Archive for: UvA

During the year you follow several courses. For each course, an exam takes place at the end of each month. This ensures that the first two weeks of the month are fairly quiet, then the third week is hard work required, and the fourth week you will be locked in the library to learn.

European Credits 

For each completed course a student will receive credits, called ECTS, but they’re better known as EC’s (European Credits). It is an international European credit system and it emphasizes the study load of a course. An easily achievable course with a very short longitude will probably earn you 3 points, while a difficult course that takes 4 months will earn you 12 points for example. Students need to earn 60 points per year to receive their Bachelor’s degree in three years. All together, the courses in the first year are worth 60 points. Of course, it can happen that you don’t pass a course, in that case, you can retake the exam at the end of the year. If students fail the exam again, they will not receive any credits.

Binding Study Advice 

Students are issued with a Binding Study Advice (BSA). This means that students must obtain sufficient study credits in the first year of their Bachelor’s programme to be permitted to continue studying in their second year. This BSA is 48 points for Psychology at the UvA. So this means that if you have not obtained a 12-point course or two 6-point courses, you can still move on to the second year! However, in your second year you will have to make up for the shortfall. If you haven’t obtained the 48 points,  you sadly have to stop studying Psychology at the UvA, except if you have specific personal reasons that have prevented you from working optimally on the course.

Year 1, semester 1 (September until January)

– In the first four months you follow the course Introduction to Psychology & Cognitive Psychology. Cognitive Psychology deals with mental activities and the acquisition of knowledge for observations and information processing. Research Methods & Statistics will be followed during the same period. It covers what science is, what scientific research is, how you do your research and finally you will be introduced to statistics.

– In the last four weeks of the semester (January), the course Developmental Psychology discusses the development of humans from birth to death.

– Throughout the first semester you will also learn how to write a scientific piece. This will also take place during the second semester.

– The Christmas holidays are the first break during the year. It takes place from December to January, specific dates depend on the year.

Year 1, semester 2 (February until June)

– In the second semester everyone will start with Social and Work & Organisational Psychology for 8 weeks. During Social Psychology you will learn mainly about group processes and in W&O you will learn about the psychology behind the employee in a company.

– You will then have Clinical Psychology & Brain and Cognition for 8 weeks. Clinical Psychology treats mental disorders and in B&C you learn about the substances and parts in the brain.

– The May Vacation is the second break in the year, it lasts a week and usually takes place around the beginning of May.

– As the last course of the year you will have Professional Orientation. This course helps you choose a specialization for the second year.

For more information, check out the link of the UvA-website for the Psychology Bachelor.

The UvA has different buildings and campuses located in different parts of Amsterdam. The psychology department is located on Roeterseilandcampus, Roetersstraat 11. This is the center of Amsterdam, and the place you will have most of your lectures and tutorials. However, your exams mostly take place at another location, mostly at IWO, Meibergdreef 29, Amsterdam.

The different buildings at Roeterseiland Campus:

• A, B, C: you will have most lectures in these buildings. These are the bordeaux red, light orange, and lila buildings on the map. Big chance that your tutorial groups will take place here as well.

• D or “De Brug” (the Bridge): De Brug is a canteen on a bridge over the canal on the 4th floor and has an amazing view over the campus. It is the green building on the map. So, for a nice view during your lunch, you should definitely go there.

• E: Faculty of Economics & Business

• G: the Psychology Department. The VSPA room is also situated in this building. This is the place to get your summaries, ask your questions about extracurricular activities and meet fellow psychology students. This is the orange building on the map.

• H: In building H, the red building in the top left corner, is the general canteen. Here you can buy sandwiches, soup, and a changing assortment of warm meals, such as Vietnamese, Indian or Mexican food. Building H also has workspaces, a library, and computers to work on.

• JK: there is a chance that your tutorials will take place in the purple JK building.

For a nice study break, a good lunch, some coffee, or a beer, CREA is the place to be. CREA is a cafe and a cultural student center, where you can do a lot. You can follow courses in music, dance, film & photography, theatre, creative skills, fine arts and much more with a discount for UvA students. For more information about CREA go to their website, or head over to ‘Enjoy Your Stay’.

For other food around campus, you should go to “De Brug” or the canteen in the H building. Luckily, the buildings are very well marked on campus with their letters. And you can always ask someone at the service desk of a building. Furthermore, the campus has practical facilities as well. There are computers in the library, you can print on campus, and you can book your own rooms via https://uva.mapiq.net/.

Around campus, there are loads of facilities. There’s a supermarket, Albert Heijn, around the corner. There are tram and metro stops close by, which makes the campus easy to reach. Moreover, there are bars, cafes, and restaurants in the streets around campus as well.

For the campus tour you can watch the following video: