Earth Sciences Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Overview

VU Amsterdam offers you a wide range of specialisations that will help you become a geoscientist who is aware of the complexity of the Earth’s inner and outer environment.

The international diversity of faculty members and students involved in Earth Sciences at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam make it a truly international Master’s programme. The Earth Sciences MSc programme offered at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam is a programme in which the past present and future of our planet is the subject of our study. 

VU Amsterdam is renowned for combining Earth Sciences specialisations with other subject areas. Earth Sciences is part of  the Faculty of Science, together with Mathematics and Informatics, Physics, Chemistry,  Biology, and Environmental Sciences. When studying Earth Sciences you can choose to become a broadly trained Earth scientist or focus on one of the streams offered within the two specialisations. 

The Earth Sciences Master’s programme is divided in two main specialisations: 

• Earth Surface Processes, Climate and Records
• Global Environmental Change and Policy

All these specialisations start with a series of compulsory courses that provide you with a solid basis. This basis is used to further specialise, but selecting one specialisation does not mean that you are restricted to just that one subject. You have the option of exploring every aspect of one specific area in great detail if you want to, but you are also free to choose your own subjects for up to a quarter of the required credits.  

Key facts

• After the doctoral or master degree programmes, there are opportunities to continue your educational career in a number of PhD programmes at the Vrije Universiteit, organised within a number of research schools:
• Inter University Centre for Geo-ecological Research (ICG);
• Netherlands Research School for the Socio-Economic and Natural Sciences of the Environment (SENSE);
• Research School Sedimentary Geology (NSG);

• Integrated Solid Earth Sciences (ISES). 
• Promotion alumni sessions Master’s day
• During the Master’s day, you can also meet our (international) alumni during several workshops. In these sessions they will tell you more about career opportunities after finishing your Master’s degree.