September:

The application form is published on the website.

January:

Monday 15 January 2025 (CEST 23:59, UTC+2).

Application deadline (only fully completed applications, including at least one reference letter, will be considered).

March:

Applicants receive an e-mail stating their admission status (admitted/waiting list/rejected).

March:

Admission letters are sent out.

April:

In case of free capacities: admission of the waiting list.
Acceptance of place with the payment of 1st installment of the tuition fee.

May:

Payment of 2nd installment of the tuition fee.
Deadline of submission of proof of English language proficiency and other required documents.

June:

1st term universities contact the students.
Check for visa procedures and requirements.

July:

Confirmation of successful start of visa application.

Each student must provide two documents per degree:

– A degree certificate stating that the student has successfully completed the listed programme and obtained the listed degree and

– An official degree supplement or transcript listing the grades obtained during the programme.

If you have not completed your studies at the time of your application, please attach a full transcript of your grades up to this point.

The letter of motivation is our most important indicator towards your commitment to and understanding of the study of Law & Economics.  In your letter of motivation, addressed to the reviewing committee, please explain why you are interested in Law & Economics in general and in the EMLE Programme in particular (one page). Please keep your answer within one document of one page maximum, titled “Letter of Motivation”.

Each student is expected to provide at least one (preferably two) letter(s) of recommendation. Acceptable recommenders are employers or, since this is an academic programme, preferably academic teachers. Recommenders should use the standardized EMLE form, which is included in the application form. Recommendation letters can be requested digitally during the online application process using the recommenders’ professional email address. You will be notified automatically via email once your recommenders have submitted their letter. Letters of recommendation received directly from applicants are not accepted!

All applicants need to submit a proof of residence for the country they are claiming residence in. This is needed to evaluate if students’ allocations within the EMLE Programme comply with the basic mobility rules for Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Programmes. Therefore they need to provide a document that contains both their full name and current address. This document can be a statement from the current university or employer or the city hall but needs to be issued before the application deadline (15 January 2024) but not longer than 12 months prior to application deadline. A passport cannot serve as a valid proof of residence!

All applicants are assessed according to the following criteria:

1. 40% Quality of the university career (including duration, number and quality of the degrees obtained, academic credentials and academic performance)
2. 25% Quality of motivation letter
3. 25% Affinity to law and economics (evaluated by subjects of previous studies and/or the letter of motivation)
4. 10% Letters of recommendation

All applicants are ranked based on these assessment criteria. Available places in the programme are offered and scholarships are awarded based on the final ranking of the applicants. Due to the large number of applications, the EMLE staff cannot provide individual feedback on the specific reasons for a declined application and/or negative scholarship decision. Declined applicants are welcome to re-apply for the following academic year.

If you believe that a grave error has been made in the assessment of your application, you can submit a letter of appeal to the reviewing committee. For example, if you have reasons to believe that documents in your application form were overlooked. Your argumentation in this letter of appeal should be based on the abovementioned assessment criteria. Please note that no information other than what is mentioned in your application form will be considered in the appeal procedure (e.g., further education, experiences, certificates or documents). You can send your letter of appeal to application@emle.org.

The application for the European Master in Law and Economics (EMLE), academic year 2025/2026 is now open.
The application deadline will be on 15 January 2025.

To apply please click HERE.

We will ask you to provide us with certified copies of your application documents (e.g. degree, academic transcript, proof of residence). Certified copies of official documents can be issued e.g. by notaries, the degree-issuing institution, lawyers and in some instances also pastors. Please note that all documents must be in English. Documents that are not in English must be accompanied by certified English translations.

Applicants whose native language is not English must provide original test scores from one of the following standardized English proficiency tests:

a. International TOEFL 
– TOEFL iBT Test: Minimum score of 95 (minimum reading: 13, listening: 12, speaking: 18, writing: 21)
– TOEFL Essentials Test: Minimum score of 10 (minimum reading: 6, listening: 6, speaking: 7, writing: 9)

b. IELTS (academic module)
– Minimum score of 7.0 (minimum per section: 6.0)

c. Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English
– Grades A, B, C

d. Cambridge Certificate in Advanced English
– Grades A, B

TOEFL test users can choose institutional code C905 (European Master in Law and Economics – EMLE) when taking their test. Do not choose to send your paper score cards to the University of Hamburg! The EMLE directorship is currently hosted at the Instititute of Law and Economics (ILE) of the Law Faculty of the University of Hamburg. IELTS test results can be checked by us online with the combination of test date and TRF number. If results can be verified online, you will not have to provide us with an original paper score card of your results. Please note that we cannot accept any test results older than two years, calculated backwards from the application deadline (15 January 2025).

Reasons for exemption from an English test are:

– You have obtained your diploma in one of the following countries: Australia, Canada (with the exception of Quebec), Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom (with the exception of commonwealth countries and territories) and United States of America.

– English was your first language during your secondary school education for at least 2,5 years in one of the above-mentioned countries.

The first installment of the tuition fee, amounts €800 and is due within 2-3 weeks after your acceptance. By transferring the first installment, you accept your place in the programme. This fee is non-refundable in case you should later leave the programme. The second installment (€6.700 for Europeans, €11.200 for non-Europeans) is due 31 May. If you withdraw before 31 July, this second installment will be refunded completely. If you withdraw before 15 September, only 50% of the second installment will be refunded. After that, no refund will be possible. The exact due dates and the bank account information will be sent along with the admission letter. Full and timely payment of the tuition fees is essential to finalize your admission.

• Hamburg
  Applicants with a degree from a Chinese, Indian or Vietnamese university who want to spend one or more terms in Germany (Hamburg) need to obtain a certificate that validates their degree. Having such a certificate does not guarantee allocation to Hamburg, but students without such a certificate cannot be allocated to Hamburg. The procedure at the APS takes two months. An allocation to Hamburg is conditional upon obtaining the certificate. Details can be found on the APS website for applications to Germany.
  
• Ghent
  Applicants with a degree from a Chinese university who want to spend one  term in Belgium (Ghent) need to obtain a certificate that validates their degree. Having such a certificate does not guarantee allocation to Ghent, but students without such a certificate cannot be allocated to Ghent. The procedure at the APS takes two months. An allocation to Ghent is conditional upon obtaining the certificate. Details can be found on the APS website for applications to Belgium.

Regarding allocations, the basic mobility rules of the European Commission for Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Programmes apply (see Programme Structure). All students need to study at least at two different universities (at least one of which in a European country), which have to be different from the country of residence of the student at the time of enrollment. Students are allocated by the EMLE staff based on these mobility rules, their preferences, and capacity of EMLE locations. Regarding the third term location, we offer an official reallocation procedure at the end of the first term for students who wish to write their thesis in a specific area of supervision.

Do I already need to provide a proof of English proficiency during the application?

No, we only require a proof of English proficiency from admitted students. You do not need to take an English test before the application deadline. If you already have a test result that could serve as proof of English proficiency, you are free to sent it to us at application@emle.org so that we can inform you in case it does not meet our requirements. This is just for your awareness and will not affect your application review.

What happens if I can’t provide the necessary application documents?

All application requirements have to be met before the deadline mid-January. Should you fail to provide the required documents, your application to the programme is incomplete and will not be reviewed.

Do I have to provide original documents for the application?

No. The application is completely online. As such only electronic copies must be provided. Once we have admitted students (usually in March), we require the admitted students to send original documents.

What suffices as a proof of residence?

The proof of residence should be a residence certificate issued in accordance with the candidate’s municipality normal registration rules or a certificate from the candidate’s place of work, study or training issued by the employer or institution in question. The document must have been issued within 12 months before the application deadline. Furthermore, the document needs to contain the date at which it was signed, your name and the place where you live. A passport cannot serve as a proof of residence!

I do not have a background in Law or Economics, am I eligible to apply?

Applicants with a other degrees than law and/or economics may also apply under the condition that they can show in their letter of motivation that they are clearly interested in studying the economic analysis of law and that they have a clear idea about the approach they will learn to apply within the EMLE programme. Their previous studies do not have to contain law and or economics, but the student has to be willing to study both subjects in order to have the necessary basics to follow the EMLE courses. If you’re in doubt whether your degree qualifies or you have any further questions regarding qualification, please contact application@emle.org.

Where can I find the standard form for the recommendation letter?

In the application form, you will find a section about recommendation letters. Here you should enter the (professional!) email addresses of your reviewers. They will automatically receive an email with the standard review form and an upload link.

I want to submit more than two recommendation letters, is this possible?

No, the maximum number of letters is two per applicant.

I have not graduated yet, so I cannot upload a diploma to the application form. What should I do?

If that is the case, you do not need to upload your diploma. Please upload a transcript of grades that shows the courses you have completed so far. Preferably (but not mandatory), this document also contains your expected date of graduation or a letter from your university stating this.

The application deadline has passed for the next academic year but I would still like to join the program next year – what are the options?

If the official application deadline has passed, there still might be the option for late applications to the program. To inquire, please contact the EMLE office at info@emle.org. Late applications can eventually be accepted if the applications pass the review procedure, if there are still spots at the different University partners and if the application can be submitted still in time for students to join the program from the start. It is possible, that desired tracks or term locations will not be available any longer. Also, late applicants may not be nominated for Erasmus+: Erasmus Mundus (EMJMD) scholarships.

How can I apply for the Erasmus+ Scholarship?

There is the possibility that the highest ranked students will be offered an Erasmus+: Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters (EMJM) scholarship by the European Commission. If you are admitted to the EMLE Program, you will automatically be considered in the allocation of the scholarships (you do not have to apply for it yourself). If you are interested in receiving this scholarship, you may indicate your interest in our application form. Once the application deadline closes, 15 January 2025, the separate application process for the Erasmus+ scholarship will start and interested applicants will be contacted.

I cannot accept my place this year. Can the offer be deferred?

In accordance with the official regulations stipulated by the European Commission, an offer or acceptance into the EMLE programme cannot be deferred to the following academic year. As a result, the applicant would have to re-submit his/her application during the following application cycle. Please note that such applicant, who has previously been accepted, is very welcome to refer to such previous offer in the course of the re-application.

Why was my application denied?

Due to the large number of applications, the staff cannot provide individualized feedback on your application. You can click here for the relevant rating criteria.

I was accepted but I do not like my allocations. Can these be changed?

The admission letter contains an allocation for all three terms. By paying the 600 Euro instalment for the tuition fee, an applicant officially accepts the allocations stated in the admission letter. Should an applicant desire to be reallocated to a more preferred location, she/he should contact the admissions staff. The conditions, deadlines and contact details for such a request are contained in the admission letter. Please note that reallocation requests can only be accommodated to the extent of available capacities at the respective locations.

What is the waiting list?

All students who fulfil the academic requirements of the EMLE but have not been ranked high enough to obtain one of the limited places in the programme are placed on a waiting list. If higher-ranked applicants decide not to accept the offered place, applicants on the reserve list will be contacted in order of their ranking. Typically such offers are made between the end of March and the end of April.

I have not been accepted. Can I re-apply next year?

Both applicants who cannot accept our offer this year (see above) and declined applicants are most welcome to re-apply for the next academic year. Please note that a transfer of this year´s results and/or information to the next year is not possible. The application form and the exact requirements normally change between years. For this reason any re-application has to be started fresh (i.e. the application form has to be filled in again).

English was the language of communication during my studies, does this exempt me from a proof of English proficiency?

No, you still need to provide a proof of English proficiency unless one of the exemptions applies to you.

To what address should I send any documents?

First of all, only send in hard copies of documents when requested to do so. Applicants do not have to send us any hard copies of their application.

When using regular post and/or track&trace or courier services:

University of Hamburg
Institute of Law and Economics
EMLE management office
Alsterterrasse 1, 2. OG
Universität Hamburg
20354 Hamburg, Germany