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The University-Specific Master’s course is oriented to research as the best option for professional specialisation, as it offers suitable training for employability at national and international public and private human rights defence entities, as well as law firms with departments specialised in fundamental rights and their defence before administrations and domestic and international jurisdictions. Moreover, it favours employability in internationally renowned human rights consultancy firms and development cooperation consultancy firms, as well as in public office positions; and it also facilitates the pursuit of a career in public affairs.
The Master in Governance and Human Rights consists of 60 credits divided into four modules. Its contents have been planned to be taught in one calendar year. 38 of those credits require classroom instruction.
The instruction period has a duration of four months, with daily classes in the afternoon from 4 pm to 8 pm, delivered by the most distinguished professors at classrooms of the Faculty of Law.
The instruction period requires the attendance of students and is distributed into two modules. To complete the instruction period, students must prove attendance of at least 80% of the hours of each of those two modules (Modules I and II) with justified absences and a favourable report from the coordinator of each of those modules. Lectures are supplemented with tutoring sessions from Mondays through Fridays, which may be held onsite, online or by telephone.
Upon completion of the two instruction modules and reception of the compliance certificate for each of them, the student may apply for the practicum (10 credits) at some of the organisations and public institutions partnered with the Master’s Course for a minimum of 6 weeks.
Practicum is under the charge of the module coordinator and a tutor designated by the organisation at which they take place. The final decision on the assignment of practicum positions is made by the Master’s authorities based on the coordinator’s report and considering the student’s interests, as well as their university degree and expertise in the field.
Once the practicum period is finished, the tutor and the coordinator will prepare an individual report on the performance of each student and propose a grade to the Master’s authorities.
Students passing the two instruction modules and the practicum module must prepare, from September through December, a 12-credit Final Research Project on any of the subjects included in the curriculum. Such work will be supervised onsite or online by a tutor, who must be a PhD-holding Professor of the Master’s Course. Sufficiency of the research conducted is verified through the presentation and defence of the Final Research Project before a Tribunal formed by three PhD-holding Professors and a member of the Jesús de Polanco Chair of Ibero-American Studies.
Only exceptionally, in the event the student is not in Madrid on the assigned date, may he/she request that the Tribunal evaluate the Final Research Project in his/her absence.
Lastly, based on the grades and reports prepared by the tutors and coordinators of each module, the Master’s authorities will decide the final grade for each student.
Module I. Governance.
Description of contents: The first module studies the types of States, forms of government and their effectiveness, taking into consideration the international, historical, anthropological and cultural aspects that condition them and determine their realisation. Special emphasis is placed on factors associated with communication, information and opinion, and on the efficaciousness of national and international political power structures to guarantee fundamental rights in the face of globalisation, as well as the analysis and proposal of measures to strengthen the structures of the Rule of Law and of international guarantee institutions.
Module II. Human Rights.
Description of contents: The second module is divided into two parts. The first part, called “Human Rights”, includes content on the general theory of human rights and fundamental rights, guarantees, limitations and subjects, with a focus on the challenges emerging from great changes. This part analyses specific rights, that is, the contents of each of them and, in particular, of new rights acknowledged or to be acknowledged: environmental rights and the right to health and housing, as well as the new aspects of traditional rights: the rights to life, integrity and freedom.
The second part of the second module includes the contents on the development of guarantees and defence procedures before national and international organisations (United Nations, European Council, European Union, constitutional courts, etc.), with an emphasis on the new challenges in the face of great changes and the increasing relevance of international organisations in their effectiveness and defence.
Module III. Practicum.
The practicum is the third module of the Master’s Course. It represents 10 ECTS credits and is a mandatory activity with a duration of at least 6 weeks at different top-ranked public or private institutions and organisations of national and international prestige, both in the legal field in terms of fundamental rights’ guarantee and defence institutions, and the political, diplomatic, cooperation and research fields.
The Master’s authorities, at the proposal of the coordinator of Module III (Practicum), will assign each student to an institution where the practicum will take place. For the purpose of such assignment, they will especially take into account and consider the student’s performance in the first two modules, as well as his/her profile, professional and academic interests and the appropriateness of his/her abilities with respect to the activities required by the partner institution.
The tasks to be performed by practicum
students are agreed between the Master’s Course staff and
the partner institutions to guarantee that the expertise
acquired by the student is fully satisfactory. They are
wide-ranging, as they encompass the preparation of technical
reports, the design of specific programmes and research or
public involvement projects up to the drafting and
publishing of articles and work papers. Also, the practicum
contributes first-hand participation experience in
decision-making or advisory centres for the abovementioned
national or international institutions.
Practicum may take place throughout the
duration of the Master’s Course. Once the practicum period
is over, the tutor or professor assigned by the partner
institution sends a report to the module coordinator to
evaluate the student and for the Master’s authorities to
assess his/her performance in each specific case.
List of Practicum institutions and organisations :
Module IV. Final research project.
The Final Research Project (FRP), the last module of the Master’s Course, is a mandatory and non-attendance activity with a duration of 19 weeks. The FRP is conducted based on clear academic criteria, seeing to the scientific solvency of the work, the rigour in the use of concepts, the internal coherence of arguments and their compliance, from the formal and the result presentation viewpoint, with the demanding standards of the most important legal and scientific journals.
The FRP is tutored by a professor selected by each student from the staff working as instructors or coordinators of the Master’s Course. Upon completion of the work, the tutor submits a first evaluation report assessing the quality of the work under those conditions, in addition to its originality and relevance. Then, the student must defend the FRP before a Tribunal formed by three Master’s Course professors.
The presentation and defence of the Final Research Project must take place before a Tribunal. This presentation is necessary to pass Module IV. In the event of disease or residence outside Spain preventing or seriously hindering the oral presentation of the FRP, the student must explain such circumstance to the authorities, which will evaluate any situations that may prevent the student from defending his/her work on the date assigned. If approved by such authorities, the Tribunal will evaluate the work in the absence of the student. The Final Research Projects deemed by the tutors or other members of the Tribunal to be of the highest academic and research level may be recommended for publication as part of the research and publishing activities developed by the Master’s Course.
The Master’s Course lectures are taught from Mondays through Thursdays from 4 pm through 8 pm, and Fridays from 11 am through 4.30 pm at the Faculty of Law of UAM. The month of June is fully devoted to the practicum activities. The first three modules are classroom-instruction based, while the fourth module, in some cases and upon prior request, may take place in each student’s country of origin. Lastly, from September through December, students must prepare their Final Research Project under the onsite or online supervision of a tutor.
Applicants holding degrees granted by Spanish institutions or foreign university degrees, or applicants requesting admission by reason of professional credentials may request their application to the Master’s Secretary’s Office from the date established. To that end, they must send a duly filled-in Application Form and copies of their identity document or passport, and of the degree in question. If requested by the applicants, UAM will send an official document certifying submission of their application and, where appropriate, of their admission.
Admission will be informed via email to the applicant, and a term will be established for him/her to accept it and proceed to enrol. To that end, applicants will be furnished the forms to be filled in. If requested by the applicants, UAM will send an official document certifying the admission resolution to the Master’s Course.
The fees amount to EUR 3,000.
Such fees grant the student access to all the classes taught at the University-Specific Master’s Course, both theoretical and practical, as well as the learning materials furnished during the course. These fees also enable the student to use all of the Master’s Course resources and those available at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (library, administrative services, sports facilities, employment counselling, insurance, medical assistance, etc.). Furthermore, exam costs, diploma issuance costs and student’s card costs are covered by the fees, as are an official UAM email account and access to practicum at the institutions listed above.
Possibility of payment in instalments: Fees
may also be paid in two instalments: one EUR 1500 instalment
at the time of enrolment and another EUR 1500 instalment in
the month of April.
The students who meet the above requirements will be granted UAM’s University-Specific Master’s Degree in Governance and Human Rights. Such degree is part of the graduate education courses officially approved by UAM and certifies completion and satisfaction of the required course contents.
At least 5 Master’s scholarships will be granted. Scholarships may be granted in full or in part, the latter covering only half of the fees or even a smaller portion of them.
Fee scholarships must be applied for by marking the appropriate box in the application form. Only the applications of those who have marked such box in the Application Form and have enclosed their academic records will be considered. Any documentation relevant for application purposes must also be enclosed with the application. Scholarships will be awarded in the month of October of each course period.
Under no circumstances will the scholarships include the candidates’ living or accommodation expenses.
The Master’s Course authorities will inform each of the applicants via email whether or not their applications have been accepted. Eligibility for scholarships will be determined by the candidates’ curriculum vitae, their academic status, and their potential, as well as their place of residence.
CRITERIA CONSIDERED FOR THE GRANT OF SCHOLARSHIPS FOR THE MASTER’S DEGREE IN GOVERNANCE AND HUMAN RIGHTS (UAM’S UNIVERSITY-SPECIFIC MASTER’S COURSE TAUGHT AT THE FACULTY OF LAW).
A COMMISSION FORMED BY FOUR PHD-HOLDING PROFESSORS AND THE SECRETARY’S OFFICE IS CREATED IN EACH MASTER’S COURSE TO DECIDE ON THE SCHOLARSHIP SELECTION PROCESS. THE COMMISSION APPROVES TWO LISTS, ONE FOR THE APPLICANTS WHO OBTAINED EITHER THE MASTER’S SCHOLARSHIPS OR GRANTS AND ANOTHER ONE FOR THE SUBSTITUTES THAT MAY OBTAIN A SCHOLARSHIP IF ANY OF THE SELECTED CANDIDATES SHOULD DECLINE IT.
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, as part of the services offered to the students’ community, makes accommodation available to students at High Residential Colleges and University Residence Halls.
All the information regarding UAM’s High Residential Colleges and University Residence Halls may be found at:
Other useful links for accommodation services:
(which manages student´s
flatshare residence options). (search engine for
students’ residences, guest houses and flatshare options
in the most important cities of Spain) .UAM UAM has an international welcome office for foreign students. All information about it may be found in the following link:
To verify whether or not you need a visa, you may check the following:
¿What happens if I do not have a visa and I need it to enter Spain?
Candidates from countries outside the European Union must specify in their application forms whether or not they already have a visa and its duration, or if they need to request one. Once admitted in the programme, students must immediately apply for the student’s visa at the Spanish Consulate in their country of origin. Visa processing may take up to two months depending on the student’s country of origin. Upon admission to the Master’s Course, the authorities will send an acceptance letter to the appropriate Consulate to facilitate and speed up the visa proceedings.
CLIMATE: Madrid has continental Mediterranean climate with a mean annual temperature of 12 ºC. During the coldest winter months, day temperatures average 7 ºC. However, during the summer, temperatures can be up to 35 ºC and sometimes even higher. The spring and fall tend to be sunny and with moderate temperatures.
CURRENCY: Spain’s currency is the Euro (EUR).
BUSINESS AND BANK HOURS: Shops are usually open from 10 am through 2 pm and from 5 pm through 8 pm during the week, and only from 10 am through 2 pm on Saturdays. Department stores and supermarkets open from 10 am through 9 pm Mondays through Saturdays. Banks are generally open only during the mornings, from 9 am through 2 pm.
TRANSPORT IN MADRID: To move around Madrid, the most practical and also the cheapest option is to use the public transport: the Metro (underground), buses and city trains.
Specific directions to reach UAM from
central Madrid: Access
transport
USEFUL TELEPHONE NUMBERS:
Application form
For more information, contact us: masterderechoshumanos@uam.es
Telephone (from 10 am through 2 pm): +34 914976338 and +34 914978130.
