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FAQs

FAQs

Prospective applicants

Admitted applicants

FAQs for Prospective Applicants

Admission Requirements

The European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) is widely used by universities as a tool to measure the weight of the academic performance at the undergraduate and postgraduate level. According to this system, one year of university studies generally corresponds to 60 ECTS, while a bachelor’s degree (BA) corresponds to 180 ECTS or equivalent.  

To obtain such specification the applicant should refer to the institution (university or other educational authority), which issued the relevant diploma or which organises the courses the applicant is attending. If the diploma/degree-granting institution is not in a position to specify the ECTS credits related to the course in question, it should provide indications of an alternative credit system (and how to convert it into the ECTS system) or summarise key information on the relevant course (duration, workload, supervision, individual research/preparation) so that the University of Padua and our other award issuing universities have sufficient information to make a comparative assessment for ECTS evaluation.

Applicants completing the degree entry requirements after the application deadline must provide a recent transcript at the time of application. Admission to the EMA programme is conditional until the submission and validation of all official documentation confirming fulfilment of the minimum entry requirements. All documents must be provided by 31 August in the year of application.

If you have a university degree with a minimum of 180 ECTS, you are eligible to apply for EMA. We also consider applications with degrees in a field not immediately relevant to human rights. Given the interdisciplinary character of human rights (and of EMA) and the multitude of activities which one can conduct in the field, it is up to you to demonstrate the relevance of your prior learning and how you would like to take advantage of your background. We encourage you to apply and state your ideas about the relevance of your background in your letter of motivation.

EMA is an interdisciplinary programme that allows students to study human rights from different academic perspectives. It is not a strictly legal or LLM programme. Moreover, the national equivalent value attributed to the EMA Joint Degree varies among the Inner Circle Universities conferring the diploma.

In principle, only English native speakers are exempted from submitting a certification of English proficiency. Applicants whose native language is not English may apply to have the requirement for an English language proficiency examination waived if:

 

  • They have received their degree from a university in a country where both the language of instruction and the official language is English; or
  • They have completed at least two years of post-secondary education in an English-speaking country.

EMA does not apply any age limit. However, in case of applications from mature candidates, acceptance is generally conditioned upon demonstrated intention to put skills and knowledge acquired to practical use in advancing their career. As a general indication, the EMA students’ age range is between 23 and 35.

Due to the inter-disciplinarity and uniqueness of our master’s programme, which takes place in Venice for the first semester and in one of our 43 partner universities for the second semester, it is not possible to transfer from any other university and to recognise prior learning as part of the ECTS credits needed to complete the EMA degree

Application and selection process

A transcript of records, or transcript of exams, is a list of all courses you have taken and passed, and all the marks you received in your university career. It provides information about your academic background. Usually, it is the university academic registrar office, which issues this certificate upon the student’s request. You must submit transcripts of your degree(s) as part of your application. 

If you have studied in Europe, you will also have to present the related Diploma Supplement(s). This is an internationally approved document (usually issued both in the original language and in English) which, following a template developed and approved by the Council of Europe, provides a description of the nature, level, context, content and status of the studies you successfully completed. The purpose of the Diploma Supplement is to make qualifications and programmes of study more easily comparable for students between countries across Europe. Candidates from the UK and Turkey can submit their diploma supplements, to be requested from their universities’ Academic Registrar offices.

During the application procedure, photocopies are accepted. If selected, you will be required to provide originals or certified copies of your university degree and transcript of records. A photocopy of your passport is sufficient.

The entire application, including the letter of motivation and the CV, must be submitted in English. Please also include a non-certified English translation of the required proofs, if the original certificates were not issued in English, French, Spanish or Italian.

Since EMA is an interdisciplinary master’s programme, which provides students with both academic and professional qualifications, it is preferable to submit one reference letter from each of those areas. However, should it be difficult for the applicant to trace their professors after a long time or to have a professional referee in the absence of practical experience, the EMA Executive Committee will accept two letters coming from the same field, as long as they are relevant to the application in question (relevance in terms of human rights expertise, motivation to perform human rights studies, etc.).

Given the large amount of applications that we receive every year, this fee covers the administrative costs of processing them. The application processing fee is non-refundable in all cases. Applicants who already have applied in the past also have to pay the application fee again.

Applications are reviewed after the application deadline. The selection process is managed jointly by the EMA team and the EMA partner universities, and it takes 4 to 6 weeks. Selected candidates are informed about admission with a letter of acceptance sent by the EMA Secretariat via email. Applicants notified about admission have up to one week to confirm their acceptance. After all offers are sent out, some places may become available depending on acceptance of the offers by the selected candidates. Applicants on the reserve list may then be contacted until the conclusion of the selection process. Unsuccessful applicants will receive a notification email only at the final stage of the selection process.

No, you must re-apply and go through the selection process again. The only exception to this rule, is if you were unable to supply admission documents by the 31 August deadline. You may request a deferral only if you can demonstrate that the non-supply of documents was through no fault of your own.

No, you must re-apply and go through the selection process again.

Non-EU/EEA Degrees

The document officially attests the validity of your degree in Italy and is necessary to obtain the diploma at the end of the master’s programme. It must be obtained in order to apply for the national study VISA in Italy.

As soon as you receive and accept the formal offer to participate in EMA. Be aware that some consulates require that you to have obtained the DoV before processing your study visa application. You should file the request for the Declaration of Value to the Italian embassy/consulate responsible for the region or city where you obtained your university degree, regardless of your nationality.

As an alternative to the DoV, you can submit a statement of verification/verification and comparability. CIMEA is the Italian agency responsiblity for evaluating degrees awarded by foreign institutions. A CIMEA statement is a document which contains general information related to the foreign university qualification, such as recognition/accreditation status of the institution from which it has been issued in the country of origin and the level of the qualification according to the Bologna Process and to the European Qualifications Framework, besides the indication of the nature of the course. The application process takes up to 60 days and will be followed by an appointed credential evaluator. The application process requires the payment of an application fee (between 150 and 300 euro).

NON-EU Students

As soon as you have received your Declaration of Value or CIMEA statement.

All non-EU students are required to obtain a study visa from the relevant diplomatic and consular Italian representation offices in their home countries.

The procedure to notify the Italian embassy/consulate about your visa application to study in Italy is managed through the Universitaly website, upon previous approval of the request by the University of Padua.

It is the candidate’s responsibility to:

  • Apply for the Declaration of Value or CIMEA statement to move forward with the VISA application process;
  • Gather all relevant information concerning the procedure and contact details of relevant Italian representation offices;
  • Submit the application to the relevant diplomatic and consular Italian representation office according to the official procedure, and enclose all requested documentation;
  • Cover all related costs;
  • Comply with all applicable immigration rules;
  • Update the EMA Secretariat about the developments of the procedure and provide the visa (as copy), when made available.

The EMA Secretariat will provide you with information and assistance on the visa application process and provide you with the necessary documents confirming your admission.

Students bear all costs relating to the visa procedures.

Yes. The Italian residence permit for study reasons is a requirement for long-term visa holders for study reasons. Within 8 working days of your arrival in Italy, non-EU/EEAs passport holders who hold a valid student visa for Italy must apply for a residence permit for study. Holders of another EU residence permit also have to apply for the Italian residence permit for study reasons. The application procedure requires payment of a standard fee (102 euro plus 16-euro duty stamp). The EMA Secretariat assists students with the application and appointment process.

FAQs for Admitted Students

Enrolment

Admitted students are notified via email by the verified EMA Secretariat email account. Admitted students will receive the EMA admission letter and the EMA enrolment form. To save your spot in the programme, the admitted student needs to transfer the EMA security deposit and the tuition fees as per timeline indicated in the EMA Call for Applications. Scholarship awardees need to pay the security deposit only, to be refunded upon successful conclusion of the EMA first semester.

Admitted applicants will need to pay the EMA tuition fees upon acceptance of the offer. To secure a place in the EMA programme, a non-refundable security deposit (€500,00) needs to be sent within ten days of the date indicated in the admission letter.

EMA tuition fees (€5950,00) may be paid within three weeks of accepting an enrolment offer or by following a two-stage instalment plan where there first instalment (€2800,00) is due within four weeks from accepting the admission offer. Receipt of payment of the second instalment (€3150,00) is due within four weeks of payment of the first instalment. A receipt for each payment shall be sent to the EMA Secretariat.

Scholarship recipients will need to transfer a security deposit (€650,00) to secure their spot in the programme. The security deposit will be returned upon successful completion of the first semester.

The EMA 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 to Kosovo (subject to final budgetary approval). The tuition fee does not cover accommodation and subsistence, travel costs to and from partner universities and visa expenses.

The enrolment procedure is managed in cooperation with the University of Padua, which assumes the role of University of First Enrolment for all EMA students. To complete enrolment at the University of Padova, students submit an online application request at the beginning of the first semester.

Housing

No. However, EMA students receive support from the EMA Secretariat to secure housing in Lido or Venice. A list of verified rented accommodation is checked every year before successful applicants are contacted. However, it is the student’s responsibility to establish first contact with the landlords. The EMA Secretariat provides guidance to students (within its capacity) on how to verify rental agreements. However, this should not be considered legal advice, and it remains the responsibility of the candidate satisfy themselves as to the terms and conditions of any rental agreement they enter into. The EMA Secretariat will provide support in how to obtain the Italian tax code which is required to sign a rental agreement. It is the responsibility of the landlord to register the contract as this is signed by both parties.

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 Campus. 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: the closest or best-connected neighbourhoods to Lido in Venice 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.

Living and housing expenses in Venice are estimated at a minimum of €1000 per month, inflation notwithstanding. You will be required to pay a security deposit in advance to secure housing. We recommend relying on the contacts shared by the EMA Secretariat to avoid scams. Depending on the choice of accommodation, the anticipated rent per each student could range from a minimum of €250 (for a shared room) to a maximum of €800 (apartment) per month, with utilities and condominium expenses ranging from €85 to €250 per month.  Based on previous experience, the minimum total costs, which EMA students should foresee to cover can be estimated at approximately €850 per month. In the second semester, costs vary depending on the destination.

Second Semester

To be admitted to the Second Semester, students should meet the following requirements:

  • Attend classes regularly and in line with attendance policy;
  • Score an average mark of at least 6.0 for the first semester;
  • Collect a minimum of 22 (out of a maximum of 30) units. 

It is a combination of both. The allocation is done based on the student’s thesis proposal and the student’s choice of university. Students can apply to six participating universities with their thesis proposal. The universities then evaluate whether suitable supervision is available for the thesis topic and the EMA Team together with the governing bodies finalises the allocation based on student choice and university feedback, also taking into consideration the maximum hosting capacity of three EMA students per university.

Follow the thesis proposal suggestions in the introductory materials provided to you over the summer to get started with brainstorming potential topics. After arrival in Venice, the EMA Team will work with students on developing their thesis proposal and topic.

The second semester allocation procedure is usually completed by the beginning of November.

Miscellaneous

The EMA programme is intense, particularly the first semester, when students take classes of the core curriculum every morning of the week (9:15-12:45) and attend selective modules in the afternoons. During the second semester, students take a minimum of two courses at their host university (to earn a minimum of 9 ECTS credits) and work on their master’s thesis.

Yes. Attendance is compulsory and monitored each week. A maximum number of absences from mandatory classes during each thematic section during the first semester is acceptable where there are legitimate reasons justifying such absences. The documents regulating attendance policy is shared with EMA students during the introductory week in September.

The EMA programme provides you with the necessary reading materials via its e-learning platform Blackboard.

The marks for each exam, essay, short paper and assignment will be awarded according to a scale from 0 to 10, unless otherwise indicated. Markers may use one single decimal point to distinguish between categories (for example 7,4 or 7,5).

The scale is to be interpreted as follows:

> 10 = Excellent

Ø  An exceptional performance. It displays originality and shows a well-defined argument and critical analysis. Overall, academically outstanding with no shortcomings.

  

>  9 = Very Good

Ø  A very good performance, above average standard, needing only minor revisions in the case of essays, short papers and assignments. It makes a logical and consistent argument and displays analytical reasoning and very good use of evidence and/or exposition and accurate citations but may contain a few shortcomings and only a few grammatical and spelling errors.

  

>  8 = Good

Ø  A good performance of reasonable quality needing revisions (in the case of essays, short papers and assignments) because of several shortcomings, such as clarity of argumentation and depth/breadth of analysis. There is the core of a good argument that needs to be better supported. It displays several shortcomings concerning grammar, spelling and citations.

 

>  7 = Satisfactory

Ø  Overall, a satisfactory performance, with an appropriate structure that is satisfactorily articulated, but with some significant shortcomings of a substantial nature as well as problems with grammar, spelling and citations.

 

>  6 = Pass

Ø  A performance which is reasonably executed so that it meets the minimum criteria, but it contains problems with substance, exposition and argumentation, as well as problems with grammar, spelling and citations.

 

>  5 = Fail

Ø  Awarded to a performance which clearly fails to meet the Programme’s requirements, but which nevertheless demonstrates some understanding of the material.

 

>  3 = Serious Fail

Ø  Awarded to a performance which is entirely inadequate.

 

>  0 = Fail

Ø  Awarded when no work is submitted or when it is submitted in violation of general principles of academic honesty.