individually, based on:

1. Undergraduate qualification: Academic level (Academic Bachelor's or Master's degree)
2. Undergraduate qualification: Background (Bachelor's curriculum and attended courses)
3. Experience in conducting empirical research with the use of inferential statistics (results obtained for specific courses) 
4. English language proficiency (non-Dutch degree students only)

Each of these points is further explained below.

1. Undergraduate qualification: Academic level

If you obtained a Dutch academic Bachelor’s degree at a research university (wo), you are eligible to apply for one of our Research Master’s programmes. This means that if you have a non-Dutch degree, you need to meet the same qualifications. The minimum level of your diploma should therefore be at least equivalent to or comparable to three years of a Dutch research-oriented university. To establish whether your non-Dutch degree is equivalent to this level, we will need to assess it first. This will be done by professional diploma evaluators based on the guidelines of the Nuffic (an independent organisation for internationalisation in education). Please find an overview of the descriptions of different international education systems on the Nuffic website.

If you obtained a Bachelor’s degree at a university of applied sciences (hbo) or equivalent, you cannot be admitted to the (pre-)Master’s. You may opt for taking the short-track Bachelor's programme at the College of Communication first to meet the criteria and then re-apply. This short-track Bachelor’s (verkorte bachelor) is taught in Dutch only.

Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) required for applicants who obtained their Bachelor’s degree in a non-EU/EEA country

As part of the assessment of the undergraduate qualification, applicants with a Bachelor’s degree obtained in a non-EU/EEA country are required to submit a GRE score as part of their application. This allows us to better assess the background of applicants to determine whether they are sufficient preparation for our graduate programme. Communication Science Research Master’s degree programme at the University of Amsterdam is an empirically focused programme that places a high value on student autonomy and relies on small teacher-student ratios. Our focus on student autonomy means that students must enter our Research Master's classroom ready to learn in a self-directed manner. Students who have studied in our three-year Communication Science Bachelor programme (or other similar programmes in the Netherlands) have spent several years developing verbal, analytic, and quantitative thinking abilities that are critical for success in our programme. These students are offered direct admittance to our Research Master programme. For applicants who have studied in other programmes in the EU/EEA, our experience shows that we can evaluate applicants’ academic backgrounds and sufficiently determine if they are aptly prepared for study success in our Research Master's programme. For applicants with a Bachelor’s degree obtained outside the EU/EEA, however, it is more difficult to assess this student’s academic preparation. For this reason, we ask applicants with a Bachelor’s degree obtained outside the EU/EEA to also include a GRE score in their application dossier. This provides us with a more robust indicator of an applicant’s preparedness. For all applicants who obtained their Bachelor’s degree in a non-EU/EEA country, the GRE is required for finalising your application. A list of EU/EEA countries can be found here. If you have obtained or are going to obtain your Bachelor’s degree in a country that is not identified as an EU/EEA country, you are required to submit a GRE score (Graduate Record Examination) as part of your application. If you do not submit a GRE score, your dossier will be considered incomplete and will not be reviewed. Please be aware that home tests are not accepted.  

Please keep in mind, while there is no minimum GRE score required, we encourage applicants to perform their best on this test.

2. Undergraduate qualification: Background

Admission (conditionally) is usually realistic for students who at least hold an academic Bachelor's degree in Communication Science or a related discipline (e.g., Sociology, Psychology, Political Science, Communication & Information Studies, Media Studies, Journalism with a research emphasis, International Relations). However, these students will likely have to complete some extra coursework (pre-Master's or online course) prior to the Research Master’s programme, depending on their knowledge of theories in Communication Science and (quantitative) social science methods and statistics.

If you have a different Bachelor’s background, without direct links to the field of Communication Science, you are most likely not eligible for the (pre-)Master’s programme.

About Massive Online Courses. The Graduate School of Communication is an advocate of massive online courses (MOOCs) due to our belief that these can greatly contribute to the dissemination of knowledge and the accessibility of education for people across the world. That is why we among others offer the MOOC-courses Introduction to Communication Science and Media Ethics and Governance on the Coursera platform. You are more than welcome to participate in our Coursera-offer. However, you should take into account that the certificates from Coursera or other online education platforms do not replace certified transcripts and degree certificates from accredited institutes of higher education in the admission process. This is because education through MOOCs is not a part of the necessary principles of surveillance for accredited degrees.  

• Knowledge about theories of Communication Science: Admission to our Research Master's programme in Communication Science requires you to have a certain level of knowledge and understanding of Communication Science theories. The admissions board will evaluate this based on your Bachelor’s curriculum and completed courses. Work experience is not taken into consideration.
• ​​​​​​Knowledge about theories of (quantitative) social science methods and statistics: The Research Master's programme in Communication Science has its roots in socio-behavioural sciences. In line with this socio-behavioural tradition, the programme teaches you how to systematically observe and measure the contents and effects of media and communication. That is why, in order to successfully complete our Research Master’s programme in Communication Science, you must be at ease with the use of certain socio-behavioural data collection methods (such as survey design and experimental design), and statistical models to analyse the data (such as measurement models, linear regression and analysis of variance). This level of knowledge must be confirmed by the content of courses taken during your academic Bachelor’s programme. Work experience is not taken into consideration.
• Experience in conducting empirical research with the use of inferential statistics: In addition to knowledge of socio-behavioural research methods and statistics, we require you to be able to conduct and evaluate quantitative empirical research. This will be evaluated based on research papers written during your Bachelor’s programme. If you don’t have any research papers, please upload a document which states that you don’t have a research paper.

3. Experience in conducting empirical research with the use of inferential statistics

Besides knowledge of social science methods and statistics, we require you to be able to conduct and evaluate quantitative empirical research. This will be evaluated based on research papers written during your Bachelor’s programme.

Results obtained for specific courses
The Research Master's programme is a selective programme for students with an above-average interest in and aptitude for the study of Communication Science, and the conduct of empirical research in the field of Communication Science in particular. That is why, above and beyond the other admission criteria, the Admission committee also considers each applicant for the Research Master's programme on the basis of courses taken and grade marks obtained so far, including those courses in the student's application file that involved empirical (and especially quantitative) methods of data-collection and data-analysis.
The Admission Committee will assess each applicant for the Research Master's on his or her individual merits, whereby proven interest and motivation play a role. However, as a general rule, applicants to the Research Master's programme should have obtained grade marks in their Bachelor's and/or Master's programme(s) so far that exceed the level of a 'minimal pass', including those courses that involved quantitative methods of data-collection and data-analysis.

4. English language proficiency (non-Dutch degree students only)

All Communication Science courses in the Research Master’s programmes are taught in English. You must therefore be able to read textbooks, understand lectures, take part in classroom discussions and produce written work in English. That is why we require evidence of English language proficiency from applicants with a non-Dutch degree who are NOT considered as someone whose first language is English. Please note that if you do not meet this requirement, admission is not possible. We only accept test results from TOEFL, IELTS and Cambridge Advanced English or Cambridge Proficiency English. Other English tests are not considered valid.

Requirements regarding English language level are*: 

• IELTS Academic**: Overall Band Score minimum 7, for each subscore minimum 6.5  
• TOEFL iBT (institutional code: 3995)***(MyBest Scores are not accepted): 100, subscores: Reading: 24, Listening: 22, Speaking: 25, Writing: 24. 
• Cambridge International Examinations: minimum score Cambridge English scale (Advanced C1): 190 or higher. 

*English language test results may not be older than 2 years. 
** The IELTS One Skill Retake, IELTS General Training, IELTS Indicator and IELTS Online are NOT accepted.
*** The TOEFL ITP test (Institutional Testing Program) and the TOEFL iBT Home Edition are NOT accepted.

How to submit your language test score
You must upload your test report with sufficient scores with your application. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed. 
 
English test exemptions  

The following applicants are exempt from the English test requirement:

• Students with a Dutch Bachelor’s degree
• Students whose nationality is from a country where English is the first language*
• Students who have completed at least 3 years of tertiary education or an entire Master's programme in English located in a country where English is the first language.* Note that this does not include English language education based in a non-English country.

* We consider the following countries as English-speaking: Australia, Canada (except for Quebec), Ireland, New Zealand, the UK, and the USA.

Applicants who have completed secondary education located in an English-speaking country* can apply for a waiver of the test requirement. The Admissions Board will review such waiver requests on an individual basis. (NOTE: If this applies to you, make sure you apply for a waiver well in advance to leave time for an English test in case your waiver is not granted). 
 
In all other situations, an English language test is a requirement for finalising your application.

Before you can apply to an UvA teaching programme, you will need to submit an enrolment application in Studielink. We strongly advise you to apply to our programme in Studielink at least a week before the application deadline. Studielink is the national online system for students who would like to pursue a degree programme at a Dutch university. Before starting your enrolment application in Studielink, read the 'Step-by-step plans Studielink' (see below).

Note! Check your DigiD (before starting in Studielink): A DigiD (Digital Identification) is an online ID (username and password) that provides access to Dutch 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.

Note! Check the Language Settings of Studielink: If your Studielink account is set to the Dutch language, use the search term ‘Communicatiewetenschap’ to enrol for the one-year Master track. If you are planning to enrol for the Research Master’s programme, use the search term ‘Communication Science’.

It is NOT possible to directly apply for the pre-Master's. This can only be an outcome of your admission request for the Research Master’s programme. The Admission Board needs to invite you for the pre-Master's programme.

After submitting your enrolment application in Studielink, you will receive an email with your UvanetID. Follow the instructions in the email to activate your ID as you will need it to complete your UvA application.

If you are applying for a (Research) Master's degree programme and have an international diploma, you 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.

You first need to pay your application fee in SIS. You can pay your €100,- application fee by credit card (Master or Visa card), GooglePay, ApplePay, Bancontact or iDEAL.

Only after paying the fee, you can start your application in MyInfo. It is not possible to start an application without paying the non-refundable application fee. Note that it can take up to 24 hours for your fee payment to be registered in SIS, and for you to be able to submit your application in MyInfo. Make sure to pay your application fee at least 24 hours before the application deadline of your programme.

You don't 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)
• have already applied and have paid the application fee for another Master’s programme at the UvA for the same academic year
• are an exchange student
• if you are applying through the Foundation for Refugee Students (UAF) 

*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 and paying the application fee in Studielink, you will automatically receive an email with a link to the UvA application form (MyInfo). Please fill out this application form in order to complete your application. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.

Documents should be uploaded in PDF format. Please make sure your application documents have ENGLISH* file names that include the following: Type document_your name (example: Course description research methods courses_Mary Wang). A complete application consists of the following documents:

• Curriculum vitae
• Statement of motivation (max. 450-500 words). Write a letter with your statement of motivation in English, containing answers to the following questions: 
  1. What is your primary motivation for wanting to pursue an academic-oriented Master's programme in Communication Science, rather than other fields such as Media Studies, Psychology, or Linguistics?
  2. What is your primary motivation to pursue this Research Master's programme in Communication Science at the University of Amsterdam, and how does it fit into your plans for the next five years on an intellectual level, career level, personal level, or otherwise?
• Official certified copies of higher education diplomas or an official graduation statement (if graduated)*. Official translations are required if the original documents are in another language than English, German, French, or Dutch. A certified copy is a photocopy of the original document with a wet ink stamp and signature from your school/university or an authorised notary.

* If you are not yet graduated, please be aware that we need to receive a certified hardcopy of your diploma or transcript before the deadlines as stated at the bottom of step 1 (if you are conditionally accepted).

• Official certified copy of your current transcripts of grades. Transcripts must show all up-to-date grades/results and the number of credits obtained. Official translations are required if the original documents are in another language than English, German, French, or Dutch. A certified copy is a photocopy of the original document with a wet ink stamp and signature from your school/university or an authorised notary.
• Self-assessment form research methodology and statistics
• An individually written empirical research paper, based on quantitative research methods and inferential statistics. Preferably your thesis, but if you are not in possession of such a paper, please upload another research paper that has been written during your Bachelor’s or Master’s programme. If you have not written an individual quantitative research paper during your studies so far, please indicate this in your application. Please do not replace it with other types of papers, such as argumentative essays or theoretical analyses. In case this paper was not written in English, German, or Dutch, a translation of the abstract, methods, and results sections needs to be created and uploaded together with the original paper.
• Description of courses followed in communication science and/or social sciences (if any). Descriptions must include information on the learning objectives, the content discussed and the used literature per each course. Do not upload entire syllabi. Please make sure to upload the course descriptions in English (Dutch or German). If you have not taken any courses in communication and/or social sciences, please indicate this in your application via a short uploaded statement.
• Description of courses followed in research methodology and statistics (if any). The research methods course descriptions must include the learning objectives, content discussed, used literature and an overview of the used research methods and different statistical techniques. Do not upload entire syllabi. Please make sure to upload the course descriptions in English (Dutch or German). If you have not taken any courses in research methodology and statistics, please indicate this in your application via a short uploaded statement.
• Proof English proficiency (only required for applicants with a non-Dutch degree). Submit your Certified English language test report as described in step 2 'Check entry requirements', section 'English language proficiency' (see above). OR Request to be waived for handing in an English Language proficiency test report, by selecting the following option in MyInfo: "I have a diploma/ degree certificate obtained in Australia, Canada (except Quebec), New Zealand, the UK, Ireland, or the USA". Please note, we don’t offer the option to request an exemption based on other grounds. We only consider requests based on reasons named under step 2 'Check entry requirements', section 'English test exemptions' (see above). Your application will only be reviewed after this waiver request has been accepted. If the board decides to reject your waiver request, you will need to reapply with a sufficient proficiency test before the application deadline.
• GRE report (only required for applicants who are currently completing or obtained their Bachelor’s degree outside the EU/EEA). If you have a Bachelor’s degree that is obtained outside the EU/EEA and want to be considered for this Master’s programme, you need to provide an official GRE General Test score report* (Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning and Analytical Writing) as part of your application. This means that you need to have taken the official test and received your results in time, to submit them along with the rest of your application (since only complete applications will be considered). Keep in mind that receiving the GRE results can take up to two weeks after the testing date. Please be aware that home tests are not accepted. Test scores are valid for a period of two years. No minimum score is required. A list of EU/EEA countries can be found here. If you have obtained or are going to obtain your Bachelor’s degree in a country that is not identified as an EU/EEA country, you are required to submit a GRE (Graduate Record Examination) score report as part of your application. If you do not submit a GRE score report, your dossier will be considered incomplete and will not be reviewed.

*In order to verify your GRE score we need to be listed as a designated score recipient, please make sure to do this. The Graduate School of Communication institutional code is 3651.

Please note! The aid of professional services for the application process to our programme (other than translation services) may lead to a direct rejection of your application, such as at the discretion of the Admission Committee.

Once we receive your complete application it will be evaluated by our admissions committee. You will be notified about their decision by email. The complete admission process can take up to 8 weeks for students with a non-Dutch degree and 4 weeks for students with a Dutch degree.

When you receive your official (positive) admissions decision, you will also receive a separate email with a link where you can confirm or decline your participation in our Research Master’s programme. Please make sure that you respond within the given reaction term of 2 weeks. If you do not respond before this date, your admissions decision will be voided and you will not have a place in the programme.

Defer participation

If you are admitted to the Research Master’s programme, you can defer your offer by one or two semesters. If you wish to defer, please use this form and select ‘My online application’ and underneath ‘Deferring my application’. We will then inform you on what steps to follow. If you are accepted to the pre-Master’s, you cannot defer your offer. You will have to re-apply (a different outcome might be possible).

Confirm participation

When you confirm your participation, you will receive more instructions on how to complete your enrolment in due time. For now, please read the steps below.

Decline participation

When you decline your participation you will also need to de-enroll yourself for the Research Master’s programme in Studielink.

By Dutch law, you must obtain your Bachelor’s (and/or Master’s) degree before the start of the (pre-)Master's programme. The Admissions Office needs to verify whether you have completed your previous education. Please send us digital copies of your final transcripts and degree certificates, so we can check them. You can find the deadline that applies to you in your conditional admission letter. Sending in certified documents is only required for non-Dutch degrees, as we can verify Dutch degrees through SIS or DUO.

What is a certified document? 
A certified document is an official copy of the original document provided by an authorised department of your institution of higher education or an authorised notary. 

What kind of certified documents do you need to send us? 

• Digital copies of your original higher education diploma(s)  
• Digital copies of your original final transcript(s)

Please note that:

• Documents not written in Dutch, English, German or French, must be accompanied by an official translation to English made by a sworn translator or a notary. 
• You have to send in certified documents of all previous (Bachelor's and/or Master's) programmes that you applied with.

Graduation statement
If your diploma will not be issued before the deadline, you can submit a graduation statement instead. In this graduation statement, your home institution needs to declare that you have met all graduation requirements and have graduated from your Bachelor's and/or Master's degree, stating your exact graduation date.  
The document should be on the official letterhead of your home institution and has to contain the following information: 

• First (given) name and Last name; 
• Date of birth; 
• Country of birth; 
• Current Bachelor’s education; 
• That you have completely met all graduation requirements of your Bachelor’s and/or Master’s programme; 
• Firm graduation date;  
• Stamp and signature from a representative of your home institution. 

How to submit your certified documents? 

• Through a secure portal: We accept certified documents sent to us through a secure portal, such as Parchment, Digitary, Hear, E-Script, Gradintelligence, or CSSD (formerly CHESICC). This can be sent to us via: Admissions-cs@uva.nl.
• Via email: We accept certified documents sent to us by an authorised department of your institution of higher education (such as the Registrar’s Office). Please ask the authorised department to send us your certified documents to: Admissions-cs@uva.nl.

We do not accept digital documents sent to us by students and/or from a student's email address. We also do not accept documents brought to us in person, as we need to receive them from your university directly.

What happens after we have received your documents? 
Once we have received your certified documents, we aim to verify them within 3 weeks. Upon successful verification, you will promptly receive an email confirming your unconditional admission.  
 

You will need to pay the tuition fee to finalise your enrolment for a degree programme at the UvA. Find out more about how to pay the tuition fees. 

In order for you to participate in the courses of the (pre-)Master’s or Research Master's in Communication Science, you will have to register for your courses. The course registration periods are in June. You will not be able to start the programme without course registration. More information on the course registration will be sent to you in May.

A student ID card is a personal card which serves as proof of identity for examinations or borrowing library books. You will receive instructions on how to request your student ID card.

To help you get started, the Graduate School of Communication organises a mandatory introduction day for all new Research Master’s students. If you start the Research Master's in September 2025 your introduction day will be on Thursday 28 August 2025, so be sure to save this date and arrive in Amsterdam well on time. The invitation and programme will be sent in mid-August.