Personalized Medicine (research)

This study guide contains information on the Personalized Medicine programme organized by the Faculty of Medicine VU Amsterdam for the academic year 2025 -2026. All information about the structure of the course components, planning, admission and student facilities can be found on the Faculty’s website.

Aim of the study programme

The master Personalized Medicine trains bio-medical and life sciences oriented Bachelors to become independent researchers with in-depth knowledge on different aspects of clinical and translational research, technological developments, imaging and personalized medicine.

Structure of organization

The Faculty of Medicine VU Amsterdam coordinates all educational activities. The programme director and programme coordinator of the master programme take care of the organization and gearing of the curriculum. The master programme has an examination board and a programme committee. The programme committee advises the executive board of Amsterdam UMC, the vice-dean of the Faculty of Medicine VU Amsterdam and the programme director about the content of the master’s programme and the quality of execution. The examination board (EC Science Masters) decrees norms concerning admission of students, and makes sure that bachelors comply with the requirements for admission. EC Science Masters further decrees the terms concerning examination of different disciplines and overlooks the results of examinations, internships and theses. Furthermore, the examination board evaluates the combinations of optional courses and internships of each individual student. All compulsory and optional courses are coordinated by different course coordinators.

The master programme has an Admission Board, which is responsible for the execution of the entry assessment and the selection of the applicants during the admission procedure.

General information about organization, education, research and patient's care within Amsterdam UMC – Faculty of Medicine VU Amsterdam can be found on the Amsterdam UMC website.

A complete description of this course can be found in the Teaching and Examination Regulations Masters (OER).

For more information please contact the programme coordinator: Email: masterpersonalizedmedicine-VU@amsterdamumc.nl

Student Service Desk Faculty of Medicine VU

Students can turn to the Student Service Desk with general questions about the graduation, registration for courses and examinations, registration of grades and schedules.

Faculty of Medicine VU:
Ground floor G.018
Van der Boechorststraat 7- 1081 BT Amsterdam
Email: studentenbalie.vu@amsterdamumc.nl

Compulsory courses

All students of Personalized Medicine programme must attend the compulsory courses of the programme.

Optional courses

Students require consent of the examination board (EC Science Masters), if they want to attend an optional course. Requirements of the optional courses are described in the OER. Approval can be requested via a digital course approval form, which can be found on the programme website. Courses attended without the consent of the examination board (EC Science Masters) will not be registered. For registration of optional courses students can use VUnet. If registration is not possible by using VUnet (e.g. for external courses), the mode of inscription and corresponding e-mail addresses are indicated in each course description. Students are motivated to look for optional courses outside Amsterdam UMC or VU University. Courses attended without the written consent of the examination board (EC Science Masters) will not be registered. Possible financial consequences will be recovered from the student.

Minor, major internship and study of literature

Information about the internships and literature study can be found in the ‘Internship Regulations’ and Literature Study Regulations’ on the programme website. The examination board (EC Science Masters) has to approve all internships and the literature study. Approval can be requested via a digital approval form, which can be found on the programme website. Unapproved internship / literature study periods will not be registered by the educational secretarial office. Possible financial consequences will be recovered from the student.

Academic Core

The Academic Core is a component of the master programme which is designed to prepare students for the transition from student to scientist. The course lasts throughout the entire programme. During the course, students should compile an Academic Core Portfolio. Upon completion of the whole portfolio, the student must send this portfolio to masterpersonalizedmedicine-vu@amsterdamumc.nl and it will be assessed by the Academic Core examiner and discussed during a meeting with the program coordinator or Academic Core examiner. Afterwards, the Academic Core will be completed.

External students

If a particular compulsory course has capacity for more participants than accepted for the master programme, students of other master programmes from the VU can attend the course, provided that they meet the entry requirements and only when the maximum number of students is not reached. A written request for participation needs to be send in advance to the Admission Board of the programme, including a C.V., a motivation letter, and a recent transcript. (Email: masterpersonalizedmedicine-VU@amsterdamumc.nl).

Without permission of the Admission Board of the master Personalized Medicine and the board of examiners of the main study programme, non-master Personalized Medicine students are not accepted in class.