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

• Philosophy
• another discipline, including at least 60 ECTS of courses (the equivalent of approximately one year of full-time academic studies)  in the field of Philosophy that meet the following requirements:
  1. the units of study cover at least two philosophical subdisciplines; 
  2. more than 12 EC in units of study have been taken on an advanced level in Philosophy;
  3. at least one of the units of study has been finalized with a philosophical academic essay of at least ca. 3500 words. 

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. 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 high grades for the courses related to this Master’s programme, and/or courses taken in the advanced phase (2nd, 3rd or - if applicable - 4th year) of your Bachelor’s programme. Please include an explanation in your motivation form as to why you do not meet the GPA requirement.

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. You can download the motivation form in the step 'Submit your application form in SIS'.

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 Philosophy (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 SIS (see next step).

After registering in Studielink, you will automatically receive an email with a link to your SIS UvA application form. To log in to SIS you need to have activated your UvAnetID. Please fill out the application form, upload the required documents and submit your SIS application before the application deadline.

Application documents

Make sure you are well prepared before you start your application, and you have all necessary documents ready.

The following documents are required for all Master's programmes at the Graduate School of Humanities:

• 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);
• relevant course descriptions.

*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.

Additional documents

In addition to the application documents that must be submitted for all Humanities Master’s programmes, applicants are expected to submit:

• motivation form (PDF)
  Ensure that you download, open and save the motivation form in Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader.

• sample of written work (for requirements see step 3: selection criteria)

If you cannot be admitted on the basis of a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy or having followed the extended minor in Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam, you will need to demonstrate that you have completed 60 ECTS or equivalent in philosophy courses that jointly meet the requirements as stipulated in step 1: check entry requirements. You can demonstrate this by uploading the following:

• Official and detailed course descriptions of the relevant Philosophy courses, amounting to at least 60 ECTS. Be sure to include links to your University's Course Catalogue wherever possible. Combine these course descriptions in one document and upload it in the programme-specific document option in SIS. If a course has not been taught in a Philosophy department, specify which philosophical literature you have read for the course.
• Additionally, upload a sample of written work in the form of an academic philosophical paper in which mastery of academic skills such as source reference, correct representation of literature, and the ability to set up a philosophical argumentation is demonstrated. The piece must have a length of at least 3,500 words and philosophical sources must have been used.

You do not have to provide these documents if you obtained a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy or the UvA Bachelor's Bèta-gamma, or completed the 60 EC minor in Philosophy at the UvA.

This programme does not require any additional documents, such as a reference letter. Only the above-mentioned documents are taken into consideration by the Admissions Board.

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 the UvA can start to process your application.

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 2026-2027.

• If you are an exchange student.
• If your tuition fees for the 2026 - 2027 academic year are paid by the Foundation for Refugee Students (UAF). If so, your application fee will be refunded.

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

*The application fee is non-refundable. You are not entitled to a refund even if you do not submit your application form, or if you submit an application form after the deadline (which will not be taken into consideration) or if you submit an incomplete application.