Scholarship Description:
The Asia Pacific Master of Arts in Human Rights and Democratisation (APMA) is a 12-month intensive, interdisciplinary graduate programme jointly offered by the Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies of Mahidol University (Thailand), Ateneo de Manila University (the Philippines), Kathmandu School of Law (Nepal), University of Colombo (Sri Lanka), and Universitas Gadjah Mada (Indonesia). The program reflects the inseparable links between human rights, democracy, peace, and development in the Asia Pacific region.
The programme is designed for those seeking greater understanding of regional and global human rights and democratisation issues. The programme is suitable for human rights practitioners and activists, for those engaged in related fields, or for new students who have just completed their first degree.
By the end of the programme, students will have:
1) Excellent knowledge of theory and practice of the promotion and protection of human rights and democratization.
2) Tested their ability to undertake independent scholarly research on current human rights and democratization issues in the Asia Pacific region;
3) The capacity to put their academic understanding of human rights and democratization to use in real situations.
Application Procedure:
In order to be eligible for the APMA applicants must:
- Hold a bachelor’s degree in any field, with a minimum GPA of 2.50 (or the equivalent). Students in the last year of their undergraduate programme can apply for admission provided they expect to graduate before 15 July of the previous academic year. The applicant needs to submit a certificate from their university indicating their status and expected date of graduation.
- Demonstrated proficiency in English.
- Experience in human rights or related work is an advantage but not required.
- Academic or other publications or other evidence of writing and analytical skills an advantage but not required.
Documentation Requirements
Applicants must include all of the following documentation in their submission:
- Completed Application Form (Download application form)
- Personal Statement
- Academic records officially translated in English – degree certificate of graduation and transcript of records
- Research concept note
- English language test certificate(s)
- Curriculum Vitae
- Scanned copy of passport
- Reference contact information (recommendation letters must be sent by referees separately) (Download reference form)
All documents must be submitted in PDF format. Non-PDF documents will not be accepted.
Application Form
Applicants must answer the application form clearly and completely and must be signed (e-signature is accepted). Unsigned application forms will not be accepted. (Download application form)
Personal statement
Your personal statement will ideally be maximum 800 words. It should include a brief background about you, why are you applying for the programme, and why you believe you are suited for this programme. It should also include what your future plans are after graduating from the program.
Your personal statement should be written in a clear, concise, and engaging manner.
Academic records
This should include scanned copies of your official bachelor’s transcript and diploma or certificate of graduation/completion in English. If you have already taken classes or graduated from a master’s program, please include those, too.
All transcripts and diplomas or certificates of completion/graduation must be in English. If your original copies are not in English, they must be translated into English and must bear the stamp of your university or an official translator.
If you are still in the process of completing your degree program, you may send us an official interim grade report/true copy of records and a certificate of enrollment confirming your current student status. The certificate of enrollment should ideally include your expected date of graduation.
Research concept note
Your research concept note should be no more than 800 words (excluding references). It should ideally indicate your proposed research topic and research questions, why you think this topic is important, your proposed methods and data sources, a brief literature review, and your conceptual framework.
Proof of English proficiency
You will have to demonstrate proficiency in English by submitting standardized English test scores. Please provide a copy of one of the test scores below.
a. IELTS Academic with a score of 5.0
b. TOEFL Internet-based Test (IBT)/ iBT Home Edition with a score of 64
English language proficiency test should have been taken within two years prior to the commencement of the First Semester of the academic year you are planning to enrol in (i.e., test should have been taken August two years before at the earliest). Test scores must be valid until 15 August of the academic year you wish to enroll as a student.
An applicant can request for exemption from submission of the English proficiency requirement if they satisfy one of the following conditions:
-the applicant is a native speaker from one of the following countries: Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, United Kingdom, or the United States of America.
-if the applicant graduated with a degree from a university in one of the above-mentioned countries.
Curriculum Vitae or Resume
Your CV or resume should be no more than two pages long. A separate list of publications may be included if available but should not be more than one page long.
Copy of Passport
You will need to submit a scanned copy of your passport. The passport must be valid at least until 12 months after registration.
Letters of Recommendation
You must have two confidential letters of recommendation for your application. At least one letter must be written by a professor or academic supervisor from your university who is familiar with your academic abilities. Only in exceptional cases will we consider recommendations that do not include at least one academic referee. In some cases, applicants have been out of university for five years or more and have been working during the said period. In this case, you may submit references from your work supervisor/s who can attest to your suitability for the program.
The recommendations must be written in English. Please ask your referee to use the prescribed recommendation form that is included in the application form.
Letters of recommendation must bear the official letterhead of the institution or organization of the referee. Letters of recommendation with no official letterheads will not be accepted.
The letters must be sent through email by the signatories separately from your application documents. They must use their official institutional e-mail address (e.g.,name@mahidol.ac.th). Recommendation letters using non-institutional email addresses such as Gmail or Yahoo will not be accepted.
It will be your responsibility to ensure that your referees submit their recommendation letters on or before the deadline of application. Late recommendations will not be accepted. (Download reference form)
All application documents must be sent in PDF format via email to: ihrpoutreach@mahidol.edu
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