9 Applied Physics Degree Programs in Netherlands

Upgrade your smartphone, design smart textiles, or optimize X-ray equipment. The Applied Physics program teaches you to understand and apply physics. Develop solutions and optimize processes in areas ranging from healthcare and sustainability to vehicles and sound safety.

Physics is concerned with describing and predicting natural phenomena. Applied physics is concerned with applying physics in technical solutions. Design and construction are important aspects of this. Applied physics is at the heart of society. It forms the basis for many of the products we use in daily life. The program has a strong interdisciplinary orientation, with an emphasis on combinations of subjects: physics with design studies, nanotechnology, new materials and systems, and control engineering Applied physics involves studying not only how phenomena come about, but also how to use them for technical solutions. The program focuses on theory and practice.

The MSc in Applied Physics specializes in advanced materials at the renowned Zernike Institute, named after our Nobel Prize winner in Physics, Frits Zernike. The program gives access to the highly selective HTMS Honors Master, and nearly all of our graduates find relevant high-level jobs within 3 months after graduating. Our Master was awarded the 'Top Rated Program' label (Higher Education Guide 2017). Also, the Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials is ranked high in the world's top 15 materials research institutes by the Times Higher Education.

Deepen your understanding of the laws of physics to find technical solutions in a wide range of areas such as sustainability, healthcare, energy, digitalization, finance, space, high-tech manufacturing, and more. Can you imagine building electronic systems that are almost as energy efficient as the neurons in our brains? Or encryption technology that makes credit card payments impossible to crack? What about making solar panels significantly more efficient, or medical imaging techniques faster, and more accurate? What opportunities could a quantum computer offer?

Are you curious to understand the fundamental properties of the universe at both the smallest and largest scale? Do you want to develop advanced optical techniques to study quantum, bio-, and nanomaterials? Do you want to build materials bottom-up to achieve novel quantum properties? Are you fascinated by how complex soft and biological matter follows the laws of physics? The Experimental Physics Master's programme will challenge you to go beyond your curiosity and fascination.

Curious about quantum computing and quantum technology? This one-of-a-kind master’s lets you dive in—at four amazing locations!

As technical physicist, you can be considered a type of explorer. You might not be sailing the seven seas, but you do explore how the world works. You look for patterns and seek the laws of nature and translate natural phenomena into technological applications. For example, did you know that turbulent flow in our blood is very similar to the turbulent flows in the ocean? The Bachelor program Applied Physics takes you behind the scenes of the world around us. You discover unexpected properties of light and sound, flow and heat, and atoms and particles.

Applied physicists have a different view of the world around us. Physical phenomena turn into challenges, fascinating questions to investigate and analyze. But as an applied physicist you go one step further, by applying your knowledge of these phenomena in new technological developments. In many cases, these are ambitious projects, in which working in teams with people from other disciplines is a central factor.

Many special processes take place in the world around us. Sometimes these are spectacular and obvious, such as lightning discharges and tornadoes. However, sometimes you need to be a little more attentive.