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Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

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The Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (abbreviated as VU Amsterdam or simply VU when in context) is a public research university in Amsterdam , Netherlands , being founded in 1880. The VU Amsterdam is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being the University of Amsterdam (UvA). The literal translation of the Dutch name Vrije Universiteit is "Free University". "Free" refers to independence of the university from both the State and the Dutch Reformed Church . Both within and outside the university, the institution is commonly referred to as "the VU". Although founded as a private institution, the VU has received government funding on a parity basis with public universities since 1970. The university is located on a compact urban campus in the southern Buitenveldert neighbourhood of Amsterdam and adjacent to the modern Zuidas business district.

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49-537: As of October 2021, the VU had 29,796 registered students, most of whom were full-time students. That year, the university had 2,263 faculty members and researchers, and 1,410 administrative, clerical and technical employees, based on FTE units. The university's annual endowment for 2014 was circa €480 million. About three quarters of this endowment is government funding; the remainder is made up of tuition fees, research grants, and private funding. The official university seal

98-467: A campus café. Several of the university's administrative departments are also located at the Uilenstede campus. Uilenstede is served by tram 25 and tram 5. Many of the residential halls at Uilenstede are currently undergoing major renovation works. A new apartment complex for visiting staff and international PhD students on the eastern side of the campus was opened in 2012. The new building was awarded

147-825: A full work or school load. According to the federal government of the United States , FTE is defined by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) as the number of total hours worked divided by the maximum number of compensable hours in a full-time schedule as defined by law. For example, if the normal schedule for a quarter is defined as 411.25 hours ([35 hours per week × (52 weeks per year – 5 weeks' regulatory vacation)] / 4), then someone working 100 hours during that quarter represents 100/411.25 = 0.24 FTE. Two employees working in total 400 hours during that same quarterly period represent 0.97 FTE. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget , or OMB,

196-637: A group of Calvinists led by Abraham Kuyper as the first Protestant university in the Netherlands. Kuyper was a theologian, journalist, politician, and prime minister of the Netherlands from 1901 to 1905. He was a professor of theology at VU as well as the university's first rector magnificus (academic president). Kuyper's worldview and philosophy is referred to as Neo-Calvinism . As a reflection of his beliefs, Vrije Universiteit literally means 'Free University' (or 'Liberated University') to signify independence from both government and church. Teaching at

245-464: A newly formed grassroots movement of staff and students. The university's main campus and medical centre are situated in the Buitenveldert neighbourhood, part of the southern district of Amsterdam. The campus occupies about 0.4 km (0.15 sq mi) and is built along the 'De Boelelaan', a large east–west thoroughfare. Initially a fairly isolated location surrounded mostly by fields,

294-643: A number of mergers, these faculties are: Behavioural and Movement Sciences; Dentistry; Earth and Life Sciences; School of Business and Economics; Humanities; Law; Sciences; Social Sciences; Theology; and the VUmc School of Medical Sciences. The Vrije Universiteit is formally a private institution, part of the VU-VUmc Foundation. The other main institution within this foundation is the VU University Medical Center , which has

343-462: A result, the number of students grew substantially. Against the background of increasing student activism at universities around the world, new student organizations were formed demanding a more democratic academic culture at VU. By the end of the 1970s, the small, elitist Christian institution had all but disappeared and had become a broad, research-oriented university, open to students of diverse backgrounds. Student numbers continued to grow rapidly in

392-542: A separate management structure. The university is governed by the Executive Board, consisting of a president, a vice-president and a rector. The Executive Board has general management responsibilities and appoints the deans and professors of the faculties. The Executive Board is accountable to a Supervisory Board, appointed by the members' assembly of the VU Association, a private organization which founded

441-406: A single metric for comparison with the full-time average. For example, a full week of 40 hours has an FTE value of 1.0, so a person working 20 hours would have an FTE value of 0.5. Certain industries may adopt 35 hours, depending on the company, its location and the nature of work. Whole-time equivalent (WTE) is the same as FTE and applies also to students in education. Full-time equivalent students

490-410: A weekly basis until fall 2012, when it became as a biweekly magazine. The Ad Valvas magazine focuses primarily on background stories, interviews and op-ed articles, while daily campus news is mostly provided through the newspaper's website. Ad Valvas is published every Thursday during the academic year, 36 times a year. In 1979, the paper acquired editorial independence and no longer had to answer to

539-402: Is a unit of measurement that indicates the workload of an employed person (or student) in a way that makes workloads or class loads comparable across various contexts. FTE is often used to measure a worker's or student's involvement in a project, or to track cost reductions in an organization. An FTE of 1.0 is equivalent to a full-time worker or student, while an FTE of 0.5 signals half of

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588-772: Is a rapidly developing business district in the city of Amsterdam in the Netherlands . The Zuidas is also known as the 'Financial Mile'. It lies between the rivers Amstel and Schinkel along the ringway A10 . The greatest influences for the development of the Zuidas are La Défense in Paris and Canary Wharf in London . In size it can best be compared with the Noordruimte/Espace Nord in Brussels . In

637-501: Is also part of the Tinbergen Institute (together with Erasmus University and University of Amsterdam ) for economics and finance subject research and training. Of the nearly 3,000 academic staff (2,257 in fte) employed at VU in 2012, 42% were female. Almost 80% were of Dutch origin, while about 15% had other European nationalities. The remaining 5% came from Asia, North America, Africa, South America and Oceania. Within

686-616: Is entitled The Virgin in the Garden . Personally chosen by Abraham Kuyper , the Reformed-Protestant leader and founder of the university, it depicts a virgin living in freedom in a garden while pointing towards God, referring to the Protestant Reformation in the Netherlands in the 16th and 17th century. In 1990, the university adopted the mythical griffin as its common emblem. The VU was founded in 1880 by

735-707: Is located at the intersection of the Boelelaan and the Buitenveldertselaan. The sixteen-story building is currently undergoing major renovation works. The Main Building is home to the faculties of Arts, Philosophy, Economics and Business, and Theology. The University Library occupies five floors as well as several floors with closed stacks. In addition, the Main Building houses the Aula (main auditorium),

784-425: Is one of the key metrics for measuring enrollment in colleges and universities. The measure is often annualized to cover the average annual full-time equivalent students and is designated by the acronym AAFTE. Academics can increase their contribution by adopting a number of strategies: (a) increase class size; (b) teach new classes; (c) supervise more projects; (d) supervise more researchers. The latter strategy has

833-715: Is organized within the several faculties. Together, the faculties offer 50 bachelor's , almost 160 master's , and a number of PhD programmes. The language of instruction for most bachelor's courses is Dutch. As of fall 2015, the university offers five bachelor's programmes fully in English: Business Analytics (Faculty of Science); Computer Science (Faculty of Science); International Business Administration (School of Business and Economics); Liberal Arts and Sciences ( Amsterdam University College ), Literature and Society (Faculty of Humanities); and Philosophy, Politics and Economics (Faculty of Humanities). Fall 2018

882-611: Is the Initium Building, housing the Faculty of Law. The arch-shaped building, opened in 2010, now forms the eastern entrance of the VU campus. The Faculty of Social Sciences is located in the Metropolitan Building, technically just off-campus, on the other side of the Buitenveldertselaan. The medical faculty is located on west end of campus, adjacent to the sprawling Amsterdam UMC , location VUmc . In 2018,

931-539: Is worth one-tenth of all credits for the undergraduate program (i.e. 0.1 FTE). An undergraduate project is worth two-tenths of all credits for the undergraduate program (i.e. 0.2 FTE). A research thesis is worth all of the credits for the graduate program (i.e. 1 FTE). The professor's contribution is 29.4 FTEs: To encourage more research some universities offer 2 FTEs or even 3 FTEs for each full-time researcher. Zuidas The Zuidas (literally South Axis in Dutch )

980-607: The European Medicines Agency moved from London to Zuidas. Between 1998 and 2004, the World Trade Center Amsterdam was renovated and expanded. In 2005, floor space in Zuidas amounted to 3,000,000 square metres (32,000,000 sq ft). Rapid expansion of Zuidas continued after 2005. The main infrastructural axis ( Ring-A10 ) is scheduled to be tunnelled, transforming the entire area. This would add an estimated €2 billion to

1029-785: The Vrije Universiteit started in 1880 in a few rooms rented at the Scottish Missionary Church (now the Kleine Komedie theatre), along the Amstel river in Amsterdam's city centre. Here, Kuyper and four fellow professors began lecturing in three faculties: theology, law, and the arts. In 1884, the Scottish Missionary Church became too small for the growing number of students and the university bought its first building, located at Keizersgracht 162. In

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1078-630: The 101–150 range, with higher rankings in the subject areas Communication (12th), Psychology (22nd), Geography (26th), Law (29th), Nursing and Dentistry (respectively, 36th and 38th), Public Administration (42nd) and Economics (45th). Additionally, other fields make it to the top 100 worldwide according to the Shanghai Ranking, i.e., Political Science (76-100), Medicine (76-100), Sociology (76-100), Business Administration (76-100). The Tilburg University Top 100 Worldwide Economics Schools Research Ranking based on research contribution 2016-2020 placed

1127-695: The 2023 QS World University Rankings , which attaches 50% to review surveys by academics and employers, the Vrije Universiteit was placed 214 overall in the world. Moreover, the VU has been ranked in the top 50 universities in the field of Sport-Related subjects (23rd), Theology (32nd), Philosophy (34th), and Psychology (43rd). On the other hand, it ranked in the top 100 universities worldwide in Pharmacy and Pharmacology (80th), Medicine (81st), Economics and Business (86th), Communication Sciences (51-100), Geography (51-100), Anatomy (51-100), and other. On

1176-405: The 21st century: from 15,700 students in 2002 to about 25,000 in 2011, causing growing pains which have resulted in lower student satisfaction and budgetary constraints. The university has embarked on a reform agenda, including a large-scale renewal of campus facilities, austerity programmes and staff reorganizations, which in turn were met with opposition and legal action from trade unions as well as

1225-697: The English-taught Bachelor programme History and International Studies (Faculty of Humanities) was launched. Additionally, the university-wide VU Honours Programme is taught in English. Over 130 master's programmes at VU are offered entirely in English. In some master's programmes, international students outnumber the Dutch students by a large margin. The university also maintains a number of bilateral exchange agreements with foreign universities, allowing foreign students to spend one or two semesters at

1274-543: The New University Building was opened hosting teaching and research spaces as well as two caffès, an exhibition space, and a film screening space. The satellite campus 'Uilenstede' is located further south, in the municipality of Amstelveen . Uilenstede, built mainly between 1966 and 1970, is home to several large student housing complexes and apartment buildings and the VU Sports Centre. and

1323-470: The University's Board of Directors. From 1994 to 1999 Frank van Kolfschooten served as the editor-in-chief of the paper. Ad Valvas had a circulation of 12,226 copies in the period of 2008-2009. 52°20′02″N 4°51′54″E  /  52.33389°N 4.86500°E  / 52.33389; 4.86500 Full-time equivalent Full-time equivalent ( FTE ), or whole time equivalent ( WTE ),

1372-840: The Vrije Universiteit (39th) in the world. Like teaching, research at VU is organized mostly along the lines of the ten faculties and their departments. University-wide, four interdisciplinary themes have been determined as the principal focus areas of research: In addition to faculty research centres and programmes, the university houses several interdisciplinary research institutes. The Amsterdam Institute of Molecules, Medicines and Systems, founded in 2010, consists of 17 research groups in pharmaceutical sciences, life sciences, computational life sciences and molecular sciences at VU. AIMMS focusses on three programs: molecular mechanisms of biological processes , design and characterization of molecules and medicines , and Biomarkers and diagnostics. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam School of Business and Economics

1421-479: The Vrije Universiteit is placed 146th overall in the world. In the 2023 Times Higher Education World University Rankings , VU was ranked 121st. In the subject area of Arts and Humanities, the VU ranks 87th in the world, while in the field of Social Sciences it ranks 81st. In the same fashion, the VU makes it in the top 100 universities worldwide in the following subject areas: Business and Economics (91st), Computer Science (96th), Law (91st), and Psychology (49th). In

1470-686: The Vrije Universiteit. As with all publicly funded universities in the Netherlands, bachelor's and master's students pay tuition fees determined by law. For the academic year 2015/2016, regular tuition fees for bachelor's and master's programmes amount to €1,951 per year for students from the European Union or European Economic Area and €9,000 to €12,000 per year for students from non-EU/EEA countries. Most Dutch students and long-term Dutch resident EU citizens are eligible for government loans or grants to cover tuition and living expenses. PhD programmes are organized differently. Rather than applying to

1519-463: The Zuidas to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol takes approximately 8 minutes. Future development could include an underground line directly to the airport. Another high-speed link has been proposed by a consortium of companies between Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Amsterdam Zuid and the city of Almere . The Zuidas already has good underground connections to other business areas with the Circle Line. With

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1568-572: The advantage of contributing to another key metric in universities—creating new knowledge and in particular publishing papers in highly ranked academic journals . It is also linked to another key metric—research funding which is often required to attract researchers. In Australia, the equivalent to FTE for students is EFTSL ( Equivalent Full-Time Student Load ). A professor teaches two undergraduate courses, supervises two undergraduate projects and supervises four researchers by thesis only (i.e. researchers do not take any courses). Each undergraduate course

1617-647: The body of academic staff, 29% were PhD candidates employed as junior researchers. In 2012, about 300 PhD dissertations were defended at VU. In 2012, the European Research Council awarded two starting grants and six advanced grants to VU researchers. In addition, 11 VENI and two VICI grants were awarded within the prestigious Innovational Research Incentives Scheme by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research . In 2013, Professor Piek Vossen (Computational Lexicology)

1666-462: The campus is now adjacent to the modern Zuidas business district housing some of the largest banks, accounting and law firms in the Netherlands. The VU campus is served by the 51 metro line as well as a number of tram lines and bus routes. It is also within walking distance of the Amsterdam Zuid railway station . The university's Main Building ('Hoofdgebouw' or HG), established in 1973,

1715-468: The completion of the North South line , the Zuidas has an even better connection to the city center. The city council is not only investigating expanding the underground network to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol but also upgrading the hybrid metro/light rail line that stops at Amsterdam Zuid. Large multinationals such as ABN-Amro and Akzo Nobel have their headquarters in this new area. After Brexit ,

1764-415: The following years, the university acquired more buildings throughout the city. In 1905, VU was formally accredited and granted the legal right to award academic degrees. New faculties were subsequently added to the original three, including a science faculty (1930) and a medical faculty (1950). Funding for the university was provided through the VU Association, an organization founded by Abraham Kuyper which

1813-589: The future, the local Amsterdam Zuid railway station is planned to become the second main station in Amsterdam. It is expected to become the fifth busiest passenger station in the Netherlands, with connections to Schiphol Airport , Rotterdam , Antwerp , Brussels , and Paris via the Thalys , a high-speed rail . It will also connect to the German high-speed network, the ICE , via Utrecht and Arnhem . The journey from

1862-528: The middle of campus square is The Basket, the university bar, as well as a number of volleyball fields. Recent additions to the campus square area include a campus supermarket and an Italian coffeehouse. Also adjacent to the campus square is the modern building of the Institute for Health and Welness, which has been nicknamed the Red Potato after its distinct shape and color. Along the Buitenveldertselaan

1911-533: The municipality's architecture prize. A large renovation of the public space, made possible with a grant from the Schiphol Foundation, started in September 2013 and includes the construction of three new squares at the campus. The Vrije Universiteit is made up of several faculties, responsible for teaching and research, as well as a number of interdisciplinary research institutes. As of 2015, after

1960-517: The other hand, the USNWR ranking of global universities ranks the VU 84th in the world, with strong performances in fields such as Economics and Business (44th), Clinical Medicine (58th), Social Sciences and Health (35th) and Arts & Humanities (102nd). Furthermore, the CWTS, focusing on citation output, ranks the VU 79th in the world. The 2021 Shanghai Ranking placed the Vrije Universiteit overall in

2009-413: The president's budget office, will often place upper limits on the total number of FTE that a given agency may utilize each year. In the past, if agencies were given a ceiling on the actual number of employed workers, which was reported on a given day of the year, the agency could employ more than this number for much of the year. Then, as the reporting deadline approached, employees could be let go to reduce

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2058-539: The term is often overloaded in colloquial usage to indicate a "direct, as opposed to contract, full-time employee". The term WYE (work year equivalent) is often used instead of FTE when describing the contractor work. In the United Kingdom , full time equivalent equates to the standard 40-hour work week: eight hours per day, five days per week and is the total amount of hours that a single full-time employee has worked over any period. This allows employers to adopt

2107-460: The total number to the authorized ceiling on the reporting date. Providing agencies with an FTE ceiling, which is calculated based on the total number of hours worked by all employees throughout the year, irrespective of the total numbers employed at any point in time, prevents agencies from using such a strategy. Although the generally accepted human-resources meaning for the "E" in FTE is "equivalent",

2156-484: The university for admission, prospective students must find a (full) professor who has a position for a PhD candidate, called a ' promovendus ', and contact him or her directly. Most faculties advertise open positions on their websites. As is common in Dutch universities, 'promovendi' are paid a salary and are considered university employees, therefore they do not pay tuition. In the CWUR - World University Rankings 2019–2020,

2205-534: The university in 1880. The university's Works Council , a body of elected representatives of faculty and staff, as well as the Student Council, have consultation and co-decision rights in some areas of university policy and management. The College of Deans, consisting of all faculty deans and chaired by the rector, acts as a coordinating and consulting body at the central level and is responsible for awarding doctoral degrees and honorary doctorates. Teaching

2254-517: The university restaurant, several kiosks, a fair trade store, and the VU bookstore. On the south side, the Main Building provides access to the campus square ('Campusplein'). Many student organizations have their offices along the campus square entrance. South of the square is the Sciences Building ('Wis- en Natuurkundegebouw' or W&N), another 1970s building. The W&N is housing the faculties of Sciences and Earth and Life Sciences. In

2303-480: The university's profile changed significantly in many respects. From 1968 onwards, the university relocated from Amsterdam's city centre to a new, functional campus in the southern Buitenveldert neighbourhood. In order to strengthen academic research, university administrators decided to apply for public funding on parity with public universities, which is guaranteed under the Dutch constitution, and no longer opposed admitting non-Protestant professors and students. As

2352-465: Was firmly rooted within the Calvinist community in the Netherlands . By the end of the 1960s, the university received financial support from more than 200,000 private contributors. Many were making small coin donations collected by some 10,000 (mostly female) fundraisers, who were going door to door with the quintessential green VU collecting box. It was in the end of the 1960s and into the 1970s, that

2401-825: Was one of three scholars awarded with the Spinoza Prize , the highest scientific award in the Netherlands. The University Library holds a relatively large collection of more than 1,000,000 printed items. The library occupies five floors in the university's Main Building, not including closed stacks, while the medical collection is housed at the VU University Medical Center . The library's special collections department holds 70,000 manuscripts and printed items in 26 collections. Important collections include reformation works, original English prints, pamphlets and portraits. The university's independent newspaper, Ad Valvas , has been in print since 1952. The newspaper formally acquired editorial independence in 1979. Ad Valvas appeared on

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