Global Campus of Human Rights

EMA 2020/2021 students at the Global Campus Headquarters in Venice Lido, Italy.

The European Master’s Programme in Human Rights and Democratisation (EMA) - organised by the Global Campus of Human Rights - is a one-year, full-time academic programme in the field of human rights and democratisation.

EMA is a multidisciplinary programme that reflects the indivisible links between human rights, democracy, peace and development. The programme offers an action and policy-oriented approach to learning about international relations, law, political sciences, philosophy, history and anthropology of human rights. Students have the opportunity to be taught by leading academics representing the 42 EMA participating universities, experts and representatives of international organisations (including the European Union, the United Nations, the Council of Europe and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe-OSCE) and NGOs while studying in a multicultural environment. EMA students, upon completion of all course components, are expected to gain both academic and practical skills: on the one hand, the ability to conduct independent and interdisciplinary academic research in relation to human rights and democratisation issues; on the other hand, skills which are relevant to human rights practitioners such as reporting, fact-finding and project management.

The Global Campus of Human Rights is an inter-disciplinary centre of excellence supported by the EU, aiming at pursuing the continued promotion of human rights and democratisation through education, specialised training, and research cooperation worldwide through a network of regional partners. Its main headquarters are based in Venice, Italy and the regional partner’s headquarters are based in Argentina, Armenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Lebanon, South Africa, and Thailand. This large network, whose overall composition includes 100 prestigious universities, is the largest university network in the world specialised on human rights and democracy issues. Its partners are renowned worldwide for their leading role in education, research and advocacy in human rights and democratisation.

One of the key features of EMA is the impressive range of high-level academics, experts and officials from a variety of institutions and organisations who teach in the programme, provide thesis supervision, and share with students their insights into human rights practice and challenges.

First Semester

About 70 academics from the participating universities and experts from international IGOs and NGOs contribute to the EMA teaching programme.

Second Semester

In their second semester destinations, students are supervised and supported by the EMA National Directors and other faculty members of the 42 participating universities. 

Here you can find the list of EMA Universities and Directors.

The 2020 EMA Career Day organised by the EMAlumni Association.

The EMAlumni Association represents Europe’s leading body of human rights practitioners. It has been established to bring together alumni of the EMA Programme towards supporting one another’s professional and personal development, and enhance opportunities to contribute at local, national and global levels.

EMA 2020/2021 students

EMA is open to a maximum of 90 candidates from EU and non-EU countries.

Candidates must meet the following admission requirements:

• Hold a university degree of a high standard in a field relevant to human rights, including disciplines in Law, Social Sciences and Humanities, and must have a minimum of 180 ECTS (Bachelor/General Degree).
• Have certified knowledge of English at least at level B2. Accepted certificates are IELTS (min. score 6), TOEFL (min. 80 for the IBT) and Cambridge exams (min. score 169-175), obtained no more than 3 years before the start of the programme.

Applicants completing the degree entry requirements subsequently to the application deadline are requested to provide a current transcript of exams. Eventual admission into the programme is conditional upon receipt of documentation of the completed degree (by 31 August).

Applications will be assessed against the following selection criteria:

• Academic ability and background (i.e. university final grade, relevance of the degree and thesis subject);
• Relevant additional academic work, courses or publications
• Relevant practical experience
• Motivation

The call for applications for the academic year 2021/2022 is now open. Applications are accepted and processed on an ongoing basis.

Deadline for non-EU and scholarship applicants: 15 February 2021.

Deadline for EU self-funded applicants: 19 April 2021.

In order to apply you should enter your application online at this link: https://apply.gchumanrights.org

For any problem concerning your submission, please contact the EMA Secretariat

The tuition fee for the academic year 2021/2022 is 5650.00€, payable in two instalments.

Tuition fees cover all EMA courses, both in the first and second semester; reading materials for the first semester; tutoring; access to Global Campus' specialised library; lunch on class and exam days; individual access to our e-learning platform; use of available IT facilities (including wireless area and computer room), and the field trip (subject to final budgetary approval).

The tuition fee does not cover accommodation and subsistence, travel costs to and from partner universities and visa expenses.

Successful applicants will receive a letter of admission and will be requested to pay the fees upon acceptance of the offer. Payments can be made via bank transfer in one of the following ways:

• Full amount within 2-4 weeks from the date of the letter of admission
• Two installments: the first within 2-4 weeks from the date of the letter of admission and the second at a specified later date.

The Global Campus of Human Rights does not provide full scholarships. Only a very limited number of students may be granted modest financial support in the form of a partial contribution towards living expenses and/or a full or partial tuition waiver. Candidates may apply for financial assistance by 15 February 2021, by motivating their request in the application form. The Global Campus of Human Rights reserves the right to determine the amount of each contribution and the awarding criteria.

The Global Campus Headquarters in Venice Lido, Italy.

The first semester takes place at the Global Campus of Human Rights Headquarters in Venice Lido, Italy, at the graceful Benedictine Monastery of San Nicolò,

During the EMA second semester students relocate to one of the 42 participating universities to follow courses in an area of specialisation of their own choice and to undertake personal supervised research finalised in the writing of their master‘s thesis. Students are allocated to their second semester university taking into account both the student's and the university's interest, the suitability of the thesis topic for the respective department and the quality of the thesis proposal. 

Our campus (Monastery of San Nicolò) is located in Venice Lido, Riviera San Nicolò 26. Finding an apartment on Lido is the best option if you want to live at walking or bike-riding distance from the school. The island is quite small and the monastery is reachable with (max.) a 30-minute bus ride. You can also consider expanding your search to Venice centre: the closest or best-connected neighbourhoods are Sant’Elena, Giardini and Castello. If you choose to live in Venice, please be aware that you will have to take the waterbus (vaporetto) every day.

The process of finding an apartment of a room can often be difficult. We recommend you start the research well ahead of time.

The responsibility for finding accommodation rests with students. However, the EMA Secretariat provides some assistance in this regard, by sharing information and details about available apartments together with other useful links for independent house hunting. These housing opportunities are by no means managed or guaranteed by the EMA Secretariat, however at this link you can find a list of websites for apartment search and house hunting tips and recommendations.

The Venice School for Human Rights Defenders 2021 will take place in Venice, at the Global Campus Headquarters, from 16 to 23 October 2021. The School, organised in cooperation with the European Parliament, will host the 2021 selected Sakharov Fellows and will include lectures by Sakharov laureates, Right Livelihood Foundation laureates, prominent human rights figures from international organisations, internationally renowned academics, experts and activists from civil society and NGOs.

Application deadline: 15 September 2021

Target audience: human rights practitioners from all over the world as well as graduate students from all academic backgrounds willing to deepen and improve their knowledge in human rights topics. Fluency in English (written and spoken) is required.

For more information, contact us at veniceschool@gchumanrights.org or visit https://gchumanrights.org/school.