Masters Honours Research Track
The Faculty of Law offers a supplementary Law honours programme (Research Track) for its ambitious master’s students. The programme allows master students to, in addition to their regular studies, learn more about conducting academic research. The programme is embedded in the Maastricht Graduate School of Law.
Honours students have the opportunity to specialise in one of the core research fields of the Faculty of Law and write a(n) (extended) master’s thesis on the topic of their choice. The research track enables students to prepare themselves for a future PhD or academic career.
Programme
Meetings/courses for the Masters Honours research Track take place every Wednesday between 16.00-18.00. The Honours programme comprises courses related to methodological aspects of legal research such as a course on the foundations of the common law of Europe, on methods of human rights research and on empirical research methods. Next to that, students will learn more about practical research skills such as writing and presentation skills.
Honours student’s are requested to defend their (extended) master’s thesis within the Graduate School.
Students enrolled in the two-year master’s programme in International Laws can also take part in the honours programme. They can spend their third semester abroad taking courses relevant to their research.
Click here for the programme.
Study load
Students that have successfully completed the Honours (Research Track) programme will obtain 18 extra credits with the courses of the Maastricht Graduate School of Law. These extra credits are in addition to the normal study load of 60 credits for the regular master programme. On top of that, students may, in consultation with their supervisor, increase the study load for their master’s thesis with a maximum of 12 credits. In that case, the thesis should correspond to the size and quality requirements of the first chapter of a PhD dissertation.
Certificate
Students who successfully completed the honours programme will receive a Law Honours Programme (Research Track) certificate together with their master’s degree.
Admissions
Each year, a limited number of students may be admitted to the Honours (Research Track) programme. These students are selected on the basis of their motivation and above-average study results. You can apply for the Law Honours programme by submitting a CV, a letter of motivation, an academic transcript and an example of your legal writing (for instance a paper or thesis written at the bachelor’s stage). Applications have to be submitted before 12 September 2012 via email:
admissions-law@maastrichtuniversity.nl.
After a selection based on the submitted documents, a number of applicants will be invited for a selection interview. These interviews will take place on 19 September 2012 from 16.00-18.00. Invitations for these interviews will be sent no later than 18 September 2012.
