The Vienna Master is a postgraduate program. In Austria, postgraduate programs (Außerordentliches Studium) are not state-funded programs and therefore all costs are to be borne through tuition fees and/or scholarships.

No. The Vienna Master of Arts in Applied Human Rights is a 2-year, full-time, postgraduate program.

The Vienna Master of Arts in Applied Human Rights is an interdisciplinary program welcoming applicants from all over the world regardless of their academic background, age, socio-economic, ethnic, cultural or religious background, sexual orientation and physical abilities.

The admission requirements are:

1. Completed first university or college degree equivalent to a Bachelor’s degree (180 ECTS), or at least 5 years of relevant professional experience, the equivalence of which is to be assessed by the admissions committee, and
2. positive result of the admission procedure.

Yes. Successful candidates who have not yet finished their university studies at the time of application may submit their degree certificate two months before the start of the academic year.

In this case, please send us your most recent transcripts and a confirmation issued by your university stating the expected date of the completion of your studies and date of conferral in your application.

In case the applicant does not send us the certificate within the deadline, the provisionally reserved study place is forfeited.

If you completed your degree in a program where the English language was the only medium of instruction, you do not need an additional test of English language proficiency.

Yes. You can still apply, however, you have to indicate the date of your language test in the application form and send us the results immediately after you receive them.

In case the applicant does not fulfill the English language requirement, the provisionally reserved study place is forfeited.

No. The language of instruction of the Vienna Master of Arts in Applied Human Rights is English and the level of English language proficiency has to be mastered at a higher proficiency in order to fully grasp the academic content of the programme.

100 points are the minimum requirement for the TOEFL in order to be accepted into the Vienna Master.

6.5 points are the minimum requirement for the IELTS in order to be accepted into the Vienna Master.

In case the applicant does not fulfill the English language requirement, the provisionally reserved study place is forfeited.

Academic degrees and final transcripts are considered foreign official documents and must be either in German or English, and if applicable, fully legalized or validated by apostille if issued outside of Austria. This is necessary for official university enrollment and applies to all students, regardless of whether a visa and/or residency permit is required for your stay in Austria.

The type of legalization depends on the country the documents were issued in. A list of the required legalization types per country can be found here: Legalization of Foreign Documents in Higher Education (Beglaubigungsliste Hochschulwesen) (uni-ak.ac.at)

The student residency permit application(s) require additional documents to be translated into German and fully legalized. You can find more details about which documents need to be legalized for the “Residence Permit – Student” on the following website: https://oead.at/en/to-austria/entry-and-residence/residence-permit-student-no-mobility-programme/#checklists

Program admission decisions can take up to one month after each respective deadline.

Kindly note that shortlisted scholarship applicants follow a separate timeline and final scholarship decisions are made by May and/or June.

Please see the information on funding in section ‘2. Funding And Scholarships’ below and information on visa and other information for entry into Austria in section ‘3. Questions on Entry into Austria’ below.

The tuition fee is € 24,500 for all students independent of their citizenship.

The Vienna Master of Arts in Applied Human Rights is a postgraduate program offering only limited places with highly individualised educational services and guidance.

The tuition fee covers, next to a high quality learning and growing experience and all the amenities of the university, also the most important study books as well as the cost for the study trips (including flights, accommodation and travel insurance).

The tuition fee does not cover costs for travel and accommodation to and in Vienna, subsistence expenses, costs for the residence permit and health insurance.

The tuition fee is usually paid in three installments:

• € 4,000 – due immediately after acceptance to secure study spot
• € 13,000 – due by 1 September before 1st semester
• € 7,500 – due by 1 September before 3rd semester.

After acceptance, students may also propose a separate installment plan to be reviewed and approved by the program office.

You can apply for a scholarship. Every year we aim to support some students with financial aid to fully or partially cover the programme fee. The number of scholarships and the amounts are subject to yearly contributions of external donors, who form the economic advisory board of our program.

Only excellent candidates with outstanding academic or professional performances will be nominated for the selection to our economic advisory board which ultimately appoints the scholarship holder(s). Since the funding from donors is very limited and not guaranteed, candidates from the global south are given preference.

If you would like to apply for a scholarship, please send us your complete application and additionally a scholarship application letter.

We recommend that you apply at relevant institutions for a scholarship that would cover the tuition fee and possibly also your living costs in Vienna.

Students may work next to their studies as long as it does not interfere with their academic obligations, including required course attendance. The Vienna Master is an intensive full-time study and should take precedence.

Kindly keep in mind that students take an average of 30 ECTS per semester. This is the equivalent of 750 hours of student workload every semester.

If you need to apply for a student residency permit and will need a Visa D for entry into Austria, we strongly urge you to submit your application(s) at your designated embassy/consulate no later than 31 May.

If a Visa D is not required in your case, please submit your residency permit application no later than 30 June.

We recommend that you begin gathering your documents and attaining legalizations/apostilles as early as possible. You can find the checklist for the “Residence Permit – Student” on the following website:

https://oead.at/en/to-austria/entry-and-residence/residence-permit-student-no-mobility-programme/#checklists

Postgraduate students are not eligible for public state insurance.

If you are a third country citizen (non-EU citizen): These two insurance providers offer all-risk student health insurance that is fully accepted by the Austrian government for your Visa-D and Residence Permit.

• https://www.feelsafe.at/students-health-insurance/
• https://www.care-concept.de/index_eng.html?navilang=eng

If you are an EU-citizen: We kindly urge you to check if your home insurance covers you in Austria throughout your stay as a student. If it doesn’t, you will have to take up a private Austrian all-risk student insurance “Selbstversicherung”.

As postgraduate students, Austrian students above the age of 27 need to take up a private Austrian all-risk student insurance “Selbstversicherung” as well.

The European Health Insurance Card is recognized in many European countries. You can only make use of the European Health Insurance Card if you go to a healthcare provider covered by the health insurance scheme provided for by law in the host state.

If you go to a private doctor or establishment, you will not be able to use your European Health Insurance Card and will have to pay up front and then be reimbursed by your insurance provider.

All enrolled students must complete their studies with either a Scientific Master Thesis or a Final Artistic Project.

The Scientific Master Thesis is an academic paper of approx. 100 to 120 pages (with a minimum of 80 pages content, excluding bibliography and appendices), which is written individually and independently by the student.

Those with a prior degree in the arts (obtained before joining the program) are encouraged to graduate with a Final Artistic Project instead. This consists of an artistic project/artwork with substantial documentation, and a written theoretical reflection/analysis on the project’s underlying research and its relevance to human rights. For artistic projects, the final written text length requirement is minimum 40 pages (~12.000 words), and maximum 55 pages (~17.000 words), excluding bibliography and images.

Yes. According to §56 (2) of the Austrian Study Law, it is stated that „(…) postgraduate programs [non-state-funded programs] shall be equivalent to (…) ordinary master’s degree courses [state-funded programs] (…) and shall entitle students to admission to (…) doctoral degree courses in accordance with the other provisions of the law. (…)“

The Vienna Master of Arts in Applied Human Rights offers current students and recent graduates from Erasmus+ participating universities a unique opportunity to work with us via the Erasmus+ Traineeship Program! Traineeships take place on-site in Vienna, Austria in the winter semester (August-February) and in the summer semester (February-August).

Program assistants (i.e., Erasmus+ trainees) gain practical skills in the application of human rights education, entry level office work, academic coordination and curricular support, communication/media support, event coordination support, and research support.

We look for 3-4 program assistants each semester with a strong interest in human rights from diverse academic backgrounds, including but not limited to:

• education/communication/management or related field,
• law/political science/social sciences or related field,
• visual/performing/multidisciplinary arts or related field.

For more insight, check out our blog post about previous program assistants!

Traineeship Dates for Winter Semester 2023/24:

7 August 2023 – 9 February 2024

How to Apply:

Please complete our application form by Sunday, 7 May 2023. Kindly note that you will need a Gmail account to access the form and will be required to upload a motivation letter* (max. 1 page) and CV (max. 2 pages).

*In your motivation letter, please address the following questions: 

• How would you combine human rights with arts in educational settings?
• Describe your interest in human rights. For example, share an experience when you felt inspired by human rights.
• In your experience, what is the key to developing a good team?

If you have any questions or technical issues with the form, you can contact us via email at applied.humanrights@uni-ak.ac.at.

Interview Dates:

First round of interviews (via Zoom): 17 May 2023 and 19 May 2023

Second round of interviews (via Zoom): 30 May 2023

Final decisions will be made by: 7 June 2023

Applicants must be eligible to receive a grant through the Erasmus+ Traineeship program of their university. Compensation amounts depend on the Sending Institution’s Erasmus+ Grant Level. Additionally, we suggest you explore other sponsorships, such as government scholarships in your home country or from private funds.

The Vienna Master covers each program assistant’s accident and liability insurance and Wiener Linien ticket for the duration of the traineeship.