Admission requirements

On this page you will find important details of the application process (such as deadlines, admission requirements, required documents and application assessment) for the research master Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, specialisation Neuropsychology for academic year 2024-2025.

Important deadlines for application for this study programme

The research master Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience starts in September.

The deadlines below are applicable to applicants who want to start their studies in September 2024.

When you want to apply or are applying for this study programme, it is important that you inform yourself of the deadlines that you need to meet. The important deadlines when applying for this study programme are provided in the table below.

Note: if you are viewing this webpage on your phone, we recommend that you use landscape mode.

Date	What you need to know about this date
1 October 2023	Studielink is open for applications for the academic year 2024-2025
Up to and including 15 January 2024, 23:59 CET	Deadline first* selection round for completing the entire application process for all applicants Non-EU/EEA applicants need to require a visa or residence permit.
Up to and including 15 January 2024, 23:59 CET	Application deadline for non-EU/EEA applicants who want to be considered for the UM NL-High Potential Scholarship or the UM Brightlands Talent Scholarship
Up to and including 1 March 2024, 23:59 CET	Deadline second* selection round for completing the entire application process for all applicants Non-EU/EEA applicants need to require a visa or residence permit.

^{* You can apply in the first or second selection round. Both selection rounds have equal admission chances}

Please note that you cannot re-apply for the second selection round when your application was rejected for the first selection round.

Students cannot apply twice for the research master’s programme for the same academic year. This applies to the whole programme, not just individual specialisations.

More information
If you have questions regarding the requirements, or the admission procedure, please send an email to:
fpn-researchmaster@maastrichtuniversity.nl

General requirements: previous education

The admission requirements for academic year 2024-2025 for the research master Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, depend on your previous education. Please check below which requirements apply to you.

The Board of Admissions of this programme assesses applications holistically on a broad range of criteria. Because we aim to create an interdisciplinary mix of students, we cannot state which university bachelor’s degree is suitable for the research master and which one is not. Students with university bachelor’s degrees as diverse as political sciences, philosophy, liberal arts, psychology, psychobiology, physiotherapy, neuroscience, biology, biotechnology, health sciences, biomedical engineering and economics have successfully applied in the past.

Clearly, some bachelor’s degrees are intrinsically more suitable for specific specialisations. For example: a molecular biology bachelor’s degree fits better with the 'Fundamental Neuroscience' or 'Drug Development and Neurohealth' specialisations than with the Clinical Psychology or Neuropsychology specialisations.

The reverse is true for a bachelor’s degree with a focus on clinical psychology. At the same time, there are no strict exclusives. To give an example: a candidate with a bachelor’s degree in political sciences or history may have taken a one-year break to work in a neuroscience lab, where he/she might have shown great talent for experimental work, statistics and programming, as evidenced by an excellent motivation letter, and perhaps even a co-authorship on a conference abstract or paper. An application of this candidate to for example the Cognitive Neuroscience specialisation may well be competitive. Such applications are exceptional, but some have been successful in the past. Therefore, you should highlight in your application all aspects and strengths of your background that make you a fitting candidate for your chosen specialisation.

Equivalent bachelor's degree

Students need to have a bachelor’s degree that is equivalent to a Dutch university bachelor’s degree. In order to determine if a bachelor’s degree is equivalent to a Dutch university bachelor’s degree, the Board of Admissions makes use of NUFFIC diploma recognition. NUFFIC issues recommendations on the value of higher or secondary education diplomas obtained outside the Netherlands. Where possible, the foreign diploma is compared to a Dutch diploma. As well as evaluating the diploma, NUFFIC is also able to determine whether a study programme or an educational institution is officially recognised. Bachelor’s degrees that NUFFIC judges as non-equivalent to a Dutch university bachelor’s degree will not be admitted. If you are uncertain whether your bachelor’s degree is equivalent to a Dutch university bachelor’s degree you are strongly advised to submit a request via the NUFFIC website to have this checked prior to submitting your application.

Additional requirements

Language requirements for English-language master's programmes

As English is the language of instruction in this study programme, it is essential that your English language skills are good enough for you to undertake intensive and challenging academic courses that are taught and examined in English.

Answer the questions below to find out if you meet the language requirements.

Applicants who received their previous education in a non-EU/EEA country (handling fee)

Applicants applying for this study programme who received their previous education in a non-EU/EEA country will have to pay a handling fee. More information on this handling fee and how to arrange this payment can be found on the Handling fee page.

Documents required for application process

During the application process for this study programme you will need to complete a number of tasks for which you will often have to upload documents in the MyApplication portal. The list below gives you an insight into what documents you will (and might) need to prepare.

Required documents for all applicants to this study programme

A recent passport picture*
The passport picture must satisfy certain requirements.
A copy of your valid passport or your EU/EEA identity card*
Make a copy of the page with your personal details. Save this copy as ‘passport copy’ and not as ‘passport picture’.
A certified copy of your most recent grades transcript
A certified copy of your bachelor’s diploma
If you have not graduated yet, you can upload the official grades transcript of your bachelor's programme.
A curriculum vitae
List your education, relevant extracurricular activities and internship/professional experience.
A motivation letter (max. 500 words)
Indicate your chosen specialisation at the beginning of the letter.
Provide good arguments about why you want to do this master's programme at UM and why you believe that you can successfully complete the programme.
An Academic Background Form
The document 'Academic Background Form' that needs to be filled in will be offered to you in the MyApplication portal under the task ‘Proof your academic capabilities’.

*As a UM student it is not necessary to upload this document in the MyApplication portal. Unless your passport is not valid on 1 September 2024; in that case you do have to upload a copy of your passport.

Documents that might be required depending on your (academic) background

Document(s) that demonstrate your proficiency in English
Answer the questions concerning language requirements under ‘Language requirements for English-language master’s programmes’ on this webpage to find out if you need to provide additional documentation. The outcome of your answers will indicate which document(s) you can use to prove your proficiency.

Please note:
Make sure to upload the documents in the MyApplication portal in PDF or Word-format. Do not upload Zip files, we cannnot open these files.

Only complete registrations will be taken into consideration.

All documents must be in English.

Avoid last-minute application stress! Last-minute applications may delay the scheduling of a possible interview and the communication of your application outcome as well.

How do we assess your application?

When you want to apply or are applying for this study programme, it is useful to know how we assess your application. You can find more information in this section.

The research master's in Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience is a selective programme with a maximum enrolment of 24 new students per specialisation each year.

Selection procedure

The main steps in the selection procedure involve an (1) assessment of your application, which may result in (2) an invitation for an interview. Upon completion of the selection procedure, a message will be sent to you about your application status (details below).

Assessment of your application

After receipt of all required documents, the Board of Admissions will carefully assess your application. Using all your submitted documents, the Board will assess your application on a number of criteria, which include:

knowledge, skills and experience in the area of your chosen specialisation that you acquired in the past;
your motivation for choosing a specialisation and ability to acquire new knowledge and skills in the area of that specialisation;
general motivation and ability for conducting research;
attitude and communication skills necessary for functioning in a Problem-Based Learning teaching environment, and for the development of a research career in academic, industrial, clinical, governmental and other settings;
openness to learning within an international academic environment;
excellent command of written and spoken English.

Note: only complete applications will be assessed. We therefore recommend that you adhere to the deadlines provided in the table under ‘Important deadlines for application for this study programme’ on this page.

Interview

An (online) interview is part of the further selection procedure. It consists of a further assessment of the above-listed criteria. Interviews will take place in January/February (first selection round) or April/May (second selection round).

Message about your application status

Based on the documents you have submitted and the selection procedure for your chosen programme, the UM decides on whether to offer you a place in this study programme. Once the UM has made this decision, you will be informed about it by email. We strive to let you know if you are offered a place or not within six weeks from the application deadline.

If there are more candidates than places, candidates that qualify for admission may be placed on a waiting list. This means that the final acceptance decision is delayed and that the UM offering you a place in the study programme depends on the availability of places. Candidates that have been placed on the waiting list will receive regular updates on the status of their application.