The Programme Directors about the Erasmus Mundus Master in International Law

Armed conflicts, cyber security, climate change or social inequality: the global community is confronted with complex, often interwoven challenges. "We can no longer meet these global problems with individual disciplines alone," says Dr. Jelena Bäumler. The Professor of Public Law and International Law with a Focus on Sustainability is in charge of the Erasmus Mundus Master at Leuphana. "We were approached by the University of Glasgow last summer and they introduced the idea of this innovative and interdisciplinary programme to us". 

The two-year Masters programme was designed in response to the growing demand for graduates with leadership potential in the fields of international law and international relations. An understanding of the interplay between law, politics, economics and sustainability is necessary for the development of the rules and governance tools needed to address the global challenges of the 21st century. Career prospects may lie in international organisations such as the United Nations and its sub-organisations or at the European level, for example, in the European Commission, but also in NGOs or international law firms. The curriculum brings together all fields of international law relevant to global security, peace and development and offers specialisation in the areas of human rights, migration, peace and security and sustainable development. The programme will start in autumn 2021 at the University of Glasgow. At Glasgow, all participants will study core subjects of international law before the students will jointly study international relations and politics at the Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals in the second semester. In their third semester, students can choose to focus on a specific subject and study at Radboud University, the University of Tartu, the Université libre de Bruxelles or Leuphana. "At Leuphana, we offer a specialisation in Public International Law and International Economic Law and set an additional focus on topics from the sustainability sciences such as Sustainable Development Law, Sustainability Transitions Governance or Sustainable Energy Law," explains Jelena Bäumler. The programme is complemented by law clinics, summer schools and internships. 

The programme is the first Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree (EMJMD) offered at Leuphana. EMJMDs are international Masters of excellence, jointly offered by at least three European universities from three European countries. The EMJMD programmes are funded by the European Commission and award scholarships to students from all over the world. The application deadline for the scholarships is 25 January 2021, for the programme in general 21 july 2021.

"We are very pleased to cooperate again with the University of Glasgow. It will deepen and further promote our academic exchange between Lower Saxony and Scotland," says Dr. Jörg Philipp Terhechte, Professor for Public Law, European and Public International Law and Regulatory and Antitrust Law at Leuphana and Deputy Programme Director of the new Masters programme. The jurist is also Professor for European and International Economic Law at the School of Law at the University of Glasgow, recently ranked one of the top 40 law schools worldwide as of this year. Since 2019 he also has been Chairman of the Academic Board and Academic Director of the European Centre for Advanced Studies (ECAS), Lüneburg/Glasgow. The ECAS was founded jointly by Leuphana and the University of Glasgow and is a research institution through which both universities pursue common interests in research and teaching in the fields of digital culture and media, business informatics, law, management, sustainability and psychology.