Media Technology (MSc)
Admission requirements
To be eligible for Media Technology (as of September 2025: Creative Intelligence & Technology) at Leiden University, you must meet the following admission requirements.
Diploma requirements
If you have a relevant bachelor’s degree (such as, but not limited to, computer science, artificial intelligence, communication and/or information science, cognitive science, biology, design, mechanical engineering, or creative/performing arts) from any research university in the Netherlands, you are eligible to apply.
The Board of Admissions will assess whether your degree and background are sufficient for admission, and whether you meet the additional requirements.
For more information, please contact the Media Technology study advisor.
If you have a relevant bachelor’s degree (such as, but not limited to, computer science, artificial intelligence, communication and/or information science, cognitive science, biology, design, mechanical engineering, or creative/performing arts) in Dutch higher vocational education (HBO), you are eligible to apply.
The Board of Admissions will assess whether your degree and background are sufficiently related to the level and content of the requirements set out for students with a Dutch research university bachelor’s degree, and whether you meet the additional requirements.
For more information, please contact the Media Technology study advisor.
If you have a relevant bachelor’s degree (such as, but not limited to, computer science, artificial intelligence, communication and/or information science, cognitive science, biology, linguistics, mechanical engineering, philosophy, or creative/performing arts) from a foreign research university with a level similar to Dutch universities, you are eligible to apply.
The Board of Admissions will assess whether your degree and background are sufficiently related to the level and content of the requirements set out for students with a Dutch research university bachelor’s degree, and whether you meet the additional requirements.
For more information, please contact the Media Technology study advisor.
Language requirements
The following requirements apply:
- IELTS Academic modules only, on paper or on computer: 6.5 overall, with at least 6.0 for each separate component score.
- We do not accept IELTS Academic online.
- We do not accept IELTS General Training, IELTS Indicator, or IELTS One Skill Retake
- TOEFL internet based: 90 overall, with at least 20 for each separate component.
- We are not able to accept The TOEFL IBT Home Edition™, except in the following situations only:
You took the test before 1 Sept 2022 (and it is not more than 2 years old), or you are unable to take an in-person test on location because test centres are inaccessible or closed due to unsafe conditions in a country. - We do not accept the following types of test: TOEFL My Best™ scores (multiple test scores combined), TOEFL Essentials™ or institutional tests such as ITP.
- We are not able to accept The TOEFL IBT Home Edition™, except in the following situations only:
- Cambridge English Exam C2 Proficiency, or C1 Advanced (180), with a minimum score of 169 for each separate component.
Note that English test results may not be more than two years old.
You do not have to submit an English proficiency test if you have completed your education in the USA, UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Canada (except French-taught programmes in Canada) Singapore, South-Africa or Malta; or if you have obtained an English-taught International Baccalaureate™; or if you have completed a Dutch VWO diploma or an English-taught bachelor at a Dutch research university or (for September intake) a diploma of an English-taught higher professional education (hbo) programme completed at a Dutch university of applied sciences.
For detailed information, including exemption criteria and methods of submission, refer to English language proficiency.
Additional requirements
The Media Technology MSc programme requires that you meet the following specific qualitative admission requirements
- you have affinity and/or experience with fundamental and/or knowledge-driven research that aims at contributing new insights to academic discourses and goes beyond solving (engineering, societal, commercial etc.) problems. And,
- you have affinity and/or experience with technology and its embedding in the human context. And,
- you have a creative attitude towards science and research in the sense of the programme, i.e. not necessarily demonstrated by artistic creativity, but by the abilities to think and reason beyond disciplinary borders and/or be open to unconventional ways of producing and disseminating academic knowledge. And,
- you have a demonstrable (basic) mastering of, imperative programming. Examples of imperative programming languages are Processing, C, C++, Java, Javascript, Python and assembly languages.
Therefore, we expect candidates without a computer science background to follow the online Introduction to Computer Programming course and successfully complete it prior to participating in the programme. More information can be found here.
Additional information
We expect students to bring a regular laptop running Windows (or running Linux for certain study programmes). MacOS may in most cases also suffice (with Parallels for Windows installed), but not all specialized applications may be supported, and less support may be available.
• Windows 11 compatible – 64-bits (or Linux for some study programmes)
• Processor/CPU – modern, medium range
• Memory/RAM – 8 GB, if possible 16 GB
• Storage – 512 GB, if possible 1 TB