The University of Amsterdam continually strives to improve its global competitiveness whilst remaining locally relevant and engaged. To give substance to this aspiration and to consolidate its standing as a research-intensive university, scarce resources are directed to targeted areas of opportunity. Within this context, some of the extensive and diverse research conducted at the University is grouped into research priority areas. In this way the University seeks to support and sustain excellence in a number of selected research areas and thus assure its place among the truly distinguished research universities.

The University of Amsterdam has identified a number of research areas (currently fifteen) in which its present activities are very promising and where a substantial nucleus of interest, expertise and acknowledged research results are present. Each research priority area is structured to address major questions and practice-related issues as well as challenges and opportunities in its particular field. This booklet, which constitutes a work-in-progress, gives a description of these priority areas. the value of (inter)disciplinary and multi-faceted collaboration is widely recognised as being instrumental in increasing global competitiveness, effectively addressing the growing complexity of research questions, leveraging more and better funding, increasing the mobility of researchers and creating exchange opportunities for postdoctoral fellows and (post)graduate students.

For more information on the University's fifteen research priority areas, we invite you to read the pdf Research Priority Areas.