  A new observational study of the Herbig Ae star VV Ser has been performed in
order to detect and accurately measure pulsation frequencies in the $\delta$
Scuti range. As it belongs to the continuous field of view of the
asteroseismological satellite COROT, this study also aims at characterizing the
properties of VV Ser as a potential ``COROT additional program'' candidate. CCD
time series photometry in the Johnson V filter has been obtained during three
consecutive years. The resulting light curves have been subject to detailed
frequency analysis and the derived frequencies have been compared to model
predictions. Seven pulsation frequencies have been measured on the basis of the
best dataset obtained in 2004, ranging from $\sim$ 31 to $\sim$ 118 $\mu Hz$,
with an accuracy of the order of 0.5 $\mu Hz$. The comparison with an extensive
set of asteroseismological models shows that all the observed periodicities can
be reproduced if the stellar mass is close to $4 M_{\odot}$. Conversely, the
measured frequencies can be associated to $p$ modes only if the effective
temperature is significantly lower than that obtained from the spectral type
conversion. The present results seem to suggest that more accurate spectral
type determination is necessary in order to discriminate the best fit model
solution. In any case, the stellar mass of VV Ser is close to the upper mass
limit ($\sim 4 M_{\odot}$) for this class of pulsators.
