Utrecht Summer School Biggest in Europe, 4000 Students Attending

Over 4.000 students from all over the world will travel to Utrecht this summer. They are from China, the United States, Brazil, but also from Djibouti, Singapore and South-Africa, or from one of the other 120 countries. Some of them will study the political situation in Sri Lanka in a course on conflict management, while others will dissect owl pellets in a course on European Wildlife or perfect their conducting technique in a course for choral conductors. Most of the summer school students are of college age but an increasing number of them are older professionals who come to Utrecht for further training.

Summer School director Jeroen Torenbeek: ‘Indeed we have courses which are designed for young bachelor students, such as “Dutch Culture and Business”, but we also offer courses on topics which are popular among professionals, such as “statistics”. Our course on toxicology is another good example. The younger students in this course are excited about business professionals attending the course. The professionals, on the other hand, are excited to be back in a lecture room, just like in their student days.’

In some of the courses, such as “Art History”, the students also take classes in other European cities such as Florence and Berlin. And a course on water law starts in Utrecht and continues in Venice. Many of the students are returning this year for a second or third time. Torenbeek: ‘We discovered recently that a lady from Portugal has already attended our summer school for seven times. She started with a course on Dutch culture, took an art history course next year, and attended a course on mediation the year after. We are keeping track now and have learned that several hundred students each year are returning students.’

Just like last year, the Utrecht Summer School has arranged 25 scholarships for young refugees who are currently “on hold” in emergency shelters. This offers them the opportunity to get familiar with the Dutch education system and prepare themselves for their future education. Most of them are from Syria and Iran this year.

Opening ceremony on 10 July

The summer school will be opened in the Janskerk (St. John’s Church), in the presence of the rector of Utrecht University, deputy mayor Victor Everhardt and several ambassadors. The summer school professors and the students who are already in Utrecht will join this celebratory opening event.

More information

For more information on the Utrecht Summer School, including a complete list of all the courses, please visit: www.utrechtsummerschool.nl.