Erasmus Mundus : Eligibility, Deadline & How to Apply

Master's Programme in Human Rights Policy and Practice

Human rights is an interdisciplinary field and require an understanding of legal and political processes, globalization, social structures and civil society, methodologies needed to ensure reliable data, and the cultural and ethnic boundaries that challenge human rights implementation. 

One programme - four universities 

The Erasmus Mundus master’s programme in Human Rights Policy and Practice is organized by a consortium of four partner universities: 

• The University of Gothenburg, Sweden (lead partner)
• The University of Deusto, Bilbao/San Sebastian, Spain
• Roehampton University, London, UK
• The Arctic University of Norway (UIT), Tromsø, Norway

The first semester of study begins in August and takes place at the University of Gothenburg, the second semester at the University of Deusto, and a third semester at the University of Roehampton. Mobility to Norway will be included for those students supervised in their master thesis by UIT. Teaching modules will be complemented with a Professional Seminar Series, field visits, and an internship during the third semester with a human rights organization in London. During the fourth semester, you are required to write a dissertation, supervised by academic staff from one of the four partner universities. 

Do you have any questions? Please contact program administrators: emhrppugot@gu.se

Structure and content

The first semester in Sweden lays the foundation for the programme by introducing human rights as an interdisciplinary field and begins to examine where responsibility for human rights should lie.

The second semester in Spain prepares you to produce and access quality human rights knowledge and evidence, and examines relativistic approaches to human rights in light of cultural and ethnic diversity.

The third semester in the UK gives you the opportunity to practise what you have learned through an internship at a human rights organization in London, the Professional Seminar Series, and modules about theorizing human rights and social change.

The fourth semester consists of writing your master’s thesis in Human Rights Policy and Practice, based at one of the four partner universities.

The Erasmus Mundus Programme provides EU-funded scholarships for third-country students and EU/EEA students who have applied to and been accepted by the Human Rights Policy and Practice master´s course. The programme offers around 15 scholarships per year.

The student grant covers the participation costs, a monthly allowance for living costs, and a contribution to travel and installation costs. Each grantee will receive EUR 1,000 each month for living costs during the 24-month duration of the programme.

The scholarship also includes a contribution to travel and installation and any other type of costs to be paid in two instalments, as well as the Human Rights Policy and Practice participation costs including health insurance coverage for 24 months.

• Scholarship students must have already obtained a first higher education degree or demonstrate a recognized equivalent level of learning according to national rules and legislation in place by the application deadline. That means that scholarship applicants must hold a higher education degree by the programme admissions deadline in mid-January.
• Students who have already obtained an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degrees (EMJMD) scholarship and former Erasmus Mundus Master/Doctoral Course scholarship holders are not eligible for an additional scholarship under the Erasmus Mundus Masters Courses (EMMC) action. Students benefiting from an EMJMD scholarship cannot benefit from another EU grant while pursuing their EMJMD studies.
• The list of countries whose nationals are eligible for a scholarship is presented here. A differentiation between programme country students and partner country students is applied. No more than 25% of the total number of scholarships available will be awarded to programme country students.
• Scholarship holders spending part of their EMJMD studies in their country of residence are not entitled to benefit from the monthly living-cost allowance for this period. The monthly living-cost allowance is not given to scholarship holders from partner countries for EMJMD periods exceeding three months (the equivalent of 15 ECTS credits) spent in any partner country.
• Students from partner countries who have carried out their main activity (studies, work, etc.) for more than a total of 12 months over the last five years in any of the programme countries (EU + Turkey, Macedonia, Norway, Lichtenstein, and Iceland) will be considered programme country applicants according to the 12-months rule.
• Please note: in any given academic year, student candidates can apply for a maximum of three different joint programmes supported by the Erasmus Mundus scholarships (see the Erasmus Mundus catalogue).

Admission is closed. Next call for admission will open in October 2026 at the earliest (meaning programme start in August 2027 (TBC)).

Application procedures and entry requirement compliance (eligibility) tests are managed by the services of the University of Gothenburg.

The admission procedure is carried out by the Joint Admission Committee of the EMHRPP, composed by the conveners and administrative coordinator at Gothenburg on the basis of commonly pre-determined criteria.

You also need to provide the documents below as they are used in the ranking process carried out by the Joint Admission Committee of the EMHRPP: 

• Fill in the Scholarship Application form
  • Fill in the Scholarship Application form. NB: the scholarship application form must be submitted together with your programme application on universityadmissions.se. If you do not upload the scholarship application form, erasmus will process your application as a self-funding candidate.
    
    
• Official transcript of records in English.
  
  
• Motivation letter in English, well structured, and written in clear and concise language
  • You are asked to write a motivation letter in English, no longer than 5000 characters (including spaces). The letter should be well structured and written in clear and concise language.
  • Motivation Letter Template
    
    
• Two recommendation letters
  • The recommendation letters can be academics letters or letters provided by a relevant non-
    academic organisation or company (former employer).
  • The letter should be:
    • Written in English
    • Be printed on the official letterhead of the institution(s) they come from and signed by the referee.
    • Contain the referee’s affiliation, their contact details and explicitly mention the relation to the applicant.
    • Be dated and cannot have been written longer that 1 year prior to the application deadline.
      
      
• Curriculum Vitae (CV)
  • Your CV should be written in English and entail both your academic and professional experiences, including any extracurricular work you might have done (membership of association, volunteering, extra courses).
    
    
• Copy of Passport
  • Scan the page of your passport or identity card that contain your photo, name, date of birth, nationality, etc.

Apply to the programme if you are looking to gain critical knowledge of human rights and want to pursue international studies. The programme offers a unique interdisciplinary take on human rights, and broaden your skillset with both in-depth academic studies and practical experience. 

• Online Application
• Degree certificates
• Official Transcript
• Two Recommendation Letters
• Curriculum Vitae (CV)
• Motivation Letter
• Copy of Passport
• English Langauge Proficiency