Master of Logic program at ILLC(UvA)?

[Squeteague]

Since this program was mentioned in another thread, I thought I might as well seek some opinion on it, as I've been curious about it for a while. Does anyone have any experience with this program, either directly or indirectly? Is their quality of education comparable to top phil/CS/math master's programs in the US? 

I'm mostly interested in the intersection between their math and computation tracks. E.g. lambda calculus, functional specification of algorithms, etc.

[759]

I've heard from many of my professors, and graduate students, that it is one of the best places to study logic. I was going to apply there myself, but decided not to at the last minute due to unrelated external factors. But yeah, basically every professor/mentor I've spoken to about grad school has said that with my interests---logic, natural language semantics, philosophy of math, frege, etc.--Amsterdam is the place to go. Also, they have great placement into PhD programs (the guy who started the program teaches at Stanford). 

[pecado]

It is very expensive.

[Awkwarada]

I live in Amsterdam and I am thinking of applying to it next year (the philosophy track). Also, I have a friend who is currently doing the Logic Master.

You probably have already found this site, but just in case you have not, here is a recent list of all the courses taught and if you click on them you get (more or less) detailed descriptions: http://studiegids.uva.nl/xmlpages/page/2015-2016-en/search-programme/programme/1431/174186

It is true that, if you're non-EU, it's rather expensive. But if you are a EU student, it is relatively cheap--especially in comparison to UK/US programs.

I wouldn't know too much about the computational/mathematical side, but I do know the following things (I'll just sum them up, take from 'em what you want):

• You're very free; meaning: you can basically follow any path you like. The master takes two years and only three courses are predetermined. You would basically have +/- 10 courses remaining, which can be mathematical/philosophical/linguistic regardless of your chosen track. 
• Amsterdam can be a rough place to find housing (that is, housing that isn't over the top expensive). I'm sure that international students can apply for housing via the university in some way or other, but Dutch students always complain that Amsterdam is the hardest place to find affordable housing.
• The Master of Logic (MoL) has no maximum of students that can be allowed. Thus, if they think you're qualified, you're in (basically). Of course they couldn't accept 100 students, but still.
• It's very hard work, don't be too keen on your free time (of course this is variable to personal background knowledge, intelligence, how many courses you take, etc.). 
• It's very interdisciplinary. Of course, 'soort zoekt soort' as the Dutch would say (I guess the English variant would be 'Birds of a feather flock together'); philosophers spend most time with philosophers and the same goes for mathematicians etc.. However, the professors are generally very approachable, regardless of your personal focus.
• You're forced to do so research projects, which means that you and maybe a couple other students approach a professor and decide on a topic and study it intensely for a couple of weeks. I have no direct or indirect experience with this, but I imagine it can be very enlightening.

I must say, most of this information is not first hand, but still rather reliable I think. The Dutch regard the program equally to what others said: the place to study to study logic.

[NathanKellen]

They place very well, and everyone I know who went there has said it was well worth it.

It's also worth noting that there's not a ton of options for MA programs which focus on logic and the philosophy of mathematics. You have MCMP, which is also heartily recommended, and CMU, but most other philosophy MA programs don't have big names who specialise in logic or philosophy of mathematics, as far as I can remember.

[Kratistos]

I am very interested in this program as a lot of alumni from UCI's LPS work here. Could I just start from scratch with Philosophy of Science? I have yet to take a class. But I have taken all the logic sequence up to inductive. 

[Awkwarada]

33 minutes ago, Kratistos said:

I am very interested in this program as a lot of alumni from UCI's LPS work here. Could I just start from scratch with Philosophy of Science? I have yet to take a class. But I have taken all the logic sequence up to inductive. 

I believe there is one introductory course in philosophy of science. Since the Logic Master is very interdisciplinary, a lot of the students have hardly any background in philosophy at all, but instead have majored in mathematics, artificial intelligence, linguistics or similar subjects. Because of this, quite a few philosophy courses are meant to introduce these students in philosophical subjects such as philosophy of language, philosophy of science, etc. This would mean that you should be able to follow the introductory course in philosophy of science without too much trouble.

However, as far as I am aware, there aren't too much courses on philosophy of science. You should check out the link I posted above, you will find a list of all the courses currently taught. There is a course 'Causality and Explanation', which would borderline between philosophy of science, epistemology and metaphysics, I guess. If you're really interested in the program, I suggest you take some time to look at course descriptions for the courses you'd like to take. Besides checking to see if you like what you find there, most of the courses also have specified entry requirements (though usually this is just that you have a basic understanding of first-order logic). There are plenty of very diverse yet interesting subjects being taught!

[Andy De Noir]

I'm pretty interested in this master's program too, but I'm a math undergraduate, so I'd do the mathematics track. Nevertheless, I'd like to know if there's any other masters on mathematical logic that fit my interests, or if I'm having the wrong impression about this one, just in case.

It would help knowing a little more about my interests, so here it goes: I really enjoy abstract problems and reasoning; I'm pretty interested in some philosophical branches such as metaphysics, philosophy of language, and of course logic (I began as a philosophy undergrad before I discovered my love for math), but I don't enjoy that much the topics related to sociology or history; and lastly, as an undergrad, I'm enjoying algebra and a little bit of topology (particularly when studying abstract structures), but not so much when it comes to computers (programming mostly), and definitely not when it comes to statistics. 

Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks!

Edited May 18, 2021 by Andy De Noir
grammar

[labradoodle]

57 minutes ago, Andy De Noir said:

I'm pretty interested in this master's program too, but I'm a math undergraduate, so I'd do the mathematics track. Nevertheless, I'd like to know if there's any other masters on mathematical logic that fit my interests, or if I'm having the wrong impression about this one, just in case.

It would help knowing a little more about my interests, so here it goes: I really enjoy abstract problems and reasoning; I'm pretty interested in some philosophical branches such as metaphysics, philosophy of language, and of course logic (I began as a philosophy undergrad before I discovered my love for math), but I don't enjoy that much the topics related to sociology or history; and lastly, as an undergrad, I'm enjoying algebra and a little bit of topology (particularly when studying abstract structures), but not so much when it comes to computers (programming mostly), and definitely not when it comes to statistics. 

Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks!

I'm not super familiar with the programme, but did some analytical philosophy at the same university and thought about doing the programme (before I changed my interests completely lol). Unless the mandatory courses are general philosophy as an introduction, which I can barely imagine (and you can check at studiegids.uva.nl), I wouldn't worry too much about sociology and history. The analytical philosophy sphere is quite insular in a way within the philosophy department.