Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Master in Computer Science

About

The Computer Science Master's programme is a jointly-offered degree by the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU Amsterdam) and the University of Amsterdam (UvA). As technology has become more embedded in our daily lives, the programme offers seven specialisations that students can choose based on their interests.

Courses are taught in both universities and students can benefit from the expertise, networks, and research programmes of both institutions. Graduates will receive a joint degree certificate upon completing this two-year programme. 

Study programme

This programme covers the technical side of computer science including topics such as system software, computer networks, and programming environments as well as theoretical foundations covering the limits of what can be computed, computational efficiency, correctness and the intricacies of concurrent execution.

As mentioned above, students will have to select a specialisation track based on their interests. These are:

• Big Data Engineering
• Foundations of Computing and Concurrency
• Computer Systems and Infrastructure
• Software Engineering and Green IT
• International track: Global Software Engineering European Master
• International track: Software Engineers for Green Deal

Each track has five mandatory courses related to Computer Science in general as well as specific to each track as well as some track-specific courses and electives. The second half of the second year of the programme will be dedicated to a Master's project and thesis.

Requirements

Prospective students must hold a Bachelor's degree of at least three years of academic study in Computer Science or a closely related area. Prospective students are expected to have previously studied programming, algorithms, computer systems, computer networks, software engineering, and logic. Having studied databases, automata, graph theory, compilers, machine learning or artificial intelligence, mathematics such as linear algebra, discrete mathematics, statistics will help increase chances of admission. An English language proficiency proof will also need to be submitted. More details on the admission procedure are available based on each student's situation.