Law and Politics of International Security

Admission to this interdisciplinary Master’s programme is based on a relevant degree, and on merit and your fit with the programme.  

You can apply with the following Bachelor's degrees:

• Law (LLB) with at least one course in the field of international law; or
• Political Science with at least one course in International relations; or
• International Relations; or
• Other bachelor degrees with at least 18 EC in courses in International law and/or international relations and/or international security

VU pre-master's
The faculty does not offer a pre-master's for this master.

Merit is demonstrated by academic excellence, as evidenced by your overall grade average, admission essay and academic English proficiency. Ideally you should have a GPA of 7.5 according to the Dutch grading system.  Please note that VU Amsterdam will convert international grades and decide on the international grade equivalents for the Dutch grade of a 7.5.

Fit with this programme is demonstrated by your motivation, CV, (optional) courses and extracurricular activities and (substantiated) interest in international law, politics and security issues.

Your application will be reviewed by staff members of the LPIS master programme, of both the faculties of Law and Social Sciences. They will provide an advice to the Admissions Board, that will take the final decision whether you will be admitted to the programme.

You cannot be admitted on the basis of a degree from a university of applied sciences (HBO), nor on the basis of an HBO degree with a completed pre-master's.

Students must meet the following admission requirements:

1.  Academic requirements

Your previous education needs to be deemed equivalent to at least a Dutch academic Bachelor’s degree (wetenschappelijk onderwijs, WO) obtained at a research university (nominal duration 3 years). Please find more information about your admissibility with a non-Dutch degree here.

If you have a degree from a University of Applied Sciences, you need a completed relevant pre-master's to apply. The faculty does not offer a pre-master's for this master.

2. Programme specific requirements

Admission to this interdisciplinary Master’s programme is based on a relevant degree, and on merit and your fit with the programme.  

You can apply with the following academic Bachelor's degrees:

• Law (LLB) with at least one course in the field of international law
• Political Science with at least one course in International relations
• International Relations
• Other bachelor degrees with at least 18 EC in courses in International law and/or international relations and/or international security

Merit is demonstrated by academic excellence, as evidenced by your overall grade average, admission essay and academic English proficiency. Ideally you should have a GPA of 7.5 according to the Dutch grading system. Please note that VU Amsterdam will convert international grades and decide on the international grade equivalents for the Dutch grade of a 7.5.

Fit with this programme is demonstrated by your motivation, CV, (optional) courses and extracurricular activities and (substantiated) interest in international law, politics and security issues.

Your application will be reviewed by staff members of the LPIS master programme, of both the faculties of Law and Social Sciences. They will provide an advice to the Admissions Board, that will take the final decision whether you will be admitted to the programme.

3. English-language proficiency requirements

You will have to demonstrate sufficient English language proficiency. You can find an overview of relevant information to demonstrate your English language proficiency on the language requirement page. 

First check whether you meet the admission requirements.
You can apply from 1 October. The application deadline is 1 June. This applies to all students, also students who obtain their bachelor degree at VU Amsterdam.

To apply, it is not necessary that you have already obtained your bachelor's degree; you must, however, graduate by 31 August.

Apply for the Master’s programme in Studielink. After applying in Studielink you will receive login information for your VU Dashboard. Finish your VU Dashboard by 1 June; here you will need to upload the filled-out Master Application File. Please download the Master Application File here: in this file, you can see which documents are required to apply for your programme (letter of motivation, programme specific essay, transcript etc).

Only complete dossiers will be considered. We may ask for additional information on your academic record if this is deemed necessary to come to a decision.

Decision schedule

Not applicable, you cannot be admitted on the basis of a degree from a university of applied sciences (HBO), nor on the basis of an HBO degree with a completed pre-master's.

Application documents

To apply you are required to provide the following documents: 

• Scan of your passport or national ID card (ID for EEA students only) valid at the start date of the programme.
• Master Application File please download the correct file from this website. In this file you can see which documents are required to apply for your programme. 
• Proof of English language proficiency (if already obtained) upload your proof of English language proficiency or English language test results. Please find the English language requirements here. 

After having prepared the required documents, please follow the online application procedure. 

Application fee & deadlines 

All students seeking admission to an international Master’s programme with an international degree are required to pay a non-refundable €100 application fee. Only after you have paid this fee will we be able to start the evaluation of your application file. If you are applying for more than one programme, you will only need to pay the application fee once. Your application fee payment is valid for two years.

The application deadlines are:

• 1 December (with complete dossier) for international students applying for one of the VU scholarships
• 1 April (with complete dossier) for degree holders from non-EU/EEA countries
• 1 June (with complete dossier) for degree holders from EU/EAA countries

Important: all international students applying for university accommodation and non-EU/EEA students who need a visa or resident permit are strongly advised to apply well before 1 April. To get a decision in time, your application dossier must be complete by the mentioned deadlines. This includes the payment of the application fee. 

Decision schedule

Grants and scholarships

As an international student planning to study at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, you can apply for a variety of grants and bursaries. Detailed information about scholarships and deadlines can be found on our Scholarships webpage or www.grantfinder.nl.  

International Student and Alumni Ambassadors

Our International Student and Alumni Ambassadors are happy to tell you all about their experiences with studying at VU Amsterdam and living in Amsterdam.

• Our Student Ambassadors are current students at VU Amsterdam that represent a wide variety of programmes and countries.
• Our International Alumni Ambassadors are VU Amsterdam graduates who are currently either working in the Netherlands or abroad, or doing a PhD or (second) Master's.

You will find the full overview of our Ambassadors here: vu.nl/ambassadors. There you can chat with them directly.