Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters

The Erasmus Mundus Joint Master on Coordinated Humanitarian Response, Health and Displacement (HumanResponse) aims to provide a unique multidisciplinary program, bringing together European and African universities for higher education in the area of ​​humanitarian response, rescue assistance, and displacement in volatile contexts.

HumanResponse establishes an educational platform where European and African partners build a resilient global workforce to address future humanitarian crises. Amid current conflicts and escalating climate catastrophes, HumanResponse addresses the pressing need for professionalization of humanitarian workers.

Why this program?

Increase professionalization and coordination capacity
Equip humanitarian professionals with the strategic and operational capacity necessary for cooperation and coordination of humanitarian responses among diverse stakeholders.

Strengthen localized leadership
Prepare students and professionals from countries affected by conflict and natural disasters, and others, to occupy national and international leadership positions in humanitarian action.

Articulating Theory and Practice
The curriculum is taught by academics and professionals, emphasizing learning based on teaching methodologies that prioritize problem-solving and opportunities for applying knowledge, valuing, articulating, and promoting global experiences and knowledge.

Program Structure

• Semester 1, Iscte (Portugal) - Introduction to Humanitarian Action, its theoretical foundations, methodology, health, and operational and logistical management. Focuses on a global approach to humanitarian action.
• Semester 2, NTNU (Norway) - Specialization courses in Global Health and advanced research methodology, as well as humanitarian design and innovation (technology and systems).
• Between the 2nd and 3rd semesters (mandatory Summer School) - Two-week module with ECTS credits that provides students with contact with institutions (Associated Partners) that implement rescue interventions in countries affected by humanitarian crises, namely Cape Verde (entry 1 - June 2026).
• Semester 3, Makerere (Uganda) - social support, displacement, and the intersection between humanitarian aid and development aid, providing firsthand knowledge of local and highly contextualized humanitarian responses in volatile contexts affected by natural and man-made disasters.
• Semester 4 – students' trajectory may include universities and APs from five continents: Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and South America to develop research and complete their dissertation.

Throughout the two years, students have the opportunity to learn a language in different semesters: Portuguese in the 1st semester, Kiswahili in the 3rd semester, and Spanish or Arabic in the 4th semester.

Mandatory Course Units

• Concepts, Foundations and Challenges in Humanitarian Action
• Public Health in Humanitarian Action
• Management in Humanitarian Action
• Research Methodology
• Advancing Perspectives in Public Health
• Innovation in Global Health
• Humanitarian Design
• Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resources
• Conflict, Security and Development
• Advanced Counseling in Social Work
• Fieldwork/Internship
• Dissertation in Coordinated Humanitarian Response
• Field visits

More informations

Get in touch with the team: humanresponse@iscte-iul.pt   

Consult the Erasmus Mundus Human Response master's program website 

Why this programme?

The Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s Degree in Social Psychology of Transformation (SPOT) is a two-year programme worth 120 ECTS credits. Through this programme, students will be trained as part of a new generation of psychologists – both practitioners and researchers – developing skills in transformative leadership, conflict and cooperation, and environmental psychology.

Programme structure

The SPOT Programme – Social Psychology of Transformation focuses on ‘Transformative Leadership’, ‘Conflict and Cooperation’ and ‘Environment and Sustainability’. It involves compulsory study periods at IPU Berlin (Germany), Iscte (Portugal) and the University of Padova (Italy), together with a 20 ECTS internship, preferably in Serbia or Bosnia and Herzegovina. The curriculum consists of 10 modules, including a student-organised summer school.

Semester 1 (IPU Berlin)

Focuses on fundamental concepts across three modules and on scientific research practices in a fourth module:

• Transformative Leadership I (Societal Transformations | Ethical Dilemmas | Leadership and Sustainability)
• Conflict and Cooperation I (Psychoanalysis and Conflict Dynamics or Epistemology and Theory of the Subject | Social Psychology of Violence or Social Influence | Action-Oriented Interventions I)
• Environment and Sustainability I (Environmental Psychology | Digital Transformation and Sustainability)
• Advanced Research Methods (Research Workshop | Qualitative Research Design | Transcultural Methods or Multivariate Statistics)

Semester 2 (Iscte)

This semester focuses on the driving forces behind socio-environmental conflicts and their transformation towards sustainability, building on the knowledge acquired in the three core modules:

• Transformative Leadership II (Community Psychology | Social Intervention Programmes)
• Conflict and Cooperation II (Social Trauma | Action-Oriented Interventions II or Intergroup Conflicts)
• Environment and Sustainability II (Environment, Justice and Health | Social Psychology and the Environment)

Semester 3 (University of Padova)

Focuses on intercultural psychology and includes one module:

• Cultural Diversity in Organisational Psychology (Transcultural Issues in Personnel Psychology | Human Rights or Psychology of Inclusion and Social Sustainability)

Placement

A 20-ECTS placement in Serbia or Bosnia and Herzegovina, supervised by professional psychologists, offers practical experience in post-conflict societies within the context of democratisation processes, focusing on psychosocial support and community-based interventions. Students are guaranteed a placement within a diverse network of NGOs and civil society organisations in these countries.

Thesis

Upon completion of the placement, students write a Master’s thesis under the supervision of two partner universities; an oral defense is required to obtain the Master’s degree.

Further information

Please visit the Erasmus Mundus SPOT Master’s programme website.

Why this programme?

MAGMa – the Erasmus Mundus Master’s in Managing Art and Cultural Heritage in a Global Context – comprises a consortium of five European higher education institutions (HEIs), offering a unique and multidisciplinary approach to the field of art and cultural heritage. Each HEI offers specialist knowledge in the history of collections, the art market, art and heritage law, and the management and economics of cultural heritage. The Master’s programme combines historical, theoretical and practical models to equip professionals with the skills needed to navigate the complex international art and cultural heritage sector.

It offers integrated mobility within and outside Europe, with opportunities for placements in public and private arts and cultural institutions, lectures by renowned academics and professionals from the art market, museums and heritage organisations, as well as the opportunity to attend summer or winter schools in partnership with institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution and the University of Glasgow.

Programme structure

The programme runs over 24 months and includes at least three periods of mobility.

• 1st semester in Lisbon at Iscte – Lisbon University Institute
• 2nd semester in Paris at IESA Arts and Culture
• Summer school in Glasgow at the University of Glasgow (optional)
• 3rd semester in Rotterdam at Erasmus University Rotterdam
• Winter school in Mumbai (optional)
• 4th semester in Lisbon, Paris, Rotterdam or Glasgow, depending on the dissertation topic

The pedagogical design of this programme aims to expose students to a wide range of teaching, learning and assessment formats, including lectures, discussion-oriented seminars, project-based teamwork, e-learning, dissertations, written assignments, exams and oral presentations.

Further information

Please visit the Erasmus Mundus MAGMa Master’s programme website.

Why this programme?

The Erasmus Mundus Master’s in Psychology of Global Mobility, Inclusion and Social Diversity – Global-MINDS – is a two-year master’s programme worth 120 ECTS credits, focusing on perspectives on contemporary social and cultural issues within the field of social and cultural psychology. The programme is taught in English and has been designed to provide high-quality international training in scientific knowledge and practical skills in the field of social and cultural psychology. Aimed at students with a bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) in Psychology, it enhances the employability of Psychology graduates.

Programme Structure

The programme includes compulsory mobility between universities, with an international network of partner institutions ensuring high-quality international placements and support for students entering the job market.

Students may choose between three specialisations depending on the area in which they wish to focus their studies: A – Culture and Diversity, B – Mobility and Society, and C – Inclusion and Health.

This Master’s programme is jointly delivered by Iscte (Portugal); the University of Limerick (Ireland); SWPS – University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Poland); and the University of Oslo (Norway). When applying for the programme, students must indicate their preference from the three possible mobility options:

Mobility Option A (Culture and Diversity):

• Semester 1: Iscte
• Semester 2: University of Limerick
• Summer School at the University of Limerick                                                  
• Semesters 3 and 4 – Iscte or University of Limerick

Mobility Option B (Mobility and Society):

• Semester 1: SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities
• Semester 2: University of Oslo                                                                                        
• Summer School at the University of Limerick                                                                  
• Semesters 3 and 4 - SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities or University of Oslo

Mobility Option C (Inclusion and Health):

• Semester 1: SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities
• Semester 2: University of Limerick                                                                                
• Summer School at the University of Limerick                                                              
• Semesters 3 and 4 - SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities or University of Limerick

Further information

Visit the Erasmus Mundus Global-MINDS Master’s programme website.

Why this programme?

The Erasmus Mundus Master’s in Social Work with Children and Young People – ESWOCHY is a two-year programme worth 120 ECTS credits, taught in English by a consortium of four universities: Iscte (Portugal), Mykolas Romeris University (Lithuania), the University of Riga (Latvia), and the Catholic University of Ruzomberok (Slovakia). The Erasmus Mundus ESWOCHY Master’s programme is based on three pillars:

• A humanistic perspective;
• Intercultural communication;
• Digital social work.

The Master programme aims to prepare professionals at an international and intercultural level for social work with young people and children.

The study programme is designed to train specialists in the following skills:

• Knowledge of national and European policies regarding children and young people;
• Knowledge of human rights and diversity;
• Ability to plan, coordinate and innovate in social work;
• Ability to effectively organise social work with various youth groups;
• Mediation skills to ensure dialogue between different ethnic groups.

Programme Structure

Throughout their studies, students will study at different universities:

• Semester 1 – Mykolas Romeris University (Lithuania)
• Semester 2 – Riga Stradins University (Latvia)
• Semester 3 – Catholic University of Ruzomberok (Slovakia)
• Semester 4 - Iscte (Portugal)

Further information

Please visit the Erasmus Mundus ESWOCHY Master’s programme website.