You are eligible to apply for admission if you hold an academic Bachelor's degree from an accredited research university in:

• German Language and Culture
• English Language and Culture
• European Studies
• French Language and Culture
• Italian Language and Culture
• Liberal Arts and Sciences
• Literary and Cultural Analysis
• Dutch Language and Culture
• Scandinavian Language s and Cultures
• Slavonic Languages and Cultures
• Spanish Language and Culture
• the Humanities, with at least 30 ECTS in courses on literature, and literary and cultural theory 

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) or international equivalent. 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.

This is a selective Master's programme, which means that apart from having to meet the entry requirements, you also need to meet the selection crtieria. Because of the limited number of places available, prospective students are subject to a selection process, where we will compare your file to that of other applicants. The selection criteria are as follows.

Grade average

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 average you can still 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.

Motivation Statement

You must submit a completed motivation form as part of your application. In your statement, be sure to explain:

• Why you want to pursue this particular master's programme, and which elements of the programme are of particular interest to you.
• How this programme fits with your career goals and future ambitions.
• How your previous education (and possible work experience) relates to the programme's focus areas and objectives.

Make sure your motivation aligns with the structure and objectives of the programme.

Sample of written work

You are asked to upload a sample of recent written work to MyInfo. This sample of written work should be 1500+ words, written in English, and should demonstrate:

1. the ability to close read and interpret literary works;
2. the ability to analyse literary works through the use of literary theory and secondary materials;
3. the ability to write a well-structured and well-written research paper.

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.

You need to submit an enrolment request in Studielink for the Master's in Literary 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, you can access the MyInfo portal and submit your application. It can take up to 24 hours for your fee payment to be processed by SIS. Because of this, 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.

**You can pay your €100 application fee by credit card (Mastercard, Visacard), GooglePay, ApplePay, Bancontact or iDEAL.

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

As a programme-specific document you should upload a sample of recent written work to MyInfo. This sample of written work should be 1500+ words, written in English, and should demonstrate:

1. the ability to close read and interpret literary works;
2. the ability to analyse literary works through the use of literary theory and secondary materials;
3. the ability to write a well-structured and well-written research paper.

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.