ELLIS offers an honours programme for talented MSc students at the University of Amsterdam, allowing them to connect with leading researchers and top-tier academics in their field. With your Amsterdam supervisor, you will start a collaboration with an ELLIS member at an ELLIS partner institution outside of the Netherlands (host institution), and conduct your MSc thesis under their joint supervision. During your thesis project, you will spend (a minimum of) two weeks at a European institution outside the Netherlands, which is sponsored by the ELLIS Amsterdam honours programme. Students admitted to the ELLIS honours programme that successfully finish their independent project and thesis and finish their degree cum laude will be awarded an ELLIS Amsterdam MSc honours certificate.
The ELLIS Amsterdam MSc honours programme allows you to connect with excellent researchers in your field, and covers up to 2,000 euro of expenses to visit your co-supervisor at an ELLIS partner institution outside of the Netherlands and within Europe. Students who successfully finish the ELLIS honours programme will get the opportunity to present their MSc thesis work at ELLIS workshops/events organised and will be awarded an ELLIS Amsterdam honours certificate if they graduate cum laude.
The ELLIS Amsterdam honours programme is open for excellent MSc students obtaining a degree in artificial intelligence, computer science, computational linguistics, or related fields. Applications are open for students who are in their second or third semester, have a grade point average of at least 8.0 and no single grade lower than 7.0, have already completed a prior research project, which is not their thesis with an ELLIS member at the University of Amsterdam who will be the thesis supervisor.
We encourage strong applications from women, people of color, LGBTQ people, and members of other marginalized communities. Application to the programme doesn’t guarantee acceptance into the programme—only 16 MSc students will be selected to be ELLIS Honours students.
Step 1. Identify a potential supervisor
Step one in the application process is to find a suitable supervisor. To do so, start by having a look at potential supervisors on the people page of the ELLIS Amsterdam website. All ELLIS Members at the University of Amsterdam can serve as potential supervisors (ELLIS PhD candidates and Postdocs do not qualify as ELLIS Members). To find out more about the research topics of the different researchers, check their website and publications, to which links are provided under their photo. We recommend you to send an email in which you briefly explain something about your research interests and why you are excited about working with this supervisor, and attach your CV and grades to this email. If you have the opportunity to first talk with your prospective supervisor in person, this may help you to capture their interest.
Step 2. Conduct an initial research project with the potential thesis supervisor
After you have identified a potential supervisor, you can approach this supervisor to ask them if they have the time and are interested in supervising you for a project, before your thesis project. Under the guidance of the supervisor, you will conduct a formally registered project. Please note that you can only apply for the programme once you have completed the prior research project with the same supervisor as your thesis supervisor.
Step 3. Find a second supervisor
With your ELLIS unit Amsterdam supervisor, your next step is to find a second supervisor at a different ELLIS institution abroad. You should find your second supervisor in consultation with your ELLIS unit Amsterdam supervisor. Your main supervisor will likely have some suggestions, but you are free to suggest potential second supervisors yourself as well. A list of all ELLIS Members who are eligible to be a second supervisor, can be found at the ellis.eu webpage. Please note that the unit only covers research visits taking place within Europe.
Step 4. Write a research proposal
Together with your first and potentially also second supervisor, you can now write a brief research proposal of maximally 250 words, in which you describe the research that you will conduct with them. Put the research proposal in the application form, and collect (digital) signatures of both your supervisors. You don’t have to specifically mention what you do in your independent project, and what in your thesis, but bear in mind you have to do research with your supervisor before starting the thesis! Please indicate your research visit period and duration (estimation) in your research proposal.
Step 6. Submit your application
To apply, please send an application form (word/pdf) along with a one-page CV, and your transcript as one merged pdf file to ellisinfo-science@uva.nl. Only applications submitted using UvA e-mail account will be considered. The application opens in two periods; the first period starts in August and closes in September, and the second period starts in December and closes in January each year.
Honours students are required to present their MSc thesis work at ELLIS workshops and events, including the MSc Meetup, and the ELLIS Honours Showcase.
The ELLIS unit Amsterdam asks the MSc Honours students to acknowledge ELLIS unit Amsterdam in the acknowledgment sections of their papers and on their scientific posters or presentation slides. The students are also asked to provide to the ELLIS unit Amsterdam their research information. The name of the Honours student, the research and/or paper information, and the conferences where the papers are published, if any, will be listed on the ELLIS unit Amsterdam website.
If you complete the ELLIS Honours programme, you will receive a certificate. Requirements to receive the certificate are:
Maybe. Applications with the same thesis and initial research project supervisors are given preference in our selection process.
If you have conducted a research project under supervision of an ELLIS member at the University of Amsterdam, you should be able to demonstrate it (for instance by a grade in your grade list, a report, publication or preprint).
Yes, as long as you can demonstrate your eligibility for the programme.
A short visit of at least two weeks or a reasonable time. If your second supervisor is located outside Europe, this requirement doesn’t apply.
Yes, if your second supervisor is located outside the Netherlands. Since the covid restrictions have been lifted, the visit should be conducted in person. It is possible for you to do the initial consultation/visit virtually, if the situation doesn’t allow you to do it in person (for example due to visa processing. However, we expect students to conduct and demonstrate an in-person visit eventually.
Yes. The second supervisor could be from an industry sector, in agreement with your main supervisor.
Your supervisors should be two ELLIS Society members; one member from the ELLIS unit Amsterdam, and one member from an ELLIS unit abroad.
If you have questions regarding the programme, you may wish to check the FAQ below. If you still couldn’t find answers to your questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us at ellisinfo-science@uva.nl.