Pre-Master | Chemical Science & Engineering

Are you interested in joining the master’s programme in Chemical Science & Engineering? Find out if you need to follow a pre-master's first.

After you have sent in your application for the Master's in Chemical Science & Engineering, a committee will check your eligibility. An outcome of this assessment may be that you first have to complete a pre-master's before being admitted.

What is a pre-master?

The pre-master's programme is a transfer and bridging programme for higher professional education (hbo) or university bachelor's students who wish to obtain a university master's degree but cannot be admitted directly. Students with a related previous education will gain the knowledge and skills needed for participation in the Master’s programme. Once you have successfully completed the pre-master's programme, you’ll be granted admission to the master’s programme in Chemical Science & Engineering.

What applies to you?

Do you want to get insights into the Pre-Master's? The programme you need to take, depends on your previous or current education. What kind of education do or did you follow?

University of applied sciences (Dutch HBO)

As a bachelor's student from a Dutch university of applied sciences (HBO), it is mandatory to follow a pre-master's first to prepare you for this Master's. You are taught various scientific research skills and your knowledge in mathematics and statistics is raised to an academic level. If you manage to successfully complete this Pre-Master’s within one year, you are able to enrol.

The Pre-Master's and the Master's programme of Chemical Science & Engineering is taught entirely in English. The content of the Pre-Master's depends on your chosen specialisation. The Master's in Chemical Science & Engineering has three specialisations:

Contents of Pre-Master's if you choose specialisation CPE

Mathematics: Calculus A + B, Programming in Engineering

Domain related: Catalysis and Reaction Kinetics; Chemical Reactor Engineering; Fluid Dynamics, Heat & Mass Transfer; Numerical methods

Pre-Master programme CPE 2020-2021

Quarter 1		Quarter 2		Quarter 3		Quarter 4
Calculus A	5	Calculus B	3	Heat & mass transfer for PT-course	4,5	Intr. Chemical Reactor Engineering	4
Matlab for pre-masters ET	2	Fluid dynamics for PT-course	3
Kinetics& Catalysis	4,5	Numerical methods	4
Academic Skills	0,5
	12		10		4,5		4

Kies op Maat programme CPE 2020-2021

Quarter 1		Quarter 2
Calculus A	5	Calculus B	3
Matlab voor pre-masters ET	2	Fluid dynamics Heat & mass transfer	7,5
Kinetics & Catalysis	4,5	Fluid dynamics Heat & mass transfer	7,5
Chemical Reactor Engineering	3,5	Numerical methods	4
Academic Skills	0,5	Numerical methods	4
	15		15

Contents of Pre-Master's if you choose specialisation MME/ MSE

Mathematics: Calculus A + B, Programming in Engineering

Domain related: Catalysis and Reaction Kinetics; Fundamentals of Solid; Industrial Chemistry and Processes; Advanced Materials Science, Chemical & Technology of Materials

Pre-Master/ Kies op Maat programme MME/ MSE 2020-2021

Quarter 1		Quarter 2
Calculus A	5	Calculus B	3
		Matlab voor pre-masters ET	2,5
Kinetics & Catalysis	4,5	Fundamentals of Solid	3,5
Industrial Chemistry & Processes	4,5	Advanced materials science	3,5
Academic Skills (201700158)	0,5	Chemical & Technology of Materials	4
	14,5		16,5

Study load

A pre-master's programme contains 30 credits. This is a full-time study programme of one semester (except for the CPE track, which takes one year to complete) with courses in mathematics (12 credits) and domain-related courses (18 credits).

As a hbo student you can start your pre-master’s programme after completing your bachelor’s programme or during your bachelor's programme as a transfer minor (Kies op maat).

Admission requirements and how to apply

To qualify for the (Pre-)Master's in Chemical Science & Engineering, you have to meet certain conditions. How you apply, depends on whether you take the Pre-Master's during or after your HBO bachelor's.

Costs

You pay a fee per EC and this Pre-Master's is 30 EC. Each academic year, the amount per EC will be reassessed. Visit the tuition page for the current fees.

If you choose to fit your Pre-Master's into your current HBO bachelor's, you can avoid extra costs; after all, you already pay tuition fees for your current bachelor's.

National and International University students

For university students, the programme and study workload, or the number of credits depends on their previous education and will not be the same for everyone. Pre-master’s programmes for university students range from 10 to 30 credits.

What is expected of you?

Besides addressing any deficiencies in your prior knowledge, the pre-master’s programme is an efficient way to find out whether studying at a research university in the field of Chemical Science & Engineering is right for you. Therefore, the following rules apply:

We ask you to fulfil the requirements of the pre-master’s programme within one year. Since 30 credits is equivalent to half a year of full-time study, this should not pose a problem.
You must earn sufficient marks with one re-sit per course. This means you need to take the pre-master’s programme seriously.
You cannot expect to be successful in the pre-master’s programme if you approach it half-heartedly: it is meant as a half-year, full-time programme of study. That said, in practice almost all motivated students complete the programme in the allotted time.

Contact

For general information about the Master's in Chemical Science & Engineering, you can contact our Study Information Centre.