Admission and application
Admission period
Dutch degree
- Start date
- End date
International degree, EEA student
- Start date
- End date
International degree, non-EEA student
- Start date
- End date
Non-EU/EEA applicants with scholarship
Non-EU/EEA applicants* who wish to be considered for a scholarship must submit a complete application before 1 March.
*EU/EEA countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands (including the Dutch Caribbean), Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland.
Admission and Placement
This Master’s programme has separate admission and placement procedures. After the Admissions Board has determined you may be admitted based on the level and content of your previous education, your application will be automatically entered into the placement procedure.
In the placement procedure for the Research Master’s in Historical, Literary and Cultural Sciences, the Admissions Board will consider your grades, your motivation letter, your recommendation letters, your cv and your thesis. You will be invited to an (online) meeting with the board members to discuss your motivation for this Master’s programme.
These meetings take place as follows:
- For international students applying for a scholarship: March
- For non-EU/EEA students (due to visa processes): March, May
- For EU/EEA students needing housing assistance: March, May
- For EU/EEA students not needing housing assistance: March, May, June
- For Dutch students: March, May, June
If the Board feels your application and interview sufficiently show your motivation and affinity for multidisciplinary academic research in the field of Historical, Literary and Cultural Sciences, you will be offered a place in this Master’s.
Admission requirements
Before you read the admission requirements, please note the following:
- Admission to the Master's specialisation also partly depends on an individual interview to be conducted with the candidate.
- The Admission Board has the authority to impose additional admission requirements.
- In principle, it is possible to gain admission to the Research Master's with qualifications other than those outlined on this page, subject to the discretion of the Admission Board. So, if you have Bachelor's degree that is comparable in content and methodology, as well as meeting all of the other requirements, you may submit a well-motivated request for admission.
Bachelor's degree
In order to get admission to this Master’s you’ll need a completed Bachelor's degree in History or a related area. Your degree needs to be obtained at a research university.
In addition you must fulfill the following requirements:
- Good grades
Your average grade during the second and third years of your BA studies has to have been at least a 7.5 and your Bachelor’s thesis had to have received a grade of at least 8.0. - Affinity with research
Your Bachelor's thesis or a dedicated research proposal will need to demonstrate that you are sufficiently talented for scientific research. - Strong motivation
You have to be able to demonstrate your motivation for and affinity with international and interdisciplinary academic research. A selection committee will evaluate the motivation of each applicant separately. - Proficiency in English
In order to take part in this specialisation, you’ll need to be fluent in written and spoken English.
Before you read the admission requirements, please note the following:
- Admission to the Master's specialisation also partly depends on an individual interview to be conducted with the candidate.
- The Admission Board has the authority to impose additional admission requirements.
- In principle, it is possible to gain admission to the Research Master's with qualifications other than those outlined on this page, subject to the discretion of the Admission Board. So, if you have a Bachelor's degree that is comparable in content and methodology, as well as meeting all of the other requirements, you may submit a well-motivated request for admission.
Bachelor's degree
Your admission into this programme depends on your previous education. You are admissible if you have acompleted Bachelor's degree from a research university in History or related area. The Admission Office will determine if an international student has the required knowledge to be admitted.
In order to take part in this programme, you need to have fluency in both written and spoken English. Applicants without a Dutch Bachelor's degree or VWO diploma need one of the following:
- TOEFL iBT score of ≥100, subscores ≥22;
- IELTS Academic (note: not IELTS Online) score of ≥7.0, subscores ≥6.5;
- Cambridge Certificate of Advanced English (CAE) or Proficiency in English (CPE), or Cambridge C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency with a mark of at least C
- Bachelor’s degree from a Research University in Australia, Canada (excluding Quebec), Ireland, New-Zealand, United Kingdom or the United States of America, where the language of instruction was English
In addition you must fulfill the following requirements:
- Good grades
Your average grade during the final two years of your BA studies has to have been at least a 7.5 and your Bachelor’s thesis had to have received a grade of at least 8.0 (Grades in the Netherlands are out of 10. For more informatio see Conversion of international grades). - Affinity with research
Your Bachelor's thesis or a dedicated research proposal will need to demonstrate that you are sufficiently talented for scientific research. - Strong motivation
You have to be able to demonstrate your motivation for and affinity with international and interdisciplinary academic research. A selection committee will evaluate the motivation of each applicant separately.
Please send a detailed email to the admissions [at] ru.nl (Admissions Office)title="Admissions Office", stating clearly which diplomas you have achieved and in which country you have achieved them. We will then advise you which procedure to follow in your specific situation.
Application procedure
To apply for a programme, you need to submit a request for enrolment in Studielink before the application deadline. Before you apply, please check the admission requirements and then follow the steps below.
Steps
Step 1: Submit your enrolment request via Studielink
Apply for your chosen Master’s programme via Studielink. You can apply for a programme for the following academic year from 1 October onwards.
Step 2: Complete the digital questionnaire
If your previous education needs to be assessed, you will receive the login details for the digital questionnaire at the email address that you provided in Studielink. You will need to log in to the questionnaire, and once you have completed it you will need to upload the requested documents.
Does the programme of your choice start in September? Then please make sure that you submit your completed questionnaire and the required documents by 1 May at the latest. If your programme starts in February, then submit your completed questionnaire and the required documents by 1 November at the latest. If you complete the questionnaire after the deadline, there is no guarantee that we will be able to process your application for admission in time.
Step 3: Keep an eye on your mailbox
Your completed questionnaire will be processed. Within approximately 3 weeks after you have submitted the digital questionnaire, you will be notified by email whether you have been admitted to the placement procedure. You will receive all emails at the email address you entered in Studielink. There are three possible outcomes:
- You are admitted to the placement procedure.
- You are admitted to the placement procedure under certain conditions. There are conditions that you must first meet in order to be admitted.
- You will not be admitted to the placement procedure. Your application in Studielink will be withdrawn.
Step 4: Participate in the placement procedure
Have you been admitted to the placement procedure? Then you will receive an email from the Master's programme about what this placement procedure looks like and what actions are expected of you. Based on the placement procedure, it will be assessed whether you will be selected for the Master’s. There are two possible outcomes:
- You are offered a place in the Master’s.
- You are not offered a place in the Master’s. Your application in Studielink will be withdrawn and unfortunately you cannot enrol for this programme.
Have you been offered a place in the Master's?
Congratulations! Then go to the enrolment procedure and follow the steps to enrol.
In order to apply you must first make sure you meet the admission requirements of the Master's programme you would like to apply for. The application procedure then consists of three steps: creating an enrolment application in Studielink, uploading documents in OSIRIS, then the placement procedure.
Steps
Step 1: Create an enrolment application in Studielink
To apply for a Master’s programme, you have to create an account and an enrolment application in Studielink (the national online registration system for Dutch universities). First you will be asked to fill in your previous education, then select the programme you wish to apply for in the list that appears. In order to submit an enrolment request in Studielink, you will need the following:
- Your own DigiD account. If you do not (yet) live in the Netherlands, you cannot use DigiD and you will need to log in with a Studielink username and password. Do you live in the Netherlands but do not have a DigiD account? Make sure that you apply for an account well before the application deadline. It usually takes 5 working days for a DigiD account to be activated.
- Contact information, such as your phone number and email address.
Step 2: Upload documents in OSIRIS Application
After you have created an enrolment application in Studielink, you will receive an email with personal login details for OSIRIS Application. You have a maximum of 56 days or until the application deadline to upload your documents and submit a complete application. After this period, if you have not submitted your application, it will be automatically cancelled.
You will be asked to upload the following documents:
- Bachelor’s diploma or equivalent
In OSIRIS Application, list the full, official name of the diploma that you have or will receive. Use the language and name in which the diploma is issued. If you have graduated, we require you to upload your diploma.
- An official transcript of your Bachelor's degree or equivalent
If you have not obtained your degree, upload the list of grades received so far. If you have obtained your degree, upload your full and complete transcript of grades. Also, upload the description of the grading scale on the overleaf page of your transcript (if applicable).
If you have already graduated from your previous education and are currently still studying please upload transcripts and diplomas from all degrees (post-secondary school).
- Sworn translations of diploma and transcript
Translations need to be made by an officially recognised translator. Official translations are not required if your diploma and transcript are originally in Dutch, English or German. If your school provides English versions of your documents, upload those along with versions of the documents in the original language.
- Course description for unfinished courses
If you have not yet completed your degree, upload a list of the courses that you are currently taking or still need to take, including the course content, the number of hours and the literature used per course, see example below in downloads. Be sure to include information about research courses, practical work and a thesis/internship (if applicable).
- Course description for finished courses
Upload a list of all the courses you have taken during your degree, including the course content, the number of hours and the literature used per course, see example below in downloads. Be sure to include information about research courses, practical work and a thesis/internship (if applicable).
- Personal statement/motivation letter (depending on programme)
Your personal statement should contain, at least, a brief description of why you have chosen this specific Master's programme and how it fits your previous education.
For the motivation letter please describe your future plans and what you would like to learn and research at Radboud University. What are the topics of the research you would like to do? Please be specific about your ambitions and explain how your previous education prepared you for this specific Master's programme. This will allow us to find out if your previous education is appropriate. Last but not least, include your interest in studying at Radboud University (specific disciplines, facilities or other considerations).
- Reference letter(s)
Reference letters are required if you are applying for a scholarship and/or a Selective Masters programme and you will be asked to upload them to your OSIRIS Application. Please note, these must be signed and stamped or signed and on official letterhead.
- Overview of education/experience
Please upload an overview that contains, in chronological order, information about your education and knowledge/experience acquired during an internship, training, or work; for example, a resume.
- English language certificate
You are permitted to apply without a language certificate. However, if you are admitted to the programme and a language certificate is listed as a requirement in your admission email, you will be required to provide proof of proficiency before the enrolment deadline. If you can prove English proficiency through your previous education, a certificate is not required. Visit the Language Requirements website for full details.
- Handling fee
Non-EU/EEA applicants must pay a handling fee before their application can be processed. Visit the Handling Fee page for full details and how to pay.
- Nuffic Certificate (Chinese students only)
Chinese students are required to apply for a Nuffic Certificate regardless of the level and location of their previous education. The certificate is not required for the application, but if you are admitted to the programme, you will need this certificate by 1 June for the visa procedure. Find more information about it on the Study in Holland and Neso China websites.
Step 3: Participate in the placement procedure
After you have completed your application in OSIRIS Application, the Admission Board will assess your application. Keep in mind that next to eligibility you must also participate in a placement procedure.
Have you been admitted to the placement procedure? Then you will receive an email from the Master's programme about what this placement procedure looks like and what actions are expected of you. Based on the placement procedure, it will be assessed whether you will be selected for the Master’s. There are two possible outcomes:
- You are offered a place in the Master’s.
- You are not offered a place in the Master’s. Your application in Studielink will be withdrawn and unfortunately you cannot enrol for this programme.
You will receive the outcome via the email address you entered in Studielink.
Have you been offered a place in the Master's?
Congratulations! Then go to the enrolment procedure and follow the steps to enrol.