BA/BSc in University College Maastricht

Are you highly motivated and looking for a program that gives you the freedom to pursue your own interests? Do you want to be part of a diverse yet close-knit academic community that encourages discussion and debate? University College Maastricht is a Liberal Arts and Sciences Honours College that provides small-scale and personalized bachelor's education. At University College Maastricht, you will be part of a truly international community, working and socializing with students from more than 50 countries. With the support of our committed staff, you can choose from more than 150 different courses in the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Sciences to build an academic profile that helps you meet your future goals.

Why this program?

As an honors college, University College Maastricht is challenging and highly rewarding, by allowing you to compose your own personalized curriculum. University College Maastricht ensures that you develop a basic understanding of a wide variety of academic disciplines and become an expert in a specific academic field. You will learn to think academically, become a self-directed learner and work well in international teams.

International academic community

University College Maastricht is a close-knit international academic community that fosters your desire to learn by creating an environment where it is easy to get to know your tutors and fellow students. University College Maastricht is not just a place where you go for your classes. It is a vibrant community in which students socialize, engage in extracurricular activities, and pursue shared passions. This means that you can develop yourself socially as well as academically and form long-lasting friendships.

The PBL format enables academic staff to really be there for students, both academically and socially. All Problem-Based Learning tutorials have a class size of approximately 12 students. These Problem-Based Learning discussions tend to spill over from the classroom into the common room, which is the social hub of University College Maastricht. The common room is also the scene of many extracurricular events and activities organized by Universalis, University College Maastricht’s student association.

Fast facts

• Open curriculum with 150+ courses
• More than 50 nationalities
• Taught in English
• 3-year, full-time bachelor’s degree
• Weekly: 12-16 contact hours
• Graduate with a BSc or BA degree
• The selective admissions process starts in September and February

Core courses

• Contemporary World History
• Political Philosophy
• Philosophy of Science
• Science, Reason, and Human Progress

Concentration

• Basic Mathematical Tools
• Discrete Mathematics
• Endocrinology
• Genetics and Evolution
• Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health
• Introduction to Programming
• Optimization
• Advances in Biomedical Sciences
• Artificial Intelligence
• Biochemistry
• Calculus
• Functional Neuroanatomy
• Introduction to Biology
• Introduction to Chemistry
• Metabolism, Nutrition, and Exercise
• Sustainable Development: An Introduction
• The Digital Enterprise
• Cell Biology
• Climate Change
• Datamining
• Immunology
• Introduction to Game Theory
• Mathematical Modelling
• Microbiology
• Organic Chemistry
• Applied Immunology and Oncology
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Computer Science
• Data Analytics
• Human Physiology
• Linear Algebra

Skills

• Ethnography and Qualitative Interviewing I
• Lab Skills: Genetics & Oncology
• Argumentation II
• Ethnography and Qualitative Interviewing II
• Lab Skills: Biochemistry
• Preparing Conference
• Argumentation I
• Back to the Sources
• Evidence Synthesis 1: Study Designs in Systematic Reviewing
• Gaining Racial Literacy
• Introduction to Academic Skills I
• Lab Skills: Cell Biology
• Presentation Skills
• Research Methods I
• Evidence Synthesis 2: Statistics in Systematic Reviewing
• International Negotiation
• Introduction to Academic Skills II
• Introduction to Discourse Analysis
• Research Studio, Introduction to Applying an Art Practice as a Research Method
• Writing in an Academic Context: Improving Argumentation and Style

Projects

• Conference
• Ethnography and Qualitative Interviewing III
• Project Deep Reading
• Science Research Project: Biomedical Engineering
• Evidence Synthesis 3: Systematic Review Research Project
• Introducing Academic Communication: A Writing Project
• Research Project
• Research Studio, where Art and Academia meet
• Science Research Project: Data Science
• Social Sciences/Humanities Research Project
• Think Tank
• Writing Project: "The Journal"

Capstone

University College Maastricht has been ranked as a #2 Liberal Arts and Sciences program in the Dutch University Guide: Keuzegids 2023 with a score of 86 points making it a top-rated program.

As University College Maastricht allows you to design your own curriculum to suit your individual interests, talents, and ambitions, you have an almost unlimited range of future career possibilities. University College Maastricht graduates have gone on to a wide variety of professional careers, in both the Netherlands and abroad, including:

• Management consultant
• Researcher
• Government policy advisor
• Assistant to an EU Commissioner
• Think tank member
• Entrepreneur
• Industrial designer
• Pharmacologist
• Stock trader
• NGO project coordinator
• Forensic psychologist
• Theater programmer
• Museum curator
• Education innovator

With careful planning, you can take the courses required to be admitted to most master's programs. However, some programs, such as Dutch Law and Clinical Psychology, are likely to have additional requirements.