Please read the information below carefully before starting the process to enrol for an optional course.

1.

First, you should enrol for an optional course via Studielink. To do so, find the study programme in Studielink to which your optional course belongs and select the programme option marked ‘(optional course / bijvak)'. Even if you have already enrolled for an optional course at the UvA in the past, you should still re-enrol via Studielink at the start of each new academic year (September), or at the start of the second semester (February). 

To find the study programme to which an optional course belongs, consult the UvA Course Catalogue. If you are not sure which one is the correct one, you can also contact the Service & Information Centre via  the link below.

2.

If you have not obtained a diploma in The Netherlands, your foreign diploma needs to be verified by one of the Student Counsellors at the UvA, to obtain a so-called ‘Beschikking’ (admissions statement for the optional course).

You  can start your application for a so-called ‘Beschikking’ via www.uva.nl/application. Please choose the correct procedure (EEA Students or Non-EEA Students) and follow the steps in chronological order. Please fill your personal details in online. After filling in your details online, please proceed to step 3.

NOTE: If you have obtained your diploma in a non-EEA country, please ignore the message about the application fee.

Contact the Service & Information Centre for questions regarding the application after you have filled in the application.

You can also contact one of our Student Counsellors during phone hours. You can find these through the link below. Please make sure you fill in the application first.

3.

Students enrolled for an optional course are not required to pay tuition fees, provided they pay the statutory tuition fee at their own institution. The UvA requires confirmation of this in the form of an Original Proof of Payment (Bewijs Betaald Collegegeld) from your institution. This receipt must clearly state that it has been issued for the purpose of registration at the UvA. 

If you have not paid the statutory tuition fee at your institution, different rules apply. Please see the Enrolment Provisions for the University of Amsterdam 2010-2011 attached below or contact the Service & Information Centre.

4.

Please hand in the following documents at the Service and Information Centre to finalise your enrolment:

-          Original Proof of Payment  (Bewijs Betaald Collegegeld)

-          A copy of a valid proof of identity (a driving licence is not valid)

-          A certified copy of an admissible previous educational qualification. This must be a certified true copy of the original diploma (stamped and signed as a true copy). This diploma must be in English, French, German, Spanish or in other cases an official transalation by a sworn translator.

Be sure to cite your UvA student ID number (which you will receive through email after submitting your enrolment request in Studielink) on all documents. If you have not received a student ID number within 5 days of your enrollment application in Studielink, you can also request one from the Service & Information Centre on +31(0)20 525 8080. 

Service and information Centre postal address:

Service and information Centre – University of Amsterdam
attn. Admissions office
Binnengasthuisstraat 9
1012 ZA Amsterdam
The Netherlands

5.

Once you have completed the above steps, you can enrol online for courses in your study programme via the Student Information System (see link below).

N.B. 1: If you wish to do an optional course in Psychology, you should enrol for courses via the email link below.

N.B. 2: It is not possible to enrol for an optional course in Medicine or Dentistry.

N.B. 3: If you wish to enrol for an optional course at the Graduate School for Humanities (GSH)), you should first contact the Graduate School office via the email link below.

N.B. 4: If you wish to enrol for an optional course at the Faculty of Science (FNWI), you should first contact the Science Park Service Desk via the email link below.

This applies to optional courses in the following Bachelor's programmes:
Earth Sciences, Biology, Biomedical Sciences, Psychobiology, Physics and Astronomy, Mathematics, Chemistry, Computer Science, Information Studies and Artificial Intelligence.

And the following Master's programmes:
Earth Sciences, Biological Sciences, Biomedical Sciences, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Chemistry, Mathematical, Physics, Mathematics, Physics, Stochastics and Financial Mathematics, Informations Studies, Software Engineering, System and Network Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, Grid Computing, Logic, Forensic Science, Life Sciences en Mathematics and Science Education.