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Joint Degree

EMA is a post-graduate programme organized by 43 participating universities representing all EU Member States, plus the UK and Switzerland, and is implemented and managed by the jointly-owned Global Campus of Human Rights. The University of Padova, Italy, assumes the role of University of First Enrolment on behalf of the consortium.

After successfully passing exams and completing a master’s thesis, students are awarded the Diploma of the “European Master’s Programme in Human Rights and Democratisation,” which is worth 60 ECTS credits. The diploma is jointly conferred by those universities of the GC/EMA network that have ratified the Joint Degree Agreement (the so-called Inner Circle Universities).

Graduates receive one of two versions of the joint diploma, which is based on the ECTS credits, or an equivalent thereof, they held at the time of admission (either 180 or 240), which in turn are required for admission to postgraduate programmes in the Inner Circle Universities, according to the relevant national or other applicable legal framework:

  • University of Graz, University of Padua, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice issue the EMA diploma to students enrolled in EMA with 180 ECTS
  • University of Graz, Ruhr-University Bochum, University of Hamburg, University of Padua, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, University of Ljubljana, University of Deusto, Bilbao issue the diploma to students enrolled in EMA with 240 ECTS

The national equivalent value attributed to the EMA Joint Programme varies among the Inner Circle Universities as follows:

  • for the Italian universities (Padua, and Ca’ Foscari University Venice), the EMA Degree corresponds to a “Master Universitario di primo livello” (see DM 270/2004);
  • for Ruhr-University Bochum, the EMA Degree corresponds to a Master’s title as envisaged by par. 66, Hochschulgesetz (HG) 16.9.2014;
  • for the University of Deusto-Bilbao, the EMA Degree corresponds to a “Título de Máster” recognised by the Real Decreto 1393/2007 de 29 de octubre;
  • for the University of Graz, the EMA Degree corresponds to the title recognised by the UG 2002 (BGB1 n. 120/2002);
  • for Hamburg University, the EMA Degree corresponds to a “Master of Peace and Security Studies” (MPS) as foreseen by the § 1 Abs. 2 der Neufassung der Prüfungsordnung für den Masterstudiengang “Peace and Security Studies - (M.A.)” vom 16. April 2014;
  • for the University of Ljubljana, the EMA Degree corresponds to »magistrski št. druge st., mag. člov. prav. in demo. according to the Odločba Sveta NAKVIS št. 6034-46/2015/15.