Course registration

General information

Utrecht University has official course registration periods. The academic year has two semesters, each consisting of two periods. To be able to attend classes you need to register during the official course registration period for the courses you would like to take in each period. General information about course registration, the time slot model and the academic calendar can be found here.

Graduate School of Natural Sciences

For most courses of the Graduate School of Natural Sciences you need to register online through Osiris-student. Your Solis-ID is your login code for this programme. If you are a starting student,  then the Student Desk will register you for the mandatory course(s) in your programme in the first or third period (depending on the period you start your program). In the same time, you will need to enrol yourself in a second course (primary elective) for that period during the introduction week.

Registration for some courses is done by sending a registration request to the course coordinator. This is clearly indicated in the course catalogue.

Online planning tool

The Courseplanner is an online programme with which you can browse through the course catalogue and plan your study efficiently. The Courseplanner generates a personal schedule which synchronizes with your Outlook agenda.

Late registration

Should you have missed the normal registration period, or if you wish to change courses, you may be able to register during the 'late enrolment days' just prior to the period (for dates check the late enrolment days). Some courses fill up quickly though so there is no guarantee that you can register: if the maximum amount of students was reached during the normal registration period, the course will remain closed during the 'late enrolment days'.

• Remember to check all activities included in the course.
• Check whether you meet the entry level requirements. If you do not meet the requirements the course coordinator will remove you from the list of participants.
• Make sure your courses do not show any overlap in the time slot model.
• Register on time. Some courses are popular and fill up quickly.
• If you wish to do electives at a different faculty, make timely enquiries about the registration periods and entry level requirements.
• You will receive information about your courses via your Solis-mail. Check your mail regularly!

You can deregister from a course when Osiris is available for (de)enrolment. After the closure of the late enrolment period you can request the Student Desk for deregistration, until the course starts.

Note: Should you decide to quit the course at a later time point, your grade will be an ND (not participated) or, if you had already handed in some work, NVD (Not Completed). An NVD score may affect your eligibility for a cum laude, if you retake the course (see article 5.4.2 of the EER of the GSNS)

Registering for a minor or elective course is done in much the same way as registration for normal courses. Please inform yourself early on in your study about the possibilities and study load. Courses fill up quickly and some minors take more than a year to complete. Utrecht University offers over 100 different minors and elective courses across its various faculties. You are free to choose from any of them through Osiris, regardless of your main programme.

You are required to re-enrol annually in order to continue your studies at Utrecht University.

Please note! It is only possible to enrol with a starting date of 1 September. There is one exception; if you’re starting a master’s programme with an official starting date in February, then you may enrol as of 1 February. Did you start your master's in February? Then you need to re-enrol again in September of that same year.

As an international student from outside the European Union you also need to (re-)enrol via Studielink. You can only re-enrol when you have a valid residence permit. Most, but not all, residence permits are renewed annually.

Academic requirements for residence permit renewal

The Dutch government has set certain standards that you have to live up to for your student residence permit to be renewed. At the end of every academic year, you have to have successfully completed courses with a total minimum course load of 30 ECs. The National Immigration Services dept requests a proof of progress for every international student in July. You do not have to provide these documents yourself, this is done for you by Student Affairs of the Faculty of Science. If you are in the middle of an internship or research project and have not yet been awarded any ECs for your work, your supervisor will be asked to vouch for your progress.

Clear instructions on how to go about terminating your enrolment and details concerning refunds can be found here.

Please note! Graduating does not mean that your enrolment at Utrecht University will also terminate. You need to personally terminate your enrolment via Studielink.

You can terminate your enrolment per the first of the following month after graduating or deciding to discontinue your studies. In both cases, you may be eligible for a tuition fee refund. You are entitled to a refund of 1/12th of the total tuition fees for that academic year for each month you are no longer enrolled. If you graduate in June, July, or August, then there is no need to terminate your enrolment, since termination of enrolment as of 1 July or 1 August will not entitle you to any refund of tuition fees. If you do not terminate your enrolment it will end automatically as of 1 September.

You are required to apply for approval of your research project by submitting a request via Osiris Student. Please select ‘My Cases’, ‘Start Case’ and then ‘Research Project GSNS’. Important: in order to apply completely and correctly, you must have discussed the project setup with your intended project supervisor beforehand! We advise you to study the request form previous to discussing it with your supervisor, or fill it out together, to make sure you obtain all of the information required.