About us

Aureus is the Study Association for all students of the School of Business and Economics at “de Vrije Universiteit” in Amsterdam. With more than 6500 members, Aureus is one of the largest and most active Study Associations in the Netherlands.

A Study Association, which can also be called a Faculty Association, is set up to add value to the student lives of students at the faculty. Therefore, a Faculty Association aims to offer extracurricular activities for students such as business trips, career events but also parties and drinks.

The members of Aureus are divided into general members and committee members. As a general member, you can profit from the many services and events Aureus has to offer, ranging from summaries to career events to drinks. As a committee member, even more will be organized for you, and you will help organizing events as well! The Aureus committees are responsible for organizing all different kinds of activities. When joining a committee, you will have a year full of experiences, as we offer many things.

  • Experience in organizing events;
  • Development on personal, professional and team level;
  • Free training and coaching;
  • An extensive professional network;
  • Great new friends and stories;
  • Exclusive member drinks and events;
  • Team Building activities;
  • Aureus’ study and social rooms;
  • And many more..

Aureus has several recruitment moments during the academic year. All the information on committee membership can be found under “committees”. If you have any questions you can always contact us via [email protected] or you can walk by. Aureus is situated on the 8th floor of the main building of the VU University (De Boelelaan 1105).

History

The Aureus Study Association was founded in 1948, when students of economics at VU University Amsterdam united to form the ‘Economic Study Association at the VU’. The association focused most of its efforts on organizing excursions.

By the late 1960s, the association had been renamed the ‘VESVU’ (Association of Economics Students at the VU). The name change meant that the association had to become more professional. ‘VESVU’ transformed from being mainly a social club into a student trade union-like organization.

This changed again in the 1980s, as students gradually lost interest in their right to participation. The student trade union image faded into the background and the ‘VESVU’ resumed its social function. At this point, the association also started distributing study material, such as summaries, to its members.