Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU Amsterdam) is a public research university in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its main campus sits in the Buitenveldert district in the south of the city, next to the Zuidas business area, with additional student facilities at Uilenstede in neighbouring Amstelveen. The name "Vrije Universiteit" translates as "Free University," a reference to the institution's founding aim of remaining independent of both the state and the established church. Although formally a private institution, it has been funded by the government on the same basis as the country's public universities since 1970.

The university was founded in 1880 by a group of Calvinists led by the theologian and journalist Abraham Kuyper, who served as its first rector and later became Prime Minister of the Netherlands. From a small Reformed-Protestant school it has grown into a broad research university; as of mid-2026 it enrolled roughly 31,500 students, supported by an academic staff of around 2,200 to 2,300 full-time equivalents. Its teaching and research are organised across nine faculties.

VU Amsterdam's faculties span behavioural and movement sciences, science, earth and life sciences, business and economics, humanities, law, social sciences, religion and theology, dentistry, and medicine, the last delivered through Amsterdam UMC. The university participates in international academic networks including the Aurora alliance and the European University Association, and its business school holds AACSB accreditation. It is distinct from the nearby University of Amsterdam (UvA); the two are separate institutions that nonetheless cooperate in several joint ventures, most notably in dentistry (ACTA) and in medical education and research.