Humanitarian Action

The Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s Degree Programme in International Humanitarian Action is an inter-university multidisciplinary postgraduate programme that provides high quality academic education and professional competencies for personnel working or intending to work in the area of humanitarian action.



This Masters offers students the opportunity to grow both academically and professionally within the field of crisis relief and development. Offering access to a worldwide professional network, the NOHA Masters is an inter-university and multidisciplinary postgraduate programme that combines the provision of high quality academic education with skills and competencies needed to work in the area of humanitarian action and related areas. It is a postgraduate course which aims to develop skilled professionals who have both the theoretical and practical knowledge needed out in the field.



Created in 1993 through the concerted efforts of the NOHA Universities in close collaboration with the DG for Humanitarian Action and Civil Protection (ECHO) and the DG for Education and Culture, the initiative was a response to a growing need for higher educational qualifications specifically suited to addressing complex humanitarian emergencies.



Collaboration is one of the most unique elements of the programme and is central to the NOHA experience. Students study at different universities and benefit from rich cultural interaction and exchange of ideas and languages. It is an integral part of the NOHA teaching-learning process. The partner universities have gradually integrated the joint training and research programme into their respective curricula, achieving a high degree of co-operation and integration, while preserving their speciality and traditions.NOHA students come from all over the world and register in the NOHA network. They are admitted following a highly competitive selection process agreed by the Network and can therefore enrol for courses jointly recognised by each of the participating universities, with the assurance of good communication links between them.



What Will I Learn?

• Demonstrate a sound understanding of the humanitarian principles, and the ethical, legal and emancipatory rationales for humanitarian action

• Established competence in the theory, policy and discourse of humanitarian action as it relates to a range of related disciplines, including programme management, international law, geo-political science, public health and social anthropology

• Demonstrate a sound understanding of the international humanitarian system, the main stakeholders that comprise this system, together with the main challenges faced by the system in addressing global humanitarian need

• Apply research knowledge and analytical skills that support evidence-based humanitarian action

• Critical analysis of humanitarian action to optimise local engagement and support ‘people-centred humanitarian action’

• Demonstrate an understanding of and capacity to work in a humanitarian context (Field Visit)

• Design and develop an appropriate research study to strengthen resilience in a humanitarian context.



NFQ Level: 9 (120 credits)

Level: Graduate Taught

Award: Master of Science

Stage 1 Options - A) Min 0 of:

Year 1: Students will register to ALL of these modules

HACT40110: Legal Dimensions of HA

HACT40120: World Politics and HA

HACT40130: Social Anthropology

HACT40140: Public Health

HACT40150: Management in HA

HACT40160: Intensive Programme



Stage 1 Options - B) Min 0 of:

Year 1: In the Spring trimester, UCD home students will register to ONE of the these module. Modules may be updated on a students record once allocation of places by NOHA is confirmed.

HACT40390: Orientation Period - Aix

HACT40410: Orientation Period - Deusto

HACT40420: Orientation Period - Groningen

HACT40430: Orientation Period - Bochum

HACT40440: Orientation Period - Uppsala

HACT40660: Orientation Period-Warsaw

HACT40710: Orientation Period- Malta



Stage 1 Options - C) Min 0 of:

Year 1: In the Spring trimester incoming mobility students register to ALL of the modules below. Registration to these modules will be undertaken by the UCD Programme Administrator. **These modules are for incoming mobility students only, they are not for UCD home students. **

HACT40010: Evidence-based Community Resilience: Applied Research Design

HACT40020: Linking Localisation with Humanitarian Management

HACT40100: Addressing GBV in Emergencies



Stage 1 Options - D) Min 0 of:

Year 2: UCD home students choose one of these modules.

HACT40180: Work Placement in HA

HACT40190: Regional Training in HA



Stage 1 Options - E) Min 0 of:

Year 2: UCD home students must choose the thesis module.

HACT40210: Minor Thesis in HA 30cr

Entry Requirements

Candidates are chosen on the basis of the quality of their education and professional background, their experience in and concern for humanitarian issues, their multicultural sensitivity and their linguistic abilities.



Admission may be granted to applicants who meet the following entry requirements and common minimum eligibility criteria:

• All applicants must follow the joint application procedure as established by the NOHA+ consortium. Details of the joint application procedure can be found at this link.

• Candidates must have obtained, as a minimum, a university first cycle degree (Bachelor, EQF level 6) in a discipline of relevance to humanitarian action (medical sciences, foods sciences, economics and management, engineering, law, social sciences, education sciences, humanities).

• Candidates are required to have a recognised qualification in the language(s) of instruction of the universities they plan to attend - English is the language of instruction in all universities during all semester except for Aix-Marseilles (French - 1st & 2nd Semester) and Deusto (Spanish - 1st semester only).



You may be eligible for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), as UCD recognises formal, informal, and/or experiential learning. RPL may be awarded to gain Admission and/or credit exemptions on a programme.



Please visit the UCD Registry RPL web page (https://tinyurl.com/2ae2ffax) for further information. Any exceptions are also listed on this webpage.

120

2 years full-time

Delivery: On Campus

MSc Humanitarian Action (D061) Full Time

EU fee per year - € 12000

nonEU fee per year - € 12000


***Fees are subject to change

Tuition fee information is available on the UCD Fees website. Please note that UCD offers a number of graduate scholarships for full-time, self-funding international students, holding an offer of a place on a UCD graduate degree programme. For further information please see International Scholarships.

D061: Humanitarian Action

Master of Science



Full-Time: Commencing September 2025

Graduate Taught