Minerva Academy of Popular Culture offers a unique education in the creative sector. Students learning takes place within a diverse community of artists, builders and makers. Photographers, singers, DJs, conceptual artists and all other types of creatives feed on each other's energy and know-how.

Portfolio assessment An important part of your intake is the interview about your portfolio; you own work. Your personal development, personality and motivation play an important role within the study programme. An interview about why you want to study Popular Culture is, therefore, a part of the portfolio assessment. The portfolio can be seen as a collection of products and documents that count as 'proof of ability' and give insight into your own development en artistic skills. Take the following points into consideration when compiling your portfolio. The portfolio is your 'business card' as an artist and maker. Make sure the portfolio looks presentable and well designed. In addition to a (good documentation of) end products, the commission is also interested in the process of making. Show sketches, works in progress, multiple versions and try outs. Put the emphasis on works you created yourself and shortly elaborate on your artistic motivation when making the work. If you want to hand in a physical portfolio, please use a USB-stick for any digital files, instead of a DVD or cd. Research and Development assessment The second part is the Research and Development assessment. During this assessment, you will work together in a group of fellow applicants on an assignment you can choose beforehand from a selection of possible assignments. The emphasis in this assessment is collaboration, communication and the way in which your artistic vision and skills are put to use in order to develop concepts and translate them into an artistic end product. Research and Development assessment consists of three consecutive working sessions of one hour. The last session is closed with a presentation of the artistic end product. This presentation takes about five minutes. Admission requirements For admissions, a distinction is made between sufficient and insufficient preliminary education. Sufficient preliminary education: (a diploma already obtained or expected to obtain this year) vwo (pre-university secondary education) havo (higher general secondary education) mbo 4 (intermediate vocational education) or foundation course in higher professional education or similar Insufficient preliminary education: Diploma mbo 2, 3 (intermediate vocational education) or similar. Even with insufficient preliminary education, you may still be admitted to the Academy on the grounds of 'exceptional talent' and a good performance in a test (in general the NOA capacity test). The test indicates whether or not you can function at a higher professional educational level. You must pay the costs of this test yourself. Admission on grounds of an international diploma Students with an international diploma need to meet three requirements in order to apply for a Dutch taught study programme. The student must be able to prove that he is in possession of the diploma State Exam NT2-II, consisting of four partial certificates. In special circumstances, the dean can exempt the student of this requirement. Students that possess a diploma of a pre-university education taken in Aruba, Curacao, St Maarten or Surinam are exempt from this requirement. The pre-university diploma is at least equal to a Dutch vwo, havo or mbo4-diploma, according to the dean. If the vwo- or havo diploma has additional requirements in regards to the profile or subjects these can also apply for the international diploma. The dean can request advise from NUFFIC in this regard. Admission may also take place based on the certificate of the preparatory year of the Alfa College with the correct course package. The student must have a valid residence permit to follow a study in the Netherlands. For more information the student can contact STAD (Student Administration) of the Hanze University of Applied Science.