Master's degree in the Netherlands

Master's degree in the Netherlands is the first stage of postgraduate training. Programme of the Dutch judiciary is sufficiently flexible and diverse, they include long-term internships and study exchange. Training is conducted in Dutch or English, and the number of English-language programs is growing every year. Thanks to the growing popularity of the Netherlands as educational direction: 2016-17 every tenth student came into the country from abroad.

The universities are divided into several large groups. Interest to foreign graduate students are two of them — research universities and universities of applied Sciences. Master's programme in universities these types differ in objectives, content and duration.

Training in the Netherlands is paid, but the cost is much lower than in the UK, USA or Canada. At the graduate level students are offered a larger selection of scholarships, higher than the first, particularly research universities. In addition, universities encourage applied work in the profession while studying, so it allows you to immediately apply the received knowledge in practice.

Research master in the Netherlands

Research universities combine academic activities and basic research that allows them to participate in international rankings, annually occupying a high position. The aim of the programmes offered by universities of this type is to train future scientists and specialists in all subject areas, with deep theoretical knowledge and solid understanding of science.

Research graduate programs last 1-3 years, depending on the chosen subject area and received a bachelor degree of education. The longest research program and the highest training load in the spheres of engineering, agriculture, mathematics, natural Sciences, medicine, dentistry, veterinary, pharmacy.

Students do not have to get a second degree in the specialty they acquired in the bachelor — you can select adjacent, pretty close to the first formation region, and it is possible to change specialty, but in this case, the study may take longer.

Applied master in the Netherlands

The universities of applied Sciences focused on career goal of their programs is to train specialists-practitioners. Applied universities do not conduct basic research and do not participate in international rankings, which may be less known to foreign students. The main advantage of their programs — a mandatory long-term internships that allow students to obtain professional experience during their studies.

The duration of application programs depend on the subject area and previous education and one to two years, but some programs, for example, in architectural field, can last up to 4 years. Often in the curriculum of applied programs include additional foreign language, as the Dutch are highly regarded specialists speaking several languages, who understand the cultural characteristics of different countries, able to efficiently work in a team and have good communication skills. Of course, the study of the Dutch language is also encouraged, and despite the fact that almost all the population speaks English, employers likely will prefer the candidate who knows the Dutch language.

Teaching methods in the Dutch master

In the higher education system of the Netherlands adopted a problem-oriented approach to learning, which is very different from Russian, and at the initial stage may present some difficulties for students from Russia and the CIS.
To learn more about the features of training in Holland compared to Russia in here.

Extent of Dutch graduate

Research programs lead to the degrees MA (Master of Arts) in Humanities or social fields, MSc (Master of Science) in engineering and technical fields.

The application program also lead to the degrees MA or MSc, but also in the Netherlands, widespread master's degree with indication of the subject area – for example, M. Aarch.