EMA Universities
EMA is defined by inter-university cooperation among 43 prestigious universities
The EMA programme is co-designed, co-taught and governed by 43 participating universities and human rights centres representing all member states of the European Union as well as the United Kingdom and Switzerland. Each university is renowned for their leading role in education, research and advocacy in human rights and democratisation.
Each university is represented by an EMA National Director who sits on the EMA governing bodies. Together EMA National Directors work on curriculum development, teaching methodology, student selection and evaluation, and the awarding of degrees. This makes the EMA programme a unique example of inter-university cooperation in Europe. The benefits are multiple: for students, all the EMA participating universities together present a variety of perspectives that no single department or faculty could offer; for lecturers and experts, who devote their time and expertise to this common endeavour, the cooperation brings insight, inspiration, and a strong sense of community, which in turn enriches the participating institutions.
As a mark of our success in inter-university cooperation the EMA programme was accredited through the European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes in 2025. This approach defines the European standard for joint degrees that are based on the agreed tools of the European Higher Education Area. Led by Ruhr University Bochum, this positive accreditation decision is strong evidence of the high quality of the EMA programme and its basis in inter-university cooperation which has been developed over the course of nearly 30 years of delivering postgraduate human rights education.
AUSTRIA
University of Graz
Fields of competence: International human rights law; international humanitarian law; United Nations, European and African human rights systems; globalization and human rights; human rights on the local level; human rights in South-Eastern Europe; human security; migration, asylum and human rights.
University of Vienna
Fields of competence: International Investment Law, International Protection of Human Rights, Expropriation in International Law, Arbitration (Investment Arbitration, Business and Human Rights Arbitration), Implementation of International Human Rights Obligations in National Domestic Legal orders.
BELGIUM
Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)
Fields of competence: Critical Legal Studies, Activism and Human Rights, Civil Society & Social Movements, Legal Cultural Studies, Sociology of Law.
BULGARIA
Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski
Fields of competence: Private International Law, European Law, International Family Law
CROATIA
University of Zagreb
Fields of competence: Law, Sociology of Law, Human Rights Law, Rights of Minorities, Transitional Justice, Victimology, Medical Law, Women’s Rights, Social Policy, State of Emergency.
CYPRUS
CZECH REPUBLIC
Masaryk University of Brno
Fields of competence: Theory of non-democratic and hybrid regimes, transitological studies in East-Central and Eastern Europe.
DENMARK
University of Southern Denmark / Danish Institute for Human Rights
Fields of competence: The history of human rights, religious traditions and human rights, freedom of religion or belief.
ESTONIA
University of Tartu
Fields of competence: Public international law; history and theory of international law and human rights; Russia, international law and human rights.
FINLAND
Åbo Akademi University
Fields of competence: Public international law, human rights, criminal justice, constitutional law, minority rights, asylum and migration, international organisations, development, law of the sea, autonomy.
University of Helsinki
Fields of competence: Indigenous Peoples’ Rights, Sustainability Law, Business and Human Rights.
University of Helsinki
Fields of competence: Indigenous Peoples’ Rights, Sustainability Law, Business and Human Rights.
FRANCE
Université de Strasbourg
Fields of competence: European Human Rights Law.
Université de Montpellier
Fields of competence: EU Law / Human Rights Law / Business Law
GERMANY
Ruhr-University Bochum
Fields of competence: Minority Rights, Autonomy Regulations, Self-Determination of Peoples, Disarmament, UN Law, Air and Space Law, Law of Diplomatic Relations, Human Rights and Rule of Law, International Humanitarian Law.
University of the Bundeswehr Munich
Fields of competence: International Law and International Human Rights Law with particular expertise in a. the rights of indigenous peoples; b. social rights; c. regional human rights protection in the Americas; d. democratization and international standards on political participation.
University of Hamburg
Fields of competence: International Law; European Law.
GREECE
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Fields of competence: Civil Law, European Private Law, Consumer Law, Environmental Law, Human Rights and Private Law.
Panteion University Athens
Fields of competence: International Law including Use of Force and International Justice, Humanitarian Law, International and European Human Rights Law including Minorities, Migrants and Refugees, European Law and Institutions.
HUNGARY
Eotvos Lorand University Budapest
Fields of competence: Constitutional Law, Human Rights, EU Human Rights.
IRELAND
University College Dublin
Fields of competence: Theory/Philosophy of Human Rights, Political Theory, International Justice, Migration, Development, Education.
ITALY
University of Padua
Fields of competence: International Law of human rights, International Human Rights Politics, Business and human rights, children’s rights women’s rights, human rights and inclusion.
Ca’ Foscari University of Venice
Fields of competence: International, European and National Labour Law, Enterprises and Social Rights, Globalisation, Social Clauses, Codes of ethics, Free Trade Agreements, Corporate Social Responsibility, Sustainable Development, Human Rights and Labour Law, Industrial Relations, Global Value Chain, Labour Market, Labour Policies, Social Security Law.
LATVIA
EMA NATIONAL DIRECTOR TBC
University of Latvia
LITHUANIA
University of Vilnius
Fields of competence: constitutional law, EU law, social rights, non-discrimination law, employment law.
LUXEMBOURG
Université du Luxembourg
Fields of competence: European Human Rights Regime; European Governance and Public Policy; Populism(s) and Human Rights.
MALTA
THE NETHERLANDS
Maastricht University
Fields of competence: Human rights law, with specific expertise in socio-economic rights, international and European Union disability law, equality and non-discrimination law, inclusive education, the European Court of Human Rights, and technology and human rights.
Utrecht University
Fields of competence: European Convention on Human Rights, shrinking civic space, human rights defenders, freedom of speech.
POLAND
Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan / Poznan Human Rights Centre
Fields of competence: Human rights (in particular: the international system of the human rights protection and procedural issues) constitutional law – numerous publications, expert opinions and research projects in these areas.
PORTUGAL
University of Coimbra
Fields of competence: Constitutional Law, Human Rights Law, EU Law, International Law, Tax Law, Freedom of Religion, Freedom of Expression, Media Regulation.
New University of Lisbon
Fields of competence: Criminal Law, Prisoners’ Rights, International Human Rights Law, Women’s Human Rights, Race and Ethnicity and Human Rights, Equality Law, Gender and Race Relations and Human Rights.
ROMANIA
University of Bucharest
Fields of competence: EU governance; Human rights, rule of law and democratization; Populism and populist parties in Europe.
SLOVAKIA
EMA NATIONAL DIRECTOR TBC
Comenius University, Bratislava
SLOVENIA
University of Ljubljana
Fields of competence: International Relations (particular focus: ethno-national diversity management and minority protection/minority rights, conflict management, post-conflict reconstruction, socialisation/Europeanisation, norm diffusion, int’l regimes, Central and Eastern Europe and Western Balkans).
SPAIN
University of Deusto, Bilbao
Fields of competence: International Human Rights Law, Transitional Justice, Indigenous Peoples’ Rights, CEDAW.
University of Seville
Fields of competence: Public International Law; International Human Rights Law and Procedures; International Pace and Security; International Humanitarian Law; International Criminal Law; Business and Human Rights.
SWEDEN
Lund University
Fields of competence: Human Rights Law, Procedural Law, Constitutional Law.
Uppsala University
Fields of competence: Human rights law, with particular expertise in (a) health and medical law, the life sciences and associated technologies, (b) migration, and (c) law and religion.
SWITZERLAND
EMA NATIONAL DIRECTOR TBC
Institute of Social Ethics – University of Lucerne
UNITED KINGDOM
University of Nottingham
Fields of competence: Labour and social rights, EU human rights law.
Queen’s University, Belfast
Fields of competence: Human rights law, with particular expertise in health, the life sciences and associated technologies.
