Education
Organisationally, the university is divided into 12 faculties, which offer a great variety of bachelor's, master's, and Ph.D. programmes in many fields. These faculties are:
- Arts
- Dentistry
- Earth science and life science
- Economics and business
- Human movement
- Law
- Medicine
- Philosophy
- Psychology and pedagogy
- Exact science
- Social science
- Theology
The language of instruction for most bachelor's courses is Dutch. However, many of the master's programmes are given entirely in English in order to attract students from outside the Netherlands. In fact, in some master's programmes, international students outnumber the Dutch students by a large margin.
The Ph.D. programme is different from that in the United Kingdom and the U.S.A. Rather than applying to the university for admission in the winter, prospective students must find a (full) professor who has a position for a Ph.D. student, called an AiO (Assistant in Opleiding—Assistant in Training), and contact him or her directly. Most professors and faculties advertise their open positions on their Websites. AiOs are paid a salary and are considered university employees. They do not have to pay tuition.
Read more about this topic: Vrije Universiteit
Famous quotes containing the word education:
“How to attain sufficient clarity of thought to meet the terrifying issues now facing us, before it is too late, is ... important. Of one thing I feel reasonably sure: we can’t stop to discuss whether the table has or hasn’t legs when the house is burning down over our heads. Nor do the classics per se seem to furnish the kind of education which fits people to cope with a fast-changing civilization.”
—Mary Barnett Gilson (1877–?)
“Nature has taken more care than the fondest parent for the education and refinement of her children. Consider the silent influence which flowers exert, no less upon the ditcher in the meadow than the lady in the bower. When I walk in the woods, I am reminded that a wise purveyor has been there before me; my most delicate experience is typified there.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Those who first introduced compulsory education into American life knew exactly why children should go to school and learn to read: to save their souls.... Consistent with this goal, the first book written and printed for children in America was titled Spiritual Milk for Boston Babes in either England, drawn from the Breasts of both Testaments for their Souls’ Nourishment.”
—Dorothy H. Cohen (20th century)