Academic policies and procedures
Go to the page about the Education and Examination Regulations (EER) of Mathematical Sciences.
Go to the page about the Board of Examiners.
If you cannot attend on-site education with compulsory attendance (work groups or practicals) because you are ill, you must first report to your course coordinator.
If you are unable to attend classes and tests for a prolonged period of time (e.g. one period or semester), you'll have to report this to your study advisor and course coordinator. They will inform you about what to do next.
Within all Master's programmes one or more research projects are mandatory. Please see ‘Study programme’ for general information on such projects in your curriculum. In many cases, a research project may be carried out outside of the university, in the form of an internship at a company, research institute, or another university. This can be in the Netherlands as well as abroad (see also: ‘study abroad’).
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.
After submitting your request, it will be forwarded to your master’s programme coordinator, the board of examiners and student affairs for checks and approvals. After approval of your project it will be automatically registered in OSIRIS. If something needs to be amended, you will be notified by email. Please DO NOT register yourself in OSIRIS for the relevant research project courses. You will be automatically registered upon approval of the Research Application Form.
- Only for students that have started their research project prior to 1 November 2018: your project supervisor will fill out the assessment form part 1 at the end of the first part of your project, and the assessment form part 2 at the end of the second part of your project and hand it in at the Science Student Desk (in pdf) in order to have your grade registered in Osiris. (For all other students the assessment is done in Osiris Docent and the paper forms cannot be accepted anymore.)
- These guidelines apply for the evaluation of the research project.
Research Project takes place outside UU?
When your Research Project is taking place outside of Utrecht University, then it is required to have an internship contract. Arrange the internship contract before submitting your application form in Osiris. The internship contract has to be checked and signed by the Research Project Coordinators, Rebecca Puyk and Noor Weelink, on behalf of the UU via science.internshipcontracts@uu.nl. Once your internship contract has been checked and signed by the UU, you can upload it with your application form in Osiris (for more information on that, go to the page 'Getting Started').
The contract options are as follows:
- The Universities of the Netherlands (UNL) internship contract is preferred for an external Research Project inside the Netherlands.
- The EAIE contract is preferred for an external Research Project outside of the Netherlands.
- The host organisation may have their own internship contract, provided that it meets the requirements of Utrecht University.
- If you are a non-EU student, then you should use the NUFFIC agreement.
Please note, that there can only be one internship contract, so please discuss this with the host organisation carefully. We advise students to first discuss their internship (contract) with their supervisor before signing.
Students with a project from 1 September 2024:
This is what you need to do if you foresee a delay of your Research Project or extension/addition to the project is necessary.
The protocol*
- The student and examiners need to finish the Research Project before the in Osiris Zaak specified end date. The end date is the last date by which the final grade is determined. The end date is based on full-time study.
- If the end date cannot be met, the student, first and second examiner agree on a new end date. This new end date will be passed on to the Board of Examiners by the student via Osiris Student > ‘My Cases’> ‘Start Case’ > ‘Request to the Board of Examiners’ > ‘request type ‘New end date thesis project’. This needs to happen before the initial end date is reached. Valid reasons for agreeing on a new end date can be both personal circumstances and research-related circumstances.
- The student and examiners can impose an examination on the agreed end date. In the case the other party does not agree with this, they can turn to the programme leader. A student who due to circumstances beyond their control cannot be present during examination can request the Board of Examiners for a special testing provision.
The student and/or examiners can turn to the Board of Examiners in cases of disagreement on the implementation of this protocol or other conflicts not covered by this protocol. In these cases, the Board of Examiners decides in line with the spirit of this protocol.
*This protocol is translated from the Dutch version in the EER/OER and no rights can be derived from any errors in translation.
Students with a Research Project from before 1 September 2024:
This is what you need to do if you, due to circumstances beyond your control, foresee a delay of your Research Project in Part 1 or Part 2.
The procedure:
- Discuss this first with your supervisor(s). If all agree a new realistic end date will be set for the Research Project.
- After that, contact the Study Advisor and the programme coordinator and ask for consent to determine a new end date for your thesis.
- Apply for an extension of the research project deadline for Part 1 or Part 2 to the Board of Examiners via Osiris Student > ‘My Cases’> ‘Start Case’ > ‘Request to the Board of Examiners’ > ‘request type 7 'Delay of research or thesis project'.
What information is needed for the application form:
- A statement from the Study Advisor
- A copy of an email in which the supervisors support the request for a deadline extension
- A proposed new deadline
- Short statement to support your request
Your UU-grades abroad
To help foreign universities to interpret the value of our grades, UU publishes Grading Tables:
- a table for Bachelor’s courses and
- a table for Master’s courses.
The Grading Tables provide statistical distributions of grades awarded at Utrecht University. They show which percentage of all passing grades that were awarded in the three most recent academic years were (rounded-off) a 6.0, a 6.5, a 7.5, etc. The tables will be published on the International Diploma Supplement of all students who graduate after September 1st 2017.
In addition to the Grading Tables, UU also publishes a weighted average grade on the ten point scale on your International Diploma Supplement.
What do Grading Tables not show?
Grading Tables do not show whether you belong to the 10% (or any other percentage) of your class. The tables do not contain information about the average either, nor are they just about your fellow students.
The most recent Grading Tables (September 2021 – August 2024)
| Grade | Frequency |
|---|---|
| 6.0 | 18.58% |
| 6.5 | 17.38% |
| 7.0 | 20.21% |
| 7.5 | 19.17% |
| 8.0 | 13.72% |
| 8.5 | 7.10% |
| 9.0 | 2.81% |
| 9.5 | 0.81% |
| 10.0 | 0.22% |
| Grade | Frequency |
|---|---|
| 6.0 | 8.83% |
| 6.5 | 10.02% |
| 7.0 | 17.07% |
| 7.5 | 22.21% |
| 8.0 | 22.20% |
| 8.5 | 12.49% |
| 9.0 | 5.50% |
| 9.5 | 1.28% |
| 10.0 | 0.40% |
Grade Point Average substituted by Grading Tables
Until 1 September 2017, Utrecht University published a Grade Point Average (GPA) to provide help institutions abroad to interpret UU-grades. Many Anglo-Saxon universities use this four point scale to express their weighted average grade. The GPA always needs clarification. The standards according to which the GPA is calculated differ between (international) universities.
Utrecht University considers any form of academic dishonesty to be a very serious offense. Utrecht University expects each student to be familiar with and to observe the norms and values that ensure academic integrity.The most serious forms of deception that can impair this integrity are fraud and plagiarism. Plagiarism is a form of fraud and is defined as the wrongful appropriation of another author’s work without proper citation. See the further elaboration on what may be considered fraud or plagiarism.
If the university discovers a case of fraud or plagiarism, then the study programme’s Board of Examiners may implement sanctions on the offender. The most serious sanction that the Board of Examiners may implement is the submission of a request for expulsion to the Executive Board.
If you feel you have not been treated properly by someone employed by Utrecht University, or if you disagree with a decision that affects you personally, you can respond in a number of ways. You can submit a complaint, an objection or an appeal.
For the full details about the various procedures and which procedure is applicable for your situation, visit Complaints, objections and appeals.
Utrecht University processes a substantial volume of personal data. In accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) the university is responsible for ensuring that personal data is processed properly. Also see the Privacy Statement on the Utrecht University website.