Admission requirements - MSc Earth and Environment

Purpose and reason for the admission requirements

The admission requirements for the master's programme Earth and Environment are defined in such a way that the students should be able to successfully complete the programme nominally in two years. In order to comply, the student needs to have sufficient knowledge in the field of terrestrial and atmospheric processes and their influence on different systems, like the pedosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere. Moreover, the student must be able to relate physical, chemical, biological and spatial concepts to (near) the earth’s surface. This is to ensure that the student has a solid basis to follow the programme at master's level.

The criterion used for admission is

a WUR BSc degree in Soil, Water and Atmosphere, or equivalent.

The norm for this equivalence is

An assessment of the students' expertise in the following topics:

• Earth sciences (soil sciences, hydrology and/or atmospheric sciences)
• Natural sciences (physics, chemistry, biology)
• Computer sciences (programming skills and/or geo-information science)
• Mathematics (linear algebra, calculus)
• Basics in statistics

Not all topics mentioned need to be mastered at the same level; they will be weighed by the Admission Board per individual application.

Method of assessment whether this norm is met

• Transcript of records displaying the content of previous course subjects and project work;
• Curriculum vitae displaying relevant work, internship and/or project experience on an academic level in a relevant field if applicable.

Scores attributed by the Admission Board

Admitted / not admitted / admitted under condition obtaining the BSc or MSc degree / not admitted with offer of pre-master

The Admission Board may allow and/or suggest compensation of knowledge gaps by:

• a GPA≥7.0* for the previous education for small discrepancies as new knowledge is sufficiently easily acquired;
• a GPA≥7.0* and an individual pre-master's programme for larger discrepancies that can be compensated in ≤30 ECTS and one year of study.

*Check the general admissions page for the International credentials evaluation guide for international equivalencies to a Dutch GPA>7.0. This guide includes compensating factors for a slightly lower GPA the Admission Board may include in their judgement.

Contact us through the contact button above to discuss the possibilities of a pre-master or how to mitigate knowledge gaps if you are still in the process of obtaining your degree.

Find out more about pre-master's programmes.

Admissible study programmes

Study programmes of which the graduates may meet the knowledge requirements of Earth and Environment are for example: Earth sciences, Geosciences and Physical geography.

Study programmes with knowledge gaps

Study programmes whose students often have to follow additional courses within their current programme or in a pre-master to fulfil the knowledge requirements are for example: Environmental Sciences, Land and Water Management, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Civil Engineering or similar.

Students from universities of applied sciences (NL: hbo) often follow additional courses in a pre-master in natural sciences, mathematics and/or a domain course before admission.

Personal Statement regarding prior education (optional)

Please upload a Statement of purpose in your application. Please address the following topics (where relevant):

• Which of the four MEE specialisations are you considering? Why do you think it matches your acquired knowledge this far, as well as your ambitions for this study programme and your future career?
• In case your expertise in one or more of the relevant fields (see 'Required knowledge': Earth Sciences, natural sciences, computer science, mathematics and statistics) is not obvious from your transcript of records, please explain which of those topics were addressed in which courses.
• In case your GPA is too low, please explain the reason for your (slightly) too low GPA.