Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR)

Founded in 1913, Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) is a highly ranked, international research university. It is located in the dynamic and diverse city of Rotterdam, the city that houses the largest port in Europe. With a total of 23,000 students and 1,400-strong research community, EUR is well-recognized as one of the biggest universities of the Netherlands. EUR’s quality is demonstrated in its consistent top 100 in most major universities rankings.

The university has seven faculties which focuses on 4 distinct areas: Health (Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences/Erasmus MC and institute of Health Policy & Management (iBMG), Wealth (Erasmus School of Economics and Rotterdam School of Management), Governance (Erasmus School of Law and Faculty of Social Sciences), and Culture (Erasmus School of History, Culture, and Communication, Faculty of Social Sciences, and Faculty of Philosophy).

School's main website | International/Exchange student website

GPA requirement:

Please check with your home university for guidelines.

Language of instruction:

English

Courses:

Course descriptions can be found in respective college’s webpage.

Dutch Language Courses
EUR offers 2 Dutch Language Courses: Pre-Semester Intensive Dutch Language Course and Semester-Long Dutch Language Courses. The Intensive Dutch Courses are offered only during summer and is taught over 3 weeks. The Semester Long Dutch Language Courses are offered only in trimesters 2 and 3. The latter is relatively cheaper than the intensive Dutch course. More information can be found here!

Course registration process:

The international exchange committee enrolls students into classes by first-come-first-serve basis. The arrangement is done via emails with the coordinator before the semester commences. More information about the course registration process can be found here!

Attendance policy:

Attendance for lectures is highly encouraged because most of the materials tested on the finals come from lectures. As for other classes such as tutorials, seminars, research workshops, thesis class, attendance is mandatory. Full information about the attendance policy can be found here!

Campus map:

Selected facilities:

Erasmus Sport Center
Located on the Woudestein campus, Erasmus Sport Center has two large venues for all kinds of indoor sports. It also houses 2 training halls, a dance studio, a spinning studio, 5 squash courts, a gym, and 6 tennis courts. To access the sports center, you have to acquire the pass. The pass comes in different types: valid for 12, 6, 3, 1 month. You can get the pass from ESN Rotterdam (International Student Club) members or you can also visit the website here!

Shops on Woudestein Campus
The Woudestein Campus has a wide variety of shops and businesses including Copyshop Canon, Bookshop Studystore, EURflex, Randstad, Hair Design By Lydia, Spar Mini Supermarket, and Repair Shop Campus Bikes. Find out more here! 

Food on campus:

EUR has two main food places on campus: one is the Woudestein campus and the other being the Food Plaza (refer to the map). The Woudestein campus offers a wide variety of meals ranging from an exotic meal to a working lunch or a quick bite to eat. Best part of it is that you can also get your daily groceries there! The Food Plaza offers nice and affordable cuisines like Italian food, Kebab stall, Indonesian cuisine, and many more.

You can find the opening hours of the food places here!

Campus transportation:

Within the campus, you can get from one building to another easily on foot. Another option is to bike around like how the Dutch normally do it.

EUR is a lively, modern campus which hosts students and scholars of more than 100 nationalities. The university itself constantly encourages its students to pursue their interests and develop their talents through various clubs and university wide events.

Orientation program:

EUR’s orientation program spans over a month and includes the following programs:

1. Intensive Dutch Language Course

2. Pick-up Service

3. Eurekaweek

4. ESN Introduction Days

5. What makes the Dutch Dutch

6. One Stop Shop

7. Faculties’ Orientation Programmes

8. Official Welcome

You can watch this video to gain a better overview of different orientation programs offered!

Buddy program:

The buddy program is organized by the Erasmus Student Network Rotterdam (ESN Rotterdam) to help foreign students better integrate into life there. The buddy will help introduce students to the university life, give tours around campus and help with issues that students might encounter during the first few days of their stay. You can sign up for the buddy program here!

Student clubs:

EUR highly encourage its student to be active non-academically by participating in various club activities. A full list of club available can be accessed here!

1. ESN Rotterdam
ESN (Erasmus Student Network) Rotterdam is an international student club that enhances the academic and social experience of international students staying in Rotterdam. It aims to foster friendships that transcend culture and boundaries, which also contribute to enlarging the professional networks of its members.

You can visit their Facebook page to find out more about ESN Rotterdam!

2. Finance Club
EUR has its Finance Club that organizes the career events and networking sessions. Nearing the internship period, there will be a lot of career-related events going on like that of Career Fair to help students find job for their summer internship.

Rotterdam is recognized as the second largest city in the Netherlands. It is reflected well in the fact that it has over 600,000 citizens, while the population of the greater Rotterdam region is around 1.2 million. The city is famous for its port which is the largest in Europe. It also has a wide selection of museums that feature everything from modern art to exotic animals.

For food:

Rotterdam has many amazing food places.

Flying Chalks’ recommendations:

1. Van ‘t Spit, located at Oostzeedijk 272 and open from 5 pm to 1 am daily, is recommended for its roasted chicken.

2. Located at Schiekade 6B, Angelo Betti serves Italian delicacies. Pizzas there are delicious and come with a thin crispy crust.

3. If you crave for some veggie food, you can head out to Spirit at Mariniersweg 9. It is a buffet that offers 50 different dishes for you to choose from.

4. For some cheaper alternatives, head out to Chinatown near Rotterdam Centraal. There, you can expect to find loads of affordable Chinese food and even Indonesian food.

For nightlife and entertainment:

Few places to go for nightlife and entertainment in Rotterdam are Beurs, Perron, Toffler, and Bed. Usually, the American and Korean students will hold house parties too!

For daily necessities and groceries:

For daily necessities and groceries, you can go to Aldi, Lidl, Bas v/d Heijden or C1000. Their prices are relatively cheaper than the rest. The more expensive ones are Super de Boer, Plus, Coop, and Albert heijn. Larger supermarkets are open every day and most of the supermarkets are open from 8 pm to 8 pm daily. For Sunday, most supermarkets are open until 6 pm.

For shopping:

Rotterdam is an amazing shopping city any season of the year. When many shops in the Netherlands are closed on Sundays, people can go to Rotterdam to shop. You can go shopping at Blaak Market’s wet market which happens two days in a week. Albert Heijn, the largest supermarket chain in Rotterdam is also a good place for shopping.

Travelling from Schiphol Airport to Rotterdam

1. Pick-up service
EUR offers free-of-charge pick-up service in January and August for its students to get from Schiphol airport to the university. The school will send you an email about the arranged transportation nearer to date. More information about the pick-up service can be found here!

2. By train
If you miss the pick-up service or there is no arranged transportation on your arrival date, the most convenient way to get to the university is by train. There is a train to the Rotterdam Central Station every 15 or 30 minutes (every hour during the night). It takes around an hour to get to the Central Station. Ticket prices are available here! You can watch the short instruction video here!

3. By taxi
Easiest way to go to EUR if you bring bulky items is by taxi. If you want to travel by taxi, you have to make sure that you bring enough money with you because the price is relatively expensive. It costs around € 170 from Schiphol Airport to Rotterdam.