Focus on excellence

The Dutch research universities strive to provide excellent education at all levels. They also seek to foster excellence in students' performances by creating an ambitious and performance-oriented learning culture and providing special incentives to talented students.

Excellence in the Bachelor

Honours programmes
The Dutch research universities offer honours programmes for particularly talented and enthusiastic students. Honours programmes take different forms, but they generally consist of extra-curricular courses in the students' own disciplines, sometimes supplemented with interdisciplinary courses.

University colleges
Over the last few years, many Dutch research universities have opened university colleges. University colleges offer broad Bachelor programmes and are highly selective and internationally orientated. The language of instruction at university colleges is English.

Excellence in the Master

Top Master and research Master
The Dutch research universities have introduced new forms of Master's programmes for talented students, intended to provide special incentives and to ease the transition from the Master phase to the doctorate. Top Master's and research Master's programmes usually last two years.