Application and admission

Application procedure for international students (EU/EEA and Non-EU/EEA students)

Application procedure for Dutch students and international students with a Dutch Bachelor (University of Groningen or another Dutch University)

Admission board
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General requirements

Admission to the Top Master Nanoscience is highly selective. The general requirements include:

A Bachelor's degree in either Physics, Chemistry, Materials Science (or equivalent from a related field, to be assessed by the Admissions Board)
Excellent documented proficiency in English (documented by the results of an official language test). An excellent command of the English language is required to participate in the Top Master Nanoscience [native English speakers, Dutch students with VWO-diploma and current UG Bachelor students are exempt].
Appropriate attitude, motivation, ambition, and talent.
Affinity with a multidisciplinary and international programme.
Recommendations by qualified referees (as teachers or professors from you Bachelor programme).

The University of Groningen applies a €100 application fee to non-local applicants. You can apply to multiple programmes for one application fee payment. To apply through an international passport is required at the time of submission.

Application procedure for international students (EU/EEA and Non-EU/EEA students)

Application procedure (for international students (EU/EEA and Non-EU/EEA students))

Note: International students (EU/EEA and Non-EU/EES-students) who are currently participating in a Bachelor (Applied) Physics or Chemistry (Chemical Engineering) or University College (with emphasis on natural sciences) at the University of Groningen or at another Dutch University please follow the application procedure for students with a Dutch bachelor degree, see below.

To apply online for the Top Master's degree programme in Nanoscience offered by the Faculty of Science and Engineering, please first visit the general information page about the Master Nanoscience and read the Admissions Guide and read the instructions on the different application steps carefully. Note the university require applicants to pay a €100 admissions fee for processing your application.

A summary:

Enroll in Studielink for the Master Nanoscience
- Note: Studielink will open from October 1st for applications for next academic year.
Access your Online Application System (OAS) account using the log in details that were automatically sent to you by email (make sure you check your spam box)
Follow all the steps within OAS and submit your application
Please note that your application is only complete after you have submitted it in both Studielink as well as the Online Application System (OAS).

As soon as the Admissions Office has received a complete application before the application deadline, they will check your application and inform you about the further admissions procedure.

Required documents (for international students (EU/EEA and Non-EU/EEA students))

For an overview of the required application documents, please check: Application documents - Faculty of Science and Engineering

Additional information regarding the required documents for the Nanoscience application:

A document indicating the name of your qualification in the original language (for example Laurea, Ptychio, Sarjana, Bachelor, Licenciado, 学士 etc)
Academic transcript/grade list and if applicable a list of courses yet to be completed
A Curriculum Vitae of 1-3 pages.
A letter of motivation by you of 1-2 pages.
Two (or maximal three) letters of recommendation (about 1 page each) from persons that can support your application (such as university teachers, supervisors of individual research projects). NOTE: In the event that your referee wishes to send their reference letter to us directly, they can do so using the referee option in our contact form. In this case you can upload a blank document in this section or a document stating that the reference letter(s) will be sent by the referee themselves. For Nanoscience this is also obligatory for EU-students!'
Writing sample: provide a report personally written by you that reflects the ability to produce a well-structured and concise report. The assignment handed in is free of choice and can be a report on a practicum, experiment, a literature review, a bachelor's thesis, etc. (optional document)
Relevant course descriptions: a brief description of the courses you have taken during your previous education (optional document)
Your proof of proficiency in English (see below, Language requirements). You are strongly encourraged to include the test results as a part of your application documents. Students must be able to provide the proof of English proficiency at the time of their potential interview.
A copy of your passport.
All documents should be available in English.

Language requirements (for international students (EU/EEA and Non-EU/EEA students))

For information on the language requirements for the Top Master Nanoscience, please check: Language requirements

Note: Excellent documented proficiency in English (documented by the results of an official language test) is required to participate in the Top Master Nanoscience [native English speakers, Dutch students with VWO-diploma and current UG Bachelor students are exempt].

Application deadlines (for international students (EU/EEA and Non-EU/EEA students))
The official deadline for applications is 1 February [for students from outside the EU, who need a visa to come to The Netherlands] or 1 May [for students who do not need a visa and will obtain a Bachelor degree from education in the EU]. Furthemore an early-bird deadline is available (see below). The programme selects a diverse group of students each year. In very special cases late applications are considered (contact the programme coordinator (nano.sse rug.nl)).

Early bird application: Applications before 15 November will be processed with priority. Promising candidates are invited for a selection interview in February.

After your application (for international students (EU/EEA and Non-EU/EEA students)) : Selection procedure

Background:

The Top Master Nanoscience is a selective master programme. The Master values high-quality and small-scale education with plenty of room for personal attention and development of our students. Therefore a selection procedure is part of the admissions process, which is carried out as follows.

Step 1, check on completeness of application documents:

Upon registration, a first check on the completeness of the application documents will be performed by the central admissions office of the university, after which the documentation will be sent to the admissions board of the Top Master Nanoscience. Students that do not meet the admission requirements will be directly informed and rejected by the central admissions office.

Step 2, evaluation of application documents by admissions board of Top Master Nanoscience:

The admissions board of the Top Master Nanoscience will evaluate the documents of all applicants.

The following criteria are taken into account:

- Suitable Bachelor degree

- Grades/GPA during previous studies

- References

- CV and motivation

- Bachelor thesis, reports, articles (if available)

The admissions board will rank the students by giving grades (1-10) on all criteria. The highest ranked students will be invited for an interview. In a typical year about half of the applicants are judged to sufficiently meet the above criteria and will be invited for an interview.

Applicants who are not selected for an interview will be informed by the admissions board, including an explanation of the reason for rejection based on the selection criteria.

The candidates will be informed whether they are invited for an interview within four weeks after the application deadline (15 December, 1 March or 1 June).

The interviews take place in February for the early bird applications (application deadline 15 November), in April for the 1 February deadline (depending on visa requirements) and at the end of May/early June for the 1 May deadline.

Step 3, interview with admissions board of Top Master Nanoscience:

The interview will usually take place at the Zernike campus of the University of Groningen.

The interview will last approximately one hour, and consists of several parts:

1) A scientific presentation of at most ten minutes, preferably on a research project that the candidate contributed to (for example a Bachelor project) or alternatively, on a topic of choice within the field of Nanoscience.

2) Assessment of knowledge of relevant topics in Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics.

3) General discussion on motivation and aptitude for the programme.

After the interview the candidate will be judged on the following criteria:

- Level of scientific discussion in oral presentation

- Basic ready knowledge relevant to topics in Nanoscience

- Level of creative independent thinking

- Motivation for the Nanoscience programme

- Motivation for scientific study and research in general

- Fit with learning community of small cohort of Nanoscience students

The admissions board will rank the students by giving grades (1-10) on all criteria. The highest ranked students will be admitted to the top master Nanoscience. From experience over many years, about half of the invited applicants will be offered a place in the programme.

Applicants who are not admitted will be informed by the admissions board, including an explanation for the reason for rejection based on the selection criteria.

Within approximately four weeks after the interview, the candidates will be informed about the final decision on their application for admission to the Nanoscience Top Master.

Note: In addition to the interview the candidates will also be invited for an online chat session for online interviews or a lunch and lab tour with current students and some representatives of the Top Master Nanoscience programme for onsite interviews. In this way the candidates are able to informally look at where they plan to study and they also have the chance to ask questions about the study and student life in Groningen.

Application procedure for Dutch students and international students with a Dutch Bachelor (University of Groningen or another Dutch university)

General information (for Dutch students and international students with a Dutch Bachelor (University of Groningen or another Dutch university)

Students in this category are invited to first contact the deputy programme director of the Master Nanoscience (or eventually the programme coordinator through nano.sse rug.nl) in person or by e-mail. We are happy to inform you about the content of the master and the application process.
Go to Information Admissions FSE, read the information, choose the right option (two or three) and fill in the webform and submit the required documents.

Additional information regarding the required documents for the Nanoscience application:

Reference letters: Two (or maximal three) letters of recommendation (about 1 page each) from persons that can support your application (such as university teachers, supervisors of individual research projects). NOTE: If a referent likes to keep the letter confidential, the letter can be e-mailed to admissionsupport.fse rug.nl directly by your referent. Please mention in the document you have to submit that the referent will send the letter by email.

Application deadlines (for Dutch students and international students who are completing a Dutch Bachelor (University of Groningen or another Dutch University))

The deadline is 1 May.

After your application (for Dutch students and international students who are completing a Dutch Bachelor (University of Groningen or another Dutch University)) : Selection procedure

Background:

The Top Master Nanoscience is a selective master programme. The Master values high-quality and small-scale education with plenty of room for personal attention and development of our students. Therefore a selection procedure is part of the admissions process, which is carried out as follows.

Step 1, check on completeness of application documents:

Upon registration, a first check on the completeness of the application documents will be performed by the FSE admissions office of the university, after which the documentation will be sent to the admissions board of the Top Master Nanoscience.