Free university Amsterdam

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2008
2007
2006

155=	154	Arts & Humanities	235	Natural Sciences
155=	218	Engineering & IT	124	Social Sciences
World Rankings	120	Life Sciences & Biomedicine

304=	126	Arts & Humanities	227	Natural Sciences
304=	209	Engineering & IT	128	Social Sciences
World Rankings	116	Life Sciences & Biomedicine

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World Rankings

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Abraham Kuyper, Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1901 to 1905, founded Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in 1880. At first the university was only open to Reformed Christians and was entirely financed by their fund-raising efforts and donations. Since the 1960s, however, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam has been open to everyone and funded in the same way as the other Dutch universities, although it still retains its tradition of Christian standards and values. This finds expression in the emphasis placed upon social involvement in the universitys teaching and research programmes.

Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, has been a renowned cultural, scientific and commercial centre for many centuries. It was here, in 1880, that Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam first opened its doors to students. 'Vrije Universiteit' means 'Free University'. Here, 'free' refers to freedom of state and church interference. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam was established in 1880 by orthodox protestants. Nowadays it aims to be inspiring, innovative and involved.

Throughout the past century, the university has continued to expand. It now comprises twelve faculties and has teaching facilities for 18,000 students.
The university campus and university hospital are situated in the south-western part of Amsterdam, one of the most dynamic and fast-growing business districts in the Netherlands. The international airport of Schiphol-Amsterdam is 10 kilometres away, just 8 minutes by train. With more than fifty undergraduate (or bachelors) programmes and almost a hundred postgraduate (or masters) programmes, the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam offers a wide choice of study options. The programmes are of a high quality, the atmosphere is very conducive to study, and the teaching staff is easily accessible.
The Netherlands does not have a ranking system for universities, unlike many other countries. However, a range of studies have shown Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam to be one of the best universities in the country.

At VU Amsterdam, education and research are closely intertwined. High-quality teaching and cutting edge research have given the university a great deal of recognition, enabling it to attract prominent lecturers from within the Netherlands and abroad.

Since making his space flight, astronaut André Kuipers has taken up a position as Professor of Space Travel and Medicine and lectures on the physics of life. Researchers at VU Amsterdam such as biopsychologist Dorret Boomsma, cancer expert Bob Pinedo and economist Peter Nijkamp have obtained prestigious prizes and subsidy incentives for their groundbreaking work. The world famous clap skate, developed by VU Amsterdams human movement scientists, has turned the world of speed skating upside down. And of course we should not forget the appointments of Andrew Tanenbaum (Computer Science) and Gün Semin (Social Psychology) as Academy Professors, an honour that shows these researchers to be among the very best that the Netherlands has to offer.

Faculty

Number of Faculty Staff	Headcount: 3,252 FTE: 2,393
Total number of academic faculty staff who are responsible for planning, directing and undertaking teaching only, research only or both teaching and research. Please include: vice-chancellors, deputy vice-chancellors, principals, professors, heads of school, associate professors, principal lecturers, tutors or postdoctoral researchers. Please exclude research assistants, PhD students who contribute to teaching, and exchange scholars or visiting faculty staff who are members of another university. The important distinction for us is that staff counted as 'research only' should be academically involved in that research and should be likely to publish research outputs. A research assistant, in our understanding, is any individual who is not doing own research and is therefore not likely to publish own research outputs. Said individual is (only) involved in research in terms of operation execution , such as lab technician or equipment operator.
Number of International Faculty Staff	Headcount: 310 FTE: 257
Number of academic faculty staff who are of foreign nationality. The term 'international' is hereby determined by citizenship. For EU countries, this includes all foreign nationals, even if from another EU state. In Hong Kong, this includes professors from Mainland China. Inclusion and exclusion mirrors those for academic faculty staff. In case of dual citizenship, the 'deciding' criteria should be 'citizenship obtained through birth', basically first passport obtained.

Undergraduate Information

Number of Undergraduate Students	Headcount: 14,039 FTE: 13,850
Number of students pursuing a Bachelors level or equivalent degree. This excludes certificates/diplomas and associates degrees.
Number of International Undergraduate Students	Headcount: 363 FTE: 363
Number of undergraduate students who are foreign nationals. The term 'international' is hereby determined by citizenship. For EU countries, this includes all foreign nationals, even nationals of other EU states. In Hong Kong, this includes students from Mainland China. In case of dual citizenship, the 'deciding' criteria should be 'citizenship obtained through birth', basically first passport obtained. Please exclude all exchange students. As for language students, if the language students take up a particular language course that is outlined as 'undergraduate degree program' they should be included under 'international undergraduate students' . Language students who take part in a course not contributing to a degree qualification should be counted under 'Total International Students'.
Number of Inbound Exchange Undergraduate Students	Headcount: 277 FTE: 277
Number of undergraduate students attending your university on international exchange programs for at least 1 semester in the last 12 months.
Number of Outbound Exchange Undergraduate Students	Headcount: 481 FTE: 481
Number of undergraduate students registered at your institution who have attended another institution abroad for at least 1 semester on an exchange program in the last 12 months.
Average International Undergraduate Fees	€ EUR 7,000
Average tuition fees per academic year (two semesters) that an international student would be expected to pay for an undergraduate program, with program referring to the complete range of courses contributing to a degree. FAQ: How do I calculate average fees?
Average Domestic Undergraduate Fees	€ EUR 1,565
Average tuition fees per academic year (two semesters) that a domestic student would be expected to pay for an undergraduate program, with program referring to the complete range of courses contributing to a degree. FAQ: How do I calculate average fees?

Graduate / Postgraduate Information

Number of Graduate / Postgraduate Students	Headcount: 8,133
Students pursuing a higher-level degree (Master and Doctorate), including both taught and research postgraduates (e.g. PhD students)
Number of International Graduate/Postgraduate Students	Headcount: 864 FTE: 864
Number of graduate / postgraduate students who are foreign nationals. The term 'international' is hereby determined by citizenship. For EU countries, this includes all foreign nationals, even nationals of other EU states. In Hong Kong, this includes students from Mainland China. In case of dual citizenship, the 'deciding' criteria should be 'citizenship obtained through birth', basically first passport obtained. Please exclude all exchange students. As for language students, if they take up a particular language course that is outlined as 'postgraduate degree program', they should be included under 'international postgraduate students'. Language students who take part in a course not contributing to a degree qualification should be counted under 'Total International Students'.
Average International Graduate / Postgraduate Fees	€ EUR 9,000
Average tuition fees per academic year (two semesters) that an international student would be expected to pay for a graduate / postgraduate program, with program referring to the complete range of courses contributing to a degree. FAQ: How do I calculate average fees?
Average Domestic Graduate / Postgraduate Fees	€ EUR 1,565
Average tuition fees per academic year (two semesters) that a domestic student would be expected to pay for a graduate / postgraduate program, with program referring to the complete range of courses contributing to a degree. FAQ: How do I calculate average fees?

Students

Total Students	Headcount: 22,111 FTE: 20,429
Total number of students.
Total International Students	Headcount: 1,262 FTE: 1,262
Number of students who are foreign nationals. The term 'international' is hereby determined by citizenship. For EU countries, this includes all foreign nationals, even nationals of other EU states. In Hong Kong, this includes students from Mainland China. In case of dual citizenship, the 'deciding' criteria should be 'citizenship obtained through birth', basically first passport obtained.
Total Outbound Exchange Students	Headcount: 212 FTE: 212
Total number of students registered at your institution who have attended another institution on an exchange program for at least 1 semester in the last 12 months.
Total Inbound Exchange Students	Headcount: 545 FTE: 545
Total number of students attending your university on international exchange programs for at least 1 semester in the last 12 months.
Average International Student Fees	€ EUR 9,000
Average tuition fees per year that an international student would be expected to pay for any course
Average Domestic Student Fees	€ EUR 1,565
Average tuition fees per academic year (two semesters) that a domestic student would be expected to pay for any program, with program referring to the complete range of courses contributing to a degree. FAQ: How do I calculate average fees?
Number of Male Students	Headcount: 9,371 FTE: 8,592
Number of students who are male out of the total number of students studying at your university
Number of Female Students	Headcount: 11,613 FTE: 10,747
Number of students who are female out of the total number of students studying at your university

Graduate Output

Proportion of Graduates Pursuing Further Study	85%
Proportion of graduates from undergraduate programs pursuing further study at your own institution or any other within 6 months after graduation.
Proportion of Graduates Employed	90%
Proportion of graduates (excluding those opting to pursue further study) in permanent employment within 6 months of graduation
Number of PhDs Awarded	264
Total number of PhDs awarded in the last 12 months

Internationalisation

Number of University Collaborations or Partnership Agreements	317
Number of universities your institution has collaborations or partnership agreements with. These partnership agreements may include student and teaching exchanges, as well as collaborative research projects, exchange of academic materials and other information, and jointly offered executive development programmes. This includes collaborations at either a university or faculty level. Please also state the names of these institutions in the Submission Notes box.