Courses for exchange students
This pages provides information about the course offer for incoming exchange students at Tilburg University. Exchange students can choose courses from all Schools of Tilburg University listed for exchange students. To avoid the disappointment of not being able to take your indicated courses, we advise you to read the regulations on this page closely, to critically assess each course, and to only select courses that match your specific academic background. In some cases, conditions apply that determine admission to the course.
Orientation
While planning your exchange, you will want to orientate early on about the course offer for incoming exchange students at Tilburg University. If you are viewing this page and courses for future semesters are not yet available, course overviews from the current academic year can be a good indicator of the courses available in future fall and spring semesters. Please note, however, that some changes to the offer always occur and that specific courses cannot be guaranteed.
Selecting courses
The process of selecting courses will begin after your home university has nominated you to Tilburg University:
- When completing your exchange application with Tilburg University, you will create a proposed study plan, where you indicate which courses you would like to take.
- The Study Abroad & Exchange Team then checks your eligibility and the available spaces for these courses.
- Once the course schedules for the upcoming semester are published, we will then invite you to create your final study plan. You can then make changes to your courses. This will happen in August for fall semester and full year exchange students, and in January for spring semester exchange students. You will receive detailed instructions on how to do this via your workflow in Mobility Online.
Course overview
There are two ways to see an overview of all available courses for exchange students:
1. Via our Excel overview
To orientate and create your proposed study plan, you can use an Excel file that you can download via the following link:
A few things to know:
- If you are a Bachelor student, please only look at courses that have a 'yes' in the column 'open to bachelor students'.
- You can check if conditions apply to a course and what these conditions are. Below you can find more detailed information on courses with specific criteria (LAS, GLB, Intervict, CentER, Econometrics, JADS)
- If there is a quota, you can find the maximum number of exchange students that can be admitted.
- You can also see if the course runs for the complete semester (Fall or Spring) or for just one block (Block 1, 2, 3 or 4). Please find more information on semester and block dates below under "Academic Calendar".
- By clicking on the link, you will get more information on the course. Many courses at Tilburg University are offered repeatedly, so links to past academic years are used where information for the upcoming year is not yet available. This can help you orientate as long as the course catalog is not yet available. If a link is not yet available, the course may be new for an upcoming academic year and will appear in the Osiris Course Catalog right before the start of the academic year.
2. Via the OSIRIS Course Catalog (early-/mid-August onwards)
From early-/mid-August onwards, you can use the OSIRIS course catalog to check our course offer for the upcoming academic year. You can find it by clicking on the link below and making the following choices:
- 'Study Programmes'
- 'Tilburg University'
- 'Exchange Program Tilburg University'
- Choose the most recent academic year folder (e.g. -2023) for your study level while on exchange (Bachelor or Master) and exchange type (fall, spring, full year)
Certificate programs
Exchange students are invited to participate in one of our Certificate Programs. These programs are designed for students who would like to specialize and gain a depth of understanding in a focused area of study. In addition to receiving the transcript of records, a certificate will be awarded if the student successfully completes all courses from the program.
Selecting courses
Please keep the following in mind when selecting courses:
- Students are allowed to take courses of all Schools (faculties) of Tilburg University listed for exchange students, but remember to follow the regulations of your home university too. Your home university may require you to take courses in a specific faculty and/or study field.
- All exchange students at Tilburg University are required to enroll in at least one course during their exchange.
- A normal (full-time) course load is 30 ECTS per semester.
- Exchange students are only allowed to take a maximum of 12 ECTS of the Language Center.
- Bachelor students can only choose from Bachelor level courses (except from Tilburg Law School, where some Master courses are available for Bachelor students).
- Master students are allowed to take Bachelor courses if it is approved by their home university.
- Some courses have admission requirements (e.g. the course coordinator will have to check your academic background or a course may have limited places available). These courses have been listed as courses to which conditions apply.
- Some Schools work with a "block" system, where the semester is divided into two blocks, but the majority works with a semester system (two semesters per year).
- Check the “pre-requisites” before selecting a course. These can be found in the Excel file. If you do not meet the pre-requisites, do not select this course.
Courses to which conditions apply
Before you start searching for courses it is important to know that Tilburg University has two different types of courses, for both you will need an official approval by us in your application in Mobility Online.
- Courses to which conditions apply - Conditions that may apply to these courses are the availability of a restricted amount of places or a screening based on your academic background by the course coordinator of the course. For these courses you might be rejected on the basis of these criteria.
- Courses to which no conditions apply - These courses do still require an official approval in Mobility Online, but will always be approved without any screening or maximum number of students. If you want to be sure you can take a course without any conditions, choose a course that does not have an approval or maximum number of exchange students.
Courses offered within the BSc/ BA Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) program, LLB Global Law (GLB) program, and Research Master in Business/Economics (CENTER) have additional entry requirements. You must upload additional information to your application in order to be considered entrance in these courses.
Selection Criteria for the LAS courses (LAS-conditions apply)
If you would like to follow one or more courses from the Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) program, you are required to upload an essay (1-2 A4) and a short motivation letter (1 A4) to your online application.
In your motivation letter you need to explain why you want to take the LAS course(s). An essay needs to address a societal problem or issue (be it social, political, legal, moral, or artistic) you found particularly compelling this year. This is an opportunity for you to display your ability to critically analyze a topic and effectively argue your viewpoint - illustrating your points with supportive evidence. One Motivation letter and one essay are sufficient even if you apply for several LAS courses. All documents must be in English.
Admission to the courses is based on a case-by-case basis and depends on the number of available places, good English-language command and prior knowledge (if applicable).
Selection Criteria for Global Law courses (GLB-conditions apply)
If you would like to follow one or two courses from the Global Law (GLB) program, you are required to upload a motivation letter (1 page A4) to your online application. Only students with a GPA over 3.0 can be considered for these courses. In addition please note that 100% class attendance is required (incl. preparation and active participation during class).
Admission to the courses is based on a case-by-case basis and depends on the number of available places.
Selection Criteria for CentER courses (CentER-conditions apply)
If you would like to follow one or more courses from the Research Master in Business or Economics (CentER), you are required to upload a motivation letter (1 A4) and a CV to your online application. Only students which have completed their previous degree with an excellent GPA (top 10% of your class) will be considered for CentER courses.
Admission to the courses is based on a case-by-case basis and depends on the number of available places.
Selection Criteria Econometrics Courses
The following courses require advanced knowledge and rigorous skills in mathematics. Only students registered in the following bachelor programs can be considered to be accepted into these courses: Econometrics, Operations Research, Data Science, Industrial Engineering, Financial Engineering, Mathematics, Statistics, Computer Science.
| 35B801-B-6 | Advanced Linear Algebra |
| 35V5B2-B-6 | Games and Economic Behavior |
| 35B113-B-6 | Introduction Analysis and Probability Theory |
| 35B205-B-6 | Introduction Mathematical Economics |
| 35B108-B-6 | Linear Optimization |
| 35B105-B-6 | Mathematical Analysis 1 |
| 360029-B-6 | Philosophy of Science and Statistics |
| 35V5A1-B-6 | Quantitative Finance |
| 35V5A2-B-6 | Risk Theory Data Analytics for Non-Life Insurance |
| 35B501-B-6 | Statistics for Econometrics |
| 35M1C9-M-6 | Empirical Finance |
| 35M1C5-M-6 | Microeconometrics |
| 35M1C7-M-6 | Panel Data Analysis of Microeconomic Decisions |
Courses taught at JADS in Den Bosch
The following courses are being taught by the Jheronimus Academy of Data Science (JADS) at the Marienburg campus in beautiful Den Bosch (formally called 's-Hertogenbosch). Please note that these are Bachelor-level courses from the pre-Master's program Data Science in Business and Entrepreneurship offered in the spring semester of each academic year. You are required to be enrolled in a technical bachelor program and meet the following prerequisites:
- A minimum of 15 EC in Mathematics and Statistics, of which at least 5 EC for Mathematics and 5 EC for Statistics.
Please pay special attention to the fact that these courses are taught in a different city which will require you to travel from and to Den Bosch (approx. 30 minutes one way) if you choose to live in Tilburg. Travel costs are at your own dispense and will be about 12 euro for a round trip.
Academic Calendar
The dates of our semester can be found in the academic calendars of the Tilburg University's Schools. They also show information about holidays, exam periods and university closures. Be aware that your exact semester dates, holidays and the end of your exchange are dependent on the courses you will take and whether you want to attend a re-sit exam.
A rough overview of semester and block dates:*
| Fall semester | |
| Block 1 | end of August – October |
| Block 2 | October – December |
| Exam periods | October (midterms and Block 1 exams) December - January (finals and Block 2 exams) |
| Re-sit periods | January and mid-June – July Please note that courses from both blocks can potentially have (re-sit) exams until the end of January and re-sits in mid-June – July. |
| Spring semester | |
| Block 3 | end of January – April |
| Block 4 | April – May |
| Exam periods | end of March - April (midterms and Block 3) May - June (finals and Block 4) |
| Re-sit period | mid-June - July |
*Dates are not guaranteed. Actual start and end dates as well as examination dates depend on the courses you follow.