University of Groningen - RUG
speciality: Politics

The university is relatively well established, for research. If you want to pursue a career outside of academia, I cannot recommend enough going to study elsewhere. The majority of professors aren’t field professionals, but researchers that want their research to be financed. You’ll find that most are transient, and leave to greener, better, pastures when they’re done. How does this translate to the academic environment? Professors that genuinely do not care about you. They are cold, apathetic and enforce rigid bureaucratic structures designed to keep you in the course over the expected timeframe so you keep paying tuition fees, which they desperately need due to the budget cuts. This stands for both Bachelors and Master’s degrees. The university also offers zero internship opportunities, or connections in the labor market. If you need to find a visa to remain in the country after the studies, this is not the university to open that door for you. I have been failed over medical reasons necessitating one more absence than the limit, and forced to repeat the year for one singular course. This is common occurrence so you should hope that nothing unforeseeable or bad happens in your life. Its literally just theory, you will learn nothing that translates into the labor force. Avoid at all costs. Any claim I make here can be substantiated.

I like the atmosphere and the mentally in this university. The teachers are devoted and take their courses very seriously and the programs are well thought through, and if there is something that can be improved they are open for criticism.

The programme of European Languages and Cultures at the University of Groningen is an interdisciplinary programme, which offers a diverse and dynamic learning environment. It is possible to choose among different majors (Linguistics, Literature and Culture, and Politics) and even combine two of them. For my degree, I chose Politics as major and Literature and Culture as minor. In my experience, these two subjects complemented one another and I was able to receive a suitable preparation for my current Masters, namely Euroculture. The focus of my courses was on contemporary Europe and how it functions politically as well as how it is shaped culturally. On the political side, I studied a lot of theories, as well as contemporary phenomenons, such as populism and migration. On the cultural side, I studied the implications and effects of cultural representations of contemporary society, as well as theories that served as a tool to analyse current cultural practices.
Additionally, due to the interdisciplinarity of the programme, the job opportunities are diverse, both in the public and in the private sector. I am currently looking for a traineeship at the EU.
The environment at the University is international, professors are very available and there are job opportunities too for students who are studying there. For example, I am currently working as a student assistant, by assisting in language classes of my native language, Italian.
Despite living in uncertain circumstances due to the pandemic, the University has provided students with support, the staff has been very available and understanding, the buildings are still open (with respect of the due measures) and, although differently, the experience has remained positively challenging and engaging.

The University of Groningen is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. It ranks amongst the top 100 best universities in the world every year.
Its facilities are modern, innovative and up with the latest educational trends. The quality of teaching is very high.
I really enjoy the informal relationship between students and professors. Unlike other countries, it is much easier to talk to your professors in an informal tone.
Overall, I am very satisfied with the quality of teaching and facilities. Additionally, the university and the city of Groningen are extremely student and international-friendly, and you can get around everywhere in English without many problems.