Practical

Admission and selection criteria

You can check the admission and selection criteria in the menu alongside. Your application must be accompanied by:

  • Academic transcripts including an explanation of the grading system and certified photocopies of degrees and university degrees (both original and certified translation if the language isn’t English).
  • A recent statement of proficiency in English
  • Two letters of reference from persons in a position to judge the applicant’s professional and/or academic abilities: for the degree programmes, at least one of these references should be provided by the most recent academic institute attended by the applicant. 
  • A motivation statement – Your motivation statement should indicate why you choose IMARC, the specialization track and how this relates to your background and/or what your objectives are for the future.
  • A recent and updated Resume/CV.
  • Your self evaluation on research skills, with an explanation  on your prior research. 

Admissions are dealt with centrally at EUR. For your application, we ask you to email all the required documents to imarc@law.eur.nl. We realize that many people use AI to generate texts. Please be aware that we ask an authentic and personal description in your motivation statement when you apply for IMARC.

The selection committee convenes from the beginning of February onwards. After you have submitted your application, the selection committee carefully reviews each application to assess your eligibility for the programme. We will contact you as soon as the outcome of the assessment is known. Hence, the earlier you apply, the earlies you will receive the outcome.  Please note that this might take up to 4 weeks starting from the moment that your application is deemed complete.

Below you fin all the details on the admission and selection criteria:

Students are only eligible to enter the selection process if they hold one of the following degrees:

  •  a bachelor’s degree in Criminology;
  •  a bachelor’s degree in one of the other Social Sciences or Humanities or Law on the condition that the holder a) can demonstrate knowledge of questions of deviance and social control, and b) can demonstrate sufficient knowledge of both qualitative and quantitative research methods.

You can send your diplomas at a later stage. In case you are admitted to the master, your final graduation and diploma is subject to enrolment.

  • All applicants are required to write a letter of motivation, on which basis a selection is made, with specification of prior knowledge, relevant diploma(s) and list of grades including a description of the grading system.
  • Students are asked to indicate their preference for the track at one of the universities (EUR or UGhent). Allocation of students depends on preferences as well as available spots per university. The university you study will execute a degree, so you will have two degrees.
  • A minimum of two letters of recommendation are required. If needed, these letters can also be send separately to imarc@law.eur.nl, with the name of the applicant in the reference.
  • All applicants are required to send information on their prior/current education (in their CV):
    • name bachelor degree obtained/to obtain
    • educational institution, location, country of prior/current education
    • if applicable the specialisation, major and/or minor
    • start date and duration of the prior/current education

For holders of a bachelor’s diploma in Social Sciences or Humanities or Law,  the candidates’ knowledge of research methods is assessed based on course descriptions of completed bachelor courses, according to the following criteria:

Qualitative and quantitative research methods

  • Demonstrate sufficient knowledge of the strengths, limitations and ethical concerns of both qualitative and quantitative research methods.
  • Demonstrate sufficient knowledge of formulating theoretically and empirically embedded research questions.
  • Demonstrate sufficient knowledge of different research designs and research methods that are appropriate for answering different research questions.
  • Demonstrate sufficient knowledge of and basic skills in analysing quantitative and qualitative data.
  • Demonstrate basic experience in formulating a theoretically and empirically embedded scientific argument.

Criminological knowledge 

  • Demonstrate knowledge of questions of deviance and social control.

To assess this, we ask you to motivate how your courses of prior education cover the above. Make a distinction between qualitative and quantitative courses. Your application must be accompanied with a self-report on your research skills. The template for the self report can be found here

All students wishing to apply for the IMARC Programme must show evidence of proficiency in English. This should take the form of:

  • a minimum IELTS (International English LanguageTesting System; www.ielts.org) a minimum score of 7.0 overall with a minimum of 6.5 in each component or
  • a minimum TOEFL IBT (Test Of English as a Foreign Language; www.ets.org/toefl) scores of 90 for the internet-based test with a minimum of 22 in R; 21 in W; 17 in L; 20 in S;
  • IELTS and TOEFL test results must not be older than two years. Institutional TOEFL test scores are not accepted.

Exceptions to the English proficiency test are:

  • Native English speakers (countries in which English is an official language) and/or students with a degree in English taught secondary education or a first degree or higher degree from an institution in which English is the primary language of instruction;
  • Students with a Dutch pre-university diploma;
  • Students holding a diploma of secondary education awarded by (an educational institution that is recognised by) the Flemish community;
  • Students with an English taught bachelor’s diploma;
  • •Students with an International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma;
  • Students who have passed University of Cambridge exams, Proficiency (CPE) or Advanced (CAE);
  • Students who have passed Advanced Placement International English Language examination (APIEL) with a minimum of 4 points.
  • EEA students: €2,530 euro/year (2024/2025). The fee is yearly adjusted by the Dutch government. The student fee for 2025/2026 will be announced in January 2025 2023.
  • Non-EEA students: €9,000 euro per year

Students must provide written proof of insurance policy to cover medical expenses, illness or death, transportation back to the applicant home country in case of a serious accident, as well as to cover any consequences of third party civil liability. 

Facts and figures

Facts and figures
Instruction language
English
Mode of study
Fulltime
Level
Master
Duration
2 years
Universities & Faculties
The Erasmus University Rotterdam, Erasmus School of Law, Criminology Department
The University of Ghent, Department of Criminal Law and Criminology
Location
Campus Woudestein, Rotterdam (NL)
Campus Aula, Ghent (BE)
Start date
September
Study points (ECTS)
Total 120 ECTS: Taught courses first year: 60 ECTS, research modules and final thesis second year: 60 ECTS.
Double degree
All students will be awarded the degree of the Erasmus University Rotterdam, as the first semester is offered here, and with the degree of Ghent university, where they spend at least 1 semester. This means that IMARC students will be awarded with two national degrees of these two universities: Master in Science (MSc) in Criminology from the Erasmus University Rotterdam and Master in Science (MSc) from Ghent University.
Application deadline (EEA)
Programme 2024/2026: The deadline for applications for EEA students is 30 June 2024. For students with a Dutch passport, the deadline is 31 July 2024.
Application deadline (non-EEA)
Programme 2024/2026: The deadline for applications for non-EEA students is 30 April 2024.
Internship
Optional in the third semester
Student fee
EEA students: €2,530 euro/year (2024/2025). The fee is yearly adjusted by the Dutch government. The student fee for 2025/2026 will be announced in January 2025. Non-EEA students: €9,000 euro per year.
Information for Dutch students - DUO rights
The programme of IMARC is two years. The regular master’s program in Criminology is one year. For DUO, the one-year master’s degree in Criminology is leading and DUO rights (student finance and public transport travel product) are linked to this. This means that during your IMARC registration you may be entitled to 1 year of student finance from DUO, depending on the duration of your previous study years.
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