Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam is a public research university in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It was founded in 1880 by Reformed Protestants led by Abraham Kuyper as a university free from both the state and the established church; it is now publicly funded. Its campus lies in the Buitenveldert and Zuidas district in the south of the city.

Faculties include Science, Medicine (the VU site of Amsterdam UMC), Behavioural and Movement Sciences, Humanities, Law, Religion and Theology, Social Sciences, and the School of Business and Economics. The Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam is shared with the University of Amsterdam. Neuroscience, business and economics, and theology are long-standing graduate fields.

About 30,000 students enroll, with a large master's population and a growing international share in English-taught programs, from many countries. The academic staff numbers several thousand. Alumni include former Dutch prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende.

Graduate awards are one- and two-year master's degrees, research master's degrees, and PhD training through faculty graduate schools. PhD candidates are usually university employees on four-year contracts. The year begins in September. The Zuidas campus sits beside Amsterdam's southern business district; housing is scarce, so many graduate students live in the south of the city or commute.

In the Grad School Navigator directory, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam lists 7 graduate programs across 5 subjects: 6 master's programs and 1 doctoral program, with the widest choice in psychology, artificial intelligence and earth & environmental sciences. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam holds rank 162 in the GSN Overall University Ranking.