SAAM* Competitors

Leiden University is one of the most broad-based universities in the Netherlands, offering almost 50 bachelor's programmes and over 70 master’s. Leiden University, the oldest university in the Netherlands, has for centuries enjoyed an excellent reputation worldwide. A Leiden master’s diploma provides you with a firm basis for entering the employment market both at home and internationally.

The Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences/Hogeschool van Amsterdam (AUAS/HvA) is a knowledge institution that educates tomorrow’s professionals in a wide array of fields and disciplines of higher education. With a distinct focus on applied sciences, the AUAS enables students, lecturers and researchers to develop cutting-edge – and practical – knowledge and innovations. AUAS students are immersed in Amsterdam during their studies, a city renowned as a hotbed of education and research in all conceivable areas: culture and society, trade, logistics, aviation, shipping, information technology, sports, healthcare and more. With the city as their laboratory, AUAS students and lecturers work closely with countless industries, companies and organisations to come up with smart solutions to challenges facing Amsterdam. Applied research is a crucial component of the many educational programmes AUAS offers, and is conducted in close collaboration with both professors and professionals. Students work alongside professors in labs and at centres of applied research. AUAS focuses on five priority areas for research: Amsterdam creative industries, Urban Education, Urban Management, Urban Technology and Urban Vitality. Entrepreneurship is another important focus area. The AUAS consists of seven faculties, teaching 45,460 students and offering 92 Bachelor’s, Master’s and Associate degree programmes. It is one of the biggest employers in the field of higher education, and in Amsterdam, with some 4,066 staff members. *reference date: 2018 http://www.amsterdamuas.com/

MA+U English concurrent Master of Architecture (M. Arch) and Master of Urbanism (M. Urb). "Many of today’s pressing societal, economic and ecological issues have spatial consequences that architects and urban designers are well prepared to confront."(Rory Hyde, Future Practices, Routlegde 2012) Design thinking is a powerful competence that is key to address the range of complex and interrelated challenges we face. The MA+U programs are collaborative, topical, creative and practice based. All issues connected to design thinking therefore define the curriculum. Educating designers with a relevant set of powerful skills, applicable knowledge and a fundamental collaborative attitude is at the core of our four year Master degree programs. A unique aspect of the programs is that they are taught in a ‘concurrent’ way, combining studio work and courses with a relevant professional practice during the Master program. Concurrent education offers students experience and education beyond the school curriculum.