The University of Amsterdam (UvA) is one of the oldest and largest universities in Europe, with over 30,000 students, 2,800 academic staff, and a budget of over 600 million euros. The UvA has a broad academic curriculum. Its research performance is at the top of the international league in many fields. The UvA forms an integral part of the city of Amsterdam, a hub of cultural and media activities, as well as a world centre for business and research. The UvA belongs to the League of European Research Universities and maintains intensive contact with universities around the world. The Department of Political Science, ranked #33 worldwide (2016 QS rankings), is part of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences and investigates how ongoing social, economic, and political transformations affect local, national, European and global governance. The Department studies politics broadly, addressing interactions between the political system, the economy and civil society. Its teaching and research carry out such studies to critically investigate and improve the democratic accountability, representative quality and legitimacy of contemporary governance. The department is embedded in the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR). The AISSR encompasses four disciplines: Anthropology, Sociology, Political Science and Human Geography.
Among several other programmes, the Department offers a MSc in Political Science with a specialisation track on European Politics and External Relations. UvA also hosts the Amsterdam Centre for Contemporary European Studies (ACCESS Europe), a Jean Monnet Centre which has established itself as a leading research centre in the Netherlands and internationally. Moreover, UvA also hosts the Amsterdam Centre for Middle Eastern Studies (ACMES), which acts as an umbrella organization and podium for UvA’s extensive expertise in this field and promotes collaboration among scholars beyond disciplinary boundaries.