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Coronavirus (Covid-19)

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam follows the guidelines from the Dutch government and the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM). 

Covid-19 might have an impact on-campus activities of VU Amsterdam Summer School 2021. On this page we will post the latest updates and answer some frequently asked questions. If you have any other questions about this, please don't hesitate to contact us.

  • Online courses: These courses will run as long as they meet the minimum amount of applicants. The coronavirus will not have a direct impact on these courses as they can be followed from a student's home environment.
  • On-Campus courses: These courses might be impacted by the coronavirus. For this reason, we have decided to make a decision about on-campus courses on 1 May. There are three possible outcomes after this decision:
    1. The course can run on-campus as planned. It is possible that due to reinforced governmental restrictions, the university still cancels the course between 1 May and the start of the course. If this happens, the student will receive a full refund.
    2. The course cannot run on-campus and will move online. After students have been informed about this outcome, they will have one week to decide if they want to follow the course online or if they want to receive a full refund. In case students who applied and paid for     the on-campus course join us online, the difference between the price of an online and an on-campus course will be refunded.
    3. The course cannot run on-campus and cannot be offered online. Students can apply for a full refund or join another course.
Cancellation policy
          1. A full refund will be given (on course fee, housing and social activities) in case you need to cancel your on-campus course due to travel restrictions or in case we decide to cancel the on-campus programme. We will not refund travel costs and such. We therefore strongly recommend to hold on to booking your travel arrangements until we have confirmed that the on-campus course can run. 
          2. For both the courses offered on-campus and the online courses, you can cancel free of charge (and without reason) until 1 May.

The coronavirus might have an influence on the social programme activities that we organize in Amsterdam and other places in The Netherlands. We understand you are hesitant to select social programme activities. For this reason we make it possible for you to select this at a later stage. In case you already applied and paid for a social activity which in the end is cancelled, you will receive a full refund for this activity.

We will also organise an (alternative) free of charge online social programme that is open to both online and on-campus students.

  • What if there are travel restrictions between my home country and The Netherlands?
    If you are not allowed to travel to The Netherlands due to travel restrictions and are able to prove this, you can get a full refund.

  • What if I have to quarantine in The Netherlands upon arrival?
    If the Dutch governmental regulations require you to quarantine upon arrival, you have two options:
    1.    Travel to The Netherlands before the start of the course to fulfil your quarantine. We will provide you with accommodation options but we cannot cover the costs for these options meaning you will have to pay for your quarantine stay.
    2.    Cancel your registration and receive a full refund.

    See also the general Coronavirus: Frequently Asked Questions page from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.