Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently asked questions from incoming students at the Faculty of Sciences about courses, exams and regulations, accomodation, student card, research, leaving Utrecht or general information.
Bachelor's degree course schedules and Master's degree course schedules can be obtained from the UU course catalogue.
Bachelor = year 1 =1, 2 and 3, M = Master
Language of instruction should be in English.
Take your own knowledge/level of expertise as a starting point. Check the content of the course. And then check the timeslot to be sure no overlap is possible.
At Bachelor's degree level we give courses in periods of 10 weeks. Two periods of 10 weeks is one semester. Two semesters are a full year. Roughly the following is applicable:
Period 1 = September + October + part November.
Period 2 = part November, December + January
Period 3 = February, March + part April
Period 4 = part April, May + June
Once you have selected a course, a specific timeslot is mentioned. The following is applicable:
A = Monday morning + Wednesday morning
B = Tuesday morning + Thursday afternoon
C = Monday afternoon + Tuesday afternoon + Thursday morning
D = Wednesday afternoon + Friday
It is not allowed to have any overlap.
When you have selected a specific course on the UU course catalogue, you can simply select the tab ‘schedule’ (if available) and you will find the schedule of the course.
From June onwards you can find the schedules of the first semester; from October/November the second semester is available.
You would need to follow 4 courses of 7.5 EC each to meet the requirement per semester. This is considered a full time study. Some exchange students take less courses, depending on the regulations set by their home university.
This is only possible if you have a good command of the Dutch language. Moreover the coordinator of the course needs to give approval prior to the start of classes.
The majority of your courses should be at our faculty, but it is possible to take a few courses at another faculty. This is subject to approval by that particular faculty.
UCU courses are not open for enrollment by exchange students.
Please note that other faculties may have other enrolment periods, so you should inform us while applying.
Yes you can. This is subject to approval by the study advisor and must take place as soon as possible.
Yes, you can. However, please consider that the level of the Master's degree courses are much higher. So we will evaluate your application to see whether the level of the Master's course is equivalent to your knowledge/level of expertise. Moreover, the EC of Master's courses are sometimes less than the standard 7.5 EC, which may make it more difficult to obtain enough EC per semester.
Furthermore, Bachelor's courses will be scheduled according to the timeslot model. Master's courses may differ from that. Normally it is mentioned within the course information.
Babel Talen institute offers Dutch language courses. The fees need to be paid by yourself.
Each course has a different set of assessments, which may include essays, practicals, exams, group and individual work.
Notify the instructor of the course.
In general that is not possible. There are re-sit exams scheduled throughout the year for extra chances. However, in some cases other arrangements can be made by contacting the instructor of the course.
No. The SSH does its utmost to find suitable accommodation for you. Because of the huge shortage of rooms in Utrecht for (temporary) students, the SSH Housing Office can not take these “common” complaints into account.
The rent for your accommodation is in whole months only.
Utrecht is a student city and there is a huge shortage of rooms. The rooms
the SSH Housing Office offer are fully furnished and decorated. They include
crockery, cutlery, cooking utensils and cleaning materials, internet connection. The rent for the accommodation comprises the basic rent and all additional costs. These costs include the standard use of gas, water and electricity to which are added the statutory costs (e.g. communal taxes), maintenance and de-preciation costs for use of the establishment.
One caretaker has been appointed for every 150 living units to deal with
administrative issues and transfers. These costs are also included in the
rent. All these extra costs amount to a total of about 150% of the basic
rent. Consequently, the rent is relatively higher than that for unfurnished
accommodation, but is still lower than the price proposed by commercial
offices.
Furthermore, if the accommodation is used in a normal manner, you will
have no unpleasant surprises afterwards. Should you use excessive quan-
tities of energy, or damage the inventory as a result of negligence, the
deposit may be used to settle these extra costs.
It is not possible to cancel a rental contract after commencement of the rental period. See also the SSH website. (halfway through the page ‘terms and conditions’, see stipulation 2.8)
Yes. You will need to upload a photo and change your address in Osiris in order to receive on and fill in the form.
You can use the student card for the library and other facilities. It may also be asked when taking exams, together with your ID.
In principal yes. The availability of research projects is limited because of limited supervisor capacity, and a research project can only be done after obtaining the consent of a supervisor. It is not possible at the Department of Computing Sciences.
Please look at our website.
Please click further at the specific group and see which research is interesting to you.
- Finances: please make sure all your bills are paid. If you are leaving The Netherlands, please close your Dutch bank account.
- Residence permit: If you are nog longer registered as a student, your right to reside in The Netherlands ends as well. You have to leave the country within 28 days.
- Return all library books.
- Registration with the city: If you are moving to a new address, you are required to inform the department of Burgerzaken of this within 5 days of your move.
- Change of address for UU: Please change your mailing address in Osiris.
- Notify others of your new address.
- Contact the owner of your accommodation to make final arrangements.
- Cancel any (health) insurance if you have it in The Netherlands.
- Cancel any subscriptions to cell phones, magazines, clubs etc.
- Get the form of your home University about your stay signed by us.
You will have access for about 3 months in Osiris once you have left the UU. Please check regularly and inform Science International Office once all results have been put in Osiris. If this takes too long, please inform us by stating course code and course name of the result you are missing in Osiris. Once you sent us an e-mail that everything is there, please inform us where we can send the T.o.R. to. We will then make it and forward it to your house address together with a note informing you on the ects (study points) we use.
The universitywide International Office is located at Heidelberglaan 6 and represents the whole university. The Science International Office represents only the Faculty of Science.
The International Exchange Officer of the Faculty of Sciences is Noor Weelink.
- Questions and forms: science.internationaloffice@uu.nl
- Book an appointment: