Chemistry of Life (specialisation)

Entry requirements

A completed Bachelor's degree

Entering the Master’s specialisation in Chemistry for Life requires a Bachelor’s degree in one of the subjects below. Please note that an international degree has to be equivalent to a Dutch university diploma. The Examination Board will determine if an international student has the required knowledge to be admitted, and if the student is required to follow specific courses from the Bachelor's programme to eliminate possible deficiencies. Relevant subjects are:

• Chemistry
• Biochemistry
• Molecular Life Sciences
• ...or equivalent

A proficiency in English

In order to take part in this programme, you need to have fluency in both written and spoken English.This requirement has been satisfied when the student meets the conditions, listed on our website.

Months of entry

September

Course content

The Master’s specialisation in Chemistry of Life involves the design and synthesis of complex molecular systems, addressing challenging problems, such as wound healing and drug delivery. At the interface of biology and chemistry you will get a solid foundation in modern synthetic organic chemistry, physical organic chemistry and chemical biology. This multidisciplinary knowledge is essential for industries of the future, where chemistry and life sciences become more and more intertwined. As a Chemistry of Life Master's student you will obtain the knowledge and skills you need to develop the next generation of medicines.

What will you learn?

• Gain a theoretical understanding of chemical biology as well as organic chemistry.
• Get hands on experience with essential instruments to understand organic compounds and materials.
• Get valuable work and research experience during your internship.
• Learn how to design, conduct and present your research.

Career prospects

We stimulate our Master's students to develop a critical mind and a problem solving attitude. Some of them will become the next generation of top scientists, all of them will have a job within a couple of months after graduation. Almost half of our graduates will become a PhD student at a university, while others will work at a research institute in the (bio)chemical or health industry or in one of our spin-off companies. A small portion chooses a job outside of the scientific world, for example as policymaker at a governmental organisation.

Societal Master's specialisation

You can either follow the above-mentioned research Master's specialisation as a whole (2 years), or you can combine the first year of the research track with an additional year of one of three societal Master’s specialisations, namely:

• Science in Society
• Science, Management and Innovation
• Science and Education (in Dutch only)

* European Credit Transfer System (ECTS)
The workload of an academic year is equivalent to 60 European credits (EC), where 1 EC point is 28 hours of study. This system allows you to check whether the courses you have followed in a particular year (along with other activities that earn credits) meet the European requirements.

*This is a specialisation of the Master's in Molecular Life Sciences and Master's in Science

For more information please contact us directly.

If you have any questions, email us here: study-information@ru.nl

Learn more via the Radboud University contact form.

Information for international students

Application deadlines

Non-EU/EEA students

• The deadline for non-EU/EEA students who wish to apply for a scholarship is 31 January prior to the September intake. For the requirements and selection procedure for scholarships, please check our scholarship overview.
• The deadline for those not applying for a scholarship is 1 April for non-EU/EEA nationals for the September 2026 intake. You can apply for the September 2026 intake from 1 October 2025.

EU/EEA students

• The application deadline for EU/EEA students with housing assistance for the September 2026 intake is 1 May, and the deadline without housing assistance is 1 July. You can apply from 1 October onward for the 2026/2027 academic year.

The application deadlines for Master’s starting in February are 1 November for non-EU/EEA citizens and 1 December for EU/EEA citizens.

Fees and funding

Radboud University offers 3 different scholarships that are open to prospective Master's students from non-EU/EEA countries and who want to follow an English-taught Master's programme.

Radboud Scholarship Programme

The Radboud Scholarship Programme offers talented, highly motivated, non-EU/EEA students with outstanding study results the opportunity to be awarded a partial scholarship for an English-taught Master’s programme.

NL Scholarship (for prospective students)

The NL Scholarship (formerly known as Holland Scholarship) is a partial scholarship for non-EU/EEA students who want to do their Master’s in the Netherlands.

Fulbright-Radboud Scholarships

The Fulbright Commission, sponsored by Radboud University, is offering scholarships for talented American students to study at Radboud University.