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Job Market Research›Netherlands›Biological Sciences

Biological Sciences jobs in the Netherlands for international graduates

Check the job market before you choose the course.Real jobs and pay for your field, and how to stay on to work.

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Biological SciencesLife Sciences & Biotechnology · Netherlands
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Job market at a glance

The jobs Biological Sciences leads to, added together. Each label compares Biological Sciences with the other Dutch fields.

Open job ads vs last year+5.8% StrongUWV
Open job ads1,034 WeakUWV
Average pay (calculated)€67,700 ModerateCBS
Entry-level pay (calculated)€51,800 ModerateCBS
Growth to 2030+0.2% WeakROA
Change since 2024+8.9% StrongCBS
People in these jobs76,649 WeakCBS
Jobs on the EU shortage report (2025)27% WeakEURES

People in these jobs: employees and self-employed, yearly average (CBS Labour Force Survey). Yearly pay is calculated by UNIFER from CBS hourly pay × 1,872 hours (36 a week), without holiday allowance, the same basis as the IND salary thresholds.

Jobs this degree leads to

The jobs Biological Sciences courses most often lead to in the Netherlands, and how each one is doing.

JobShareAverage pay CBSEntry pay CBSGrowth to 2030 ROAOnline job ads a month (experimental) Eurostat UWV2024 vs 2023
1.Biologists, botanists, zoologists and related professionals€64,958est.€49,7950%7-33.3%exp.
2.Environmental protection professionals€64,958est.€49,7950%7-33.3%exp.
3.Research and development managers€93,600est.€70,949+2%603-45.2%exp.

Share: how common each job is among Biological Sciences destinations. Entry pay: lower-quartile pay, a guide to starting salaries. Job ads in this table: Eurostat's experimental count of online job ads for each job's occupation group (ISCO 3-digit), yearly ÷ 12, against the year before ("exp."). Where Eurostat has no figure, UWV's count for the wider Dutch occupation group is shown ("group figure"). The "Open job ads" tiles above are UWV's monthly count of open online ads. Dutch figures are published for broader occupation groups, so each job shows its group's figures ("est."). Swipe the table sideways for more.

What graduates like you earned

CBS doesn't publish Biological Sciences separately; this is all natural-science master's graduates, working in the Netherlands.

Master's graduates in the Netherlands, 1 year onmedian · left university 2022/23€44,300 CBS
5 years onmedian · left university 2018/19€60,300 CBS
10 years onmedian · left university 2013/14€73,100 CBS
International graduates who stayed, 1 year onaverage, all fields and degree levels€38,622 Nuffic
International graduates who stayed, 5 years onaverage, all fields and degree levels€54,540 Nuffic

CBS figures: university master's graduates working as employees in the Netherlands; yearly pay calculated by UNIFER from median hourly pay × 1,872 hours, without holiday allowance. CBS does not split out international students. International graduates: Nuffic, graduates of 2013-14 to 2018-19 who stayed and worked in the Netherlands, gross yearly pay including holiday allowance, in 2023 euros.

Staying to work after you graduate

How international students stay to work in the Netherlands after studying Biological Sciences.

1
Finish your course

A master's or a PhD from a Dutch university.

2
Orientation year
12 months IND

to look for a job in the Netherlands after graduating. You can work without a work permit while you look.

3
Work permit

Highly skilled migrant: an employer recognised by the IND hires you at a salary of at least €37,464 a year, the reduced amount for recent graduates (during or after the orientation year, or within 3 years of graduating). Otherwise €52,284 under 30, €71,304 from 30.

EU Blue Card: at least €57,048 a year within 3 years of graduating (€71,304 after that).

Amounts are the IND's monthly figures for 2026 × 12, without holiday allowance.

Typical pay in Biological Sciences jobs vs the salary a recent graduate needs IND
€67,700
typical payminimum €37,464
Biological Sciences jobs on the EU shortage report for the Netherlands (2025) EURES27%

In 2025, 7,631 non-EU students in the Netherlands switched from a study permit to a work permit, 1,096 of them Indian citizens Eurostat.

Graduates living in the Netherlands who are citizens of non-EU countries: 74.4% in work, against 91% of Dutch graduates (ages 25–64, 2025) Eurostat.

Biological Sciences in other countries

Typical pay for the same jobs (in US dollars in brackets, at October 2026 exchange rates), projected growth, and post-study work after a master's.

Netherlands€67,700 ($75,800)Growth +0.2% (2025–30) · Orientation year 12 monthsBelgium€67,500 ($75,600)Growth +17.9% (2022–35) · Search year 12 monthsGermany€72,800 ($81,500)Growth +0.8% (2023–40) · 18 monthsUnited Kingdom£45,400 ($60,700)Growth +11% (2025–35) · Graduate visa 18 monthsUnited States$103,700Growth +7.7% (2025–35) · OPT 12 months, 36 with the STEM extensionCanadaCA$88,000 ($62,900)Growth +7.4% (2023–33) · PGWP up to 36 months
Show more →
AustraliaAU$99,700 ($70,000)Growth +20.1% (2025–35) · 24 monthsIreland€47,700 ($53,400)Growth +5.1% (2025–28) · Stamp 1G 24 monthsSwedenSEK 623,100 ($62,700)Growth +37.5% (2022–35) · Permit to look for work 12 monthsDenmarkDKK 813,400 ($121,800)Growth +25.1% (2022–35) · Job-seeking permit 12 monthsFinland€55,300 ($61,900)Growth +22.2% (2022–35) · Permit to look for work 24 monthsFrance€47,200 net ($52,800)Growth +28.8% (2022–35) · Job-search permit 12 monthsPolandPLN 113,000 ($28,800)Growth +33.2% (2022–35) · Permit to look for work 9 monthsSpain€43,600 ($48,800)Growth +28.5% (2022–35) · Job-search permit 24 monthsItaly€22,200 net ($24,800)Growth +34% (2022–35) · Permit to look for work up to 12 monthsSwitzerlandCHF 106,700 ($129,400)Job search 6 months

Questions students ask

How much do Biological Sciences graduates earn in the Netherlands?

University master's graduates in Natural sciences earned a median €44,300 a year one year after leaving and €60,300 five years after (calculated from hourly pay). International graduates who stayed in the Netherlands earned €38,622 a year on average one year after graduating and €54,540 five years after. Across all workers in these jobs, typical pay is €67,700 and starting pay about €51,800.

Is Biological Sciences in demand in the Netherlands?

Employers posted about 1,034 open online job ads for these jobs in September 2026, 5.8% more than a year earlier. Employment in these jobs is projected to grow 0.2% from 2025 to 2030.

Can I stay and work in the Netherlands after a Biological Sciences master's?

Yes, for 12 months on the orientation year after graduating, free to work while you look. To stay longer, an IND-recognised employer can hire you as a highly skilled migrant at a salary of at least €37,464 a year as a recent graduate.

Where these numbers come from

Every figure comes from an official Dutch source. Tap a source tag next to any number for its details.

Werkzame beroepsbevolking; beroep (86320NED) — employed people by occupation, yearlyStatistics Netherlands (CBS) · CC BY 4.0 (Statistics Netherlands, CBS) · loaded 19 Oct 2026
Uitstromers ho werkzaam als werknemers; uurloon na verlaten onderwijs (83815NED) — wo-master graduatesStatistics Netherlands (CBS) · CC BY 4.0 (Statistics Netherlands, CBS) · loaded 19 Oct 2026
Werknemers; uurloon en beroep (86355NED) — hourly pay by occupation, yearly figure calculated by UNIFERStatistics Netherlands (CBS) · CC BY 4.0 (Statistics Netherlands, CBS) · loaded 19 Oct 2026
EURES Report on labour shortages and surpluses — occupations in shortage, NetherlandsEuropean Labour Authority (ELA) / EURES National Coordination Office · European Labour Authority / EURES: reuse with acknowledgement of the source · loaded 19 Oct 2026
Online job advertisements by occupation (ISCO-08 three-digit), Netherlands — experimental statistics (jvs_a_isco3_r1)Eurostat · Eurostat reuse policy: free reuse with acknowledgement of the source (Commission Decision 2011/833/EU) · loaded 19 Oct 2026
Change of immigration status permits, education to employment, Netherlands (migr_reschange)Eurostat · Eurostat reuse policy: free reuse with acknowledgement of the source (Commission Decision 2011/833/EU) · loaded 19 Oct 2026
Employment rates by educational attainment and citizenship, tertiary education, ages 25–64, Netherlands (lfsa_ergaedn)Eurostat · Eurostat reuse policy: free reuse with acknowledgement of the source (Commission Decision 2011/833/EU) · loaded 19 Oct 2026
Nuffic — Stay rate and labour market position of international graduates 2013–2022 (May 2025)Nuffic (data: CBS, processed by ABF Research) · CC BY-NC 4.0 (non-commercial reuse; used for educational purposes with credit) · loaded 19 Oct 2026
Dutch post-study and work residence rules — IND pages and 2026 required amounts (manually verified)Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) — transcribed and verified by UNIFER · Official government information · loaded 19 Oct 2026
ROA Arbeidsmarktinformatiesysteem (AIS) tot 2030, edition 2026 — expected growth in employment by occupationResearchcentrum voor Onderwijs en Arbeidsmarkt (ROA), Maastricht University · CC BY 4.0 (DataverseNL); ROA asks to be consulted on large-scale publication · loaded 19 Oct 2026
UWV Dashboard Datasets — open online vacancies by occupation group (Beroepsgroep)UWV (Employee Insurance Agency), Afdeling Arbeidsmarktinformatie en -advies · Reuse terms not published (unverified); used with credit for educational, non-commercial purposes · loaded 19 Oct 2026

Indicative figures from official Dutch sources. They describe groups of graduates and workers, not what any individual will earn or be offered. Visa rules change, so check ind.nl before you decide.