Master's application documents

Applying with a non-Dutch diploma

Below you will find an overview of the documents you will need to upload to the Progress Portal when you apply to a Master's programme at the University of Groningen.

All documents must be provided in English or Dutch.

Standard application documents

For all Master's programmes you will need to upload the following documents to the Progress Portal in PDF format:

A document clearly indicating the name of your qualification in the original language	E.g. Laurea, Πτυχίο (Ptychio), Sarjana, Licenciado, 学士学位, Бакалавр, etc. If you have not graduated yet, please upload a statement of expected graduation (preferred) or a statement of enrolment for your final year.
Academic transcript/grade list/report card	Please upload copies of your original transcripts and, if applicable, English (or Dutch) translations.
List of courses you still need to complete* *If applicable	If your official transcript does not list the courses you will be taking in your final year/semester, please also upload a list of all the courses still to be completed before your graduation. This does not need to be an official document, you can make the list yourself. It should include the course names and credit details for all courses (including your thesis) that do not appear on your official transcript. Without this document, your application will remain incomplete and will not be processed.
Results of an official language proficiency test* *later deadline	To be eligible for admission, you will have to prove that you meet the language proficiency requirements of your programme. You can find more information on our page Master's language requirements and exemptions. Non-EU/EEA applicants need to upload a sufficient test score before their immigration application* deadline (1 July/1 December). If you do not require an mvv visa to travel to Groningen, you need to obtain a sufficient test result before the start date of the Master's programme.

Additional application documents

Programmes with additional application documents

Campus Fryslân

Sustainable Entrepreneurship

Checklist
A list of relevant course descriptions. This should focus only on courses relevant to the Master's programme you have applied to, and include info on the content of each course, literature used, learning outcomes, and details of how each course was assessed.

Faculty of Arts

Arts & Culture: Art History Arts & Culture: History of Architecture and Urbanism Middle Eastern Studies Literary Studies Middle Eastern Studies	Checklist
Linguistics: Applied Linguistics (TEFL)	Checklist A list of relevant course descriptions. This should focus only on courses relevant to the Master's programme you have applied to, and include info on the content of each course, literature used, learning outcomes, and details of how each course was assessed.
Media Studies: Journalism	Curriculum Vitae Motivation letter
Natural Language Processing	Curriculum Vitae Motivation letter Contact details of 1 referee
All Research Master's Programmes	Curriculum Vitae Motivation letter Two academic letters of reference: These may be uploaded in the Progress Portal or sent to us directly by your referee via our contact form. A sample of academic writing in English: i.e. your thesis or 10-15 pages of other academic coursework preferably related to the programme you are applying to.

Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences

Psychology (all tracks)

Checklist

Curriculum Vitae/Resume

Thesis (if available)

Research Master

Checklist
Course descriptions (including literature used) showing proof of knowledge of relevant theories and statistics (including multiple regression and analysis of variance), and experience with statistical software packages.
Curriculum Vitae/Resume
Letter of motivation
Names of two academic referees who have detailed knowledge of your academic record. Letters are not required, but please keep in mind that the Admission Board may contact your referees. Please make sure the email addresses of your referees are those of their place of work.

Pedagogical Sciences (all specializations)
Educational Sciences; Learning in Interaction

Course descriptions, in English. Please do not upload a full study guide; only course descriptions of relevant courses.
Curriculum Vitae/Resume (Showing knowledge, experience and skills that prove relevant to this particular Master programme)

Faculty of Economics and Business

All programmes

Checklist including brief description (max. 20 pages) of relevant courses you have taken in the field of the specific Master programme you are applying for, and of any courses in research methods and statistics. Course descriptions must include a description of topics covered in the course, learning objectives and a literature list of the course book(s) used in each course.

Research Master in Economics and Business

Motivation letter

CV
Students have to hand in two letters of recommendation. These should be from academic staff. The letter can be scanned and uploaded. If a referee insists on sending the letter directly, it should be sent to Rina Koning (a.c.koning rug.nl) at the Faculty of Economics and Business.

Motivation and recommendation letters are only required for the selective Research Master Economics and Business. For any of our other Master's programmes, you do not need these letters. Please do not send or upload these letters. They will not be processed because they are not an entry requirement for the non-selective programmes.

Faculty of Law

For all LLM programmes taught in Groningen

1 academic reference	Can be sent to us directly by your referee through our contact form, or uploaded in the Progress Portal. The uploaded letter should be on letterhead and signed by the referee and must contain contact details of your referee, including his or her institutional email address.
Letter of motivation	Max. 650 words
Curriculum Vitae

Faculty of Medical Sciences

Interdisciplinary Research in Health Dynamics	Curriculum Vitae Motivation letter One academic letter of reference
Molecular Medicine and Innovative Treatment	Curriculum Vitae Motivation letter
Human Movement Sciences	Application form: This can be downloaded on the programme webpage.
Sport Sciences	Application form: This can be downloaded on the programme webpage.

Faculty of Philosophy

Philosophy Philosophy and Science	Checklist
Philosophy (Research)	Checklist Curriculum Vitae Motivation Letter Two academic letters of reference: These may be uploaded in the Progress Portal or sent to us directly by your referee via our contact form. A sample of academic writing in English: i.e. your thesis or 10-15 pages of other academic coursework preferably related to the programme you are applying to.
Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (MSc)	Checklist Curriculum Vitae Motivational Letter A sample of academic writing in English: i.e. your thesis or 10-15 pages of other academic coursework preferably related to the programme you are applying to.

Faculty of Science and Engineering

Applied Physics Astronomy Biology Biomedical Engineering Computational Cognitive Science Energy and Environmental Sciences Industrial Engineering and Management Mechanical Engineering Medical Pharmaceutical Sciences Physics	Checklist
Behavioural & Cognitive Neurosciences Biomolecular Sciences Ecology & Evolution Marine Biology	Checklist Curriculum Vitae Two academic letters of reference (for non-EU applicants) or provide contact details of two referees in the application form (for EU applicants)
Biomedical Sciences	Checklist Curriculum Vitae
Chemistry	Checklist Curriculum Vitae A list of course descriptions: Provide a list of course descriptions in English (unofficial translations are permitted) for all non–University of Groningen courses, including the learning outcomes. This additional document must be uploaded in the 'Checklist' section in the Progress Portal.
Nanoscience	Curriculum Vitae Motivation Letter Two academic letters of reference
Artificial Intelligence	Checklist including 1 reference letter (or contact of referee) and writing sample. This can be downloaded on the programme webpage. Curriculum Vitae

Faculty of Spatial Sciences

Population Studies Environmental and Infrastructure Planning Society, Sustainability and Planning	A list of relevant course descriptions: This list should include statistics courses, research methods courses and demographic content knowledge courses. The list needs to include info on the content of each course, literature used, learning outcomes, and details of how each course was assessed.
Real Estate Studies	Curriculum Vitae Motivation Letter Two academic letters of reference
Spatial Sciences Research Master	Curriculum Vitae Motivation Letter Two academic letters of reference

Faculty of Religion, Culture and Society

Additional programme-specific requirements

Theology and Religious Studies Research Master

Curriculum Vitae
Motivation Letter
Two academic letters of reference: These may be uploaded in the Progress Portal or sent to us directly via our contact form.
A sample of academic writing in English: i.e. your thesis or 10-15 pages of other academic coursework preferably related to the programme you are applying to.

Types of application documents

Application checklist

A lot of programmes use an application checklist. Visit the page below to download the right checklist for your programme.

Checklists

Certified copies

Please note that to enable us to start processing your application you can initially upload/send plain copies of your diploma, transcripts and language test score reports. Based on these documents, we can come to a conditional admissions decision. However, before you can be officially admitted, you will have to provide us with certified copies.

Our website explains what certified copies are.

Curriculum Vitae / Resume

Your CV should preferably list your previous/current education (incl. name of school/educational institution, official name of qualification, period of enrolment), relevant work experience and other relevant skills. If you are unsure about the format, you can use the Online Editor from Europass.

Letter of motivation

We would like to know why you are applying for the programme of your choice. In your motivational statement, you can include:

why you consider yourself to be a good candidate
what you expect from the programme
what you wish to achieve during and after the programme

Letter(s) of reference

You can upload these letters in the Progress Portal or your referees can send the letters directly to the Admissions Office from their institutional email address using the Admissions Office's contact form.

Writing sample/written report

Some Master's programmes ask you to submit a sample of your academic writing. The requirements applying to this writing sample can differ per faculty and per programme. Most programmes ask you to submit your undergraduate thesis. If this was not written in English, then please provide us with a summary of your thesis in English. Alternatively, you can provide us with any other relevant essay/paper of 10-15 pages.

Each individual application can be evaluated only once; it is therefore important to make sure that the documents you provide meet the requirements of the University of Groningen application procedure. Providing incomplete or incorrect documents can have consequences for your application for admission. If you have any doubts regarding your application documents, please do not hesitate to contact the Admissions Office.

Last modified:12 March 2026 3.27 p.m.