Above: Library at Denmark’s Aarhus University (image by Jenniferjoan, used under CC license)

If you dream of getting a postgraduate degree in journalism, here’s a great opportunity! The Erasmus Mundus Master’s program in Journalism, Media and Globalisation is accepting applications from around the world, and is offering a limited number of generous scholarships. Applications are due January 10, 2017. The program is based in Europe, and is conducted in English.

The program and scholarships

Students spend the first year of this two-year program at Aarhus University and the Danish School of Media and Journalism, in Denmark. In the second semester of the first year, students have the option to study at a non-European university (partner schools are University of California at Berkeley, University of Technology Sydney and Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile).

For the second year, students split up and go to one of four other European universities. Each of these offers a different specialization: business and finance (City University of London), media and politics (University of Amsterdam), war and conflict (Swansea University), and journalism and media across cultures (University of Hamburg).The specialization is chosen when applying for admission.

For students from non-European Union countries, the Mundus Journalism Consortium offers a limited number of scholarships worth  €47,000 (almost US$ 51,000). Students who are not eligible for those may be considered for other scholarships worth €34,000. Each year, the program gets around 500 applications, and admits 80 to 90. Twenty scholarships are available for the 2017-19 program, so approximately 75% of the students will be self-funded.
 

Benefits of the program

By the end of the two years, students would have lived in at least two European countries, gainedan international professional network, worked with peers from all over the world in an interdisciplinary and intercultural environment, and studied at some of Europe’s leading universities.

A typical class consists of 80 students of more than 40 nationalities, which makes the learning environment special and encourages new approaches, questions, methods and intellectual curiosity in the classroom.

The program helps students learn to combine academic knowledge with journalistic skills, and to analyse and generate knowledge about global changes that increasingly challenge traditional boundaries. Graduates of the program go on to a range of careers. Some pursue a PhD, while others build careers at some of the world's top media organizations, including Bloomberg, Dow Jones, Radio Africa Group, and Al Jazeera. Others apply their journalism expertise in a related field, such as public relations and communications for intergovernmental organisations, at journalism and technology start-ups, and at global non-profits.

How to apply

Applicants must have a bachelor’s degree in a relevant subject. If you have not yet completed your bachelor’s degree, you can apply, but will need to send documentation of degree completion to Aarhus University before the course starts in September.

Applicants must be proficient in English. If you are not a native speaker of English, you should have an IELTS Band score of minimum 7.0. This requirement may be waived if you recently studied for a year or more at a college or university in an English-speaking country. But a waiver depends on the rules at your specialization university for the Mundus journalism program, and visa regulations relevant to your nationality. Also, you would still need to submit an official certificate confirming that the medium of instruction at your previous institution was English.

Applicants must have at least three months of full-time journalism experience, so that the need for basic journalistic instruction is low. The program focuses on issues and reflective practice, rather than the ABCs of journalism. Freelance experience is accepted if you can provide documentation that your work was full-time, and a letter of reference from a professional journalist, preferably your editor-in-chief.

Applications are read by academics from Aarhus University, and the first-priority specialization university.  Besides academic merit and journalism experience, they consider your application reflections and life experience.

The application deadline is January 10. You will hear back in March or April. If you are offered admission, you will need to confirm acceptance within a week.

You can find alumni profiles and news here.
You can find more scholarships and fellowships here.

Tags: Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, UK Scholarships, Aarhus University, University of Amsterdam, City University London, University of Hamburg, Swansea University, scholarships, Erasmus scholarships, journalism, media, communication