Borders, Migration and Justice (specialisation)

Entry requirements

1. A completed Bachelor's degree from a geography-related discipline
   In order to get admission to this Master's you will need a completed Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent, from a research university)from a geography-related discipline, such as Spatial Planning, Geography, Environment Studies.
   For students with a completed bachelor in a related area such as International Relations, Social Sciences, Anthropology, Psychology, History, Philosophy, Religion Studies, European Studies, Political Science, Public Administration, Economics, Development Studies, Language Studies, Architecture, (Urban) Design Studies, Leisure and Tourism, Conflict Studies and Management Sciences your prior education first needs to be approved by the examination Board in order to enroll in the study programme.

2. A proficiency in English

   In order to take part in this programme, you need to have fluency in both written and spoken English.This requirement has been satisfied when the student meets the conditions, listed on our website.

Months of entry

September

Course content

Rather than withering away under the impact of globalisation, borders have become privileged sites today for investigating the contemporary transformation of European governance, sovereignty, territory and identit(ies).

The Master's specialisation Borders, Migration and Justice will focus on b/ordering processes occurring within Europe’s internal cross-border regions (or Euregions), taking into account the context of shifts in state sovereignty, territoriality, and cultural identity in Europe’s borderlands. Courses within this program will train attention on the external bordering dimension of the European Union (ie, Eastward Enlargement, European Neighbourhood Programme), while also addressing the EU’s search for a broader role in the world. Key themes raised in this master specialisation are: cross-border governance, transnational and multi-level governance, European citizenship and ‘cosmopolitical’ identit(ies), critical border geopolitics, biopolitical b/orderings and border securitisation, European post-colonial b/ordering and ‘othering’, and the search for an ‘ethical’ dimension to European borders.

What will you learn?

• Gain a theoretical understanding of processes of bordering, and the societal and governmental implications
• Learn about common debates in the way borders are being transformed and multiplied
• Develop qualitative and quantitative fieldwork skills
• Get valuable experience designing, conducting and presenting your own research

Career prospects

Graduates from this programme can find a wide variety of positions in different institutes and organisations:

• Border expert for governments
• Consulant or advisor at private firms
• Programme officer for different European organisations or institutions
• European affairs expert
• Academic researcher at universities or other institutes
• Teachers
• Journalist

*This is a specialisation of the Master's in Human Geography

If you have any questions, email us here: study-information@ru.nlLearn more via the Radboud University contact form.

Information for international students

Application deadlines

Non-EU/EEA students

• The deadline for non-EU/EEA students who wish to apply for a scholarship is 31 January prior to the September intake. For the requirements and selection procedure for scholarships, please check our scholarship overview.
• The deadline for those not applying for a scholarship is 1 April for non-EU/EEA nationals for the September 2026 intake. You can apply for the September 2026 intake from 1 October 2025.

EU/EEA students

• The application deadline for EU/EEA students with housing assistance for the September 2026 intake is 1 May, and the deadline without housing assistance is 1 July. You can apply from 1 October onward for the 2026/2027 academic year.

The application deadlines for Master’s starting in February are 1 November for non-EU/EEA citizens and 1 December for EU/EEA citizens.

Fees and funding

Radboud University offers 3 different scholarships that are open to prospective Master's students from non-EU/EEA countries and who want to follow an English-taught Master's programme.

Radboud Scholarship Programme

The Radboud Scholarship Programme offers talented, highly motivated, non-EU/EEA students with outstanding study results the opportunity to be awarded a partial scholarship for an English-taught Master’s programme.

NL Scholarship (for prospective students)

The NL Scholarship (formerly known as Holland Scholarship) is a partial scholarship for non-EU/EEA students who want to do their Master’s in the Netherlands.

Fulbright-Radboud Scholarships

The Fulbright Commission, sponsored by Radboud University, is offering scholarships for talented American students to study at Radboud University.