The Global Refugee Studies programme will admit its last class of students in Copenhagen in the summer of 2024. From 2025 onwards a revised version of the programme will be available in Aalborg as a profile under the International Relations master’s program. 

As a GRS student admitted in 2024 you will be able to complete your program in accordance with the curriculum you are admitted under, even if you are delayed by e.g. illness, or maternity leave. You will still have the right to three exam attempts in every module. It will, however, not be possible for you to apply for so-called unsubstantiated leave (leave of absence without a specific reason).

The Global Refugee Studies program emphasizes a focus on issues relating to forced migration in course curricular, project work, internship and master thesis. Below you will find a list of topics included in the programme:

• Forced migration and internal population displacement
• Historical, developmental and political perspectives of globalization
• International law and human rights
• Refugee camps and containment
• Transnational communities and identities
• Ethnicity and processes of social transformation
• Mal-development and climate change as a cause and consequence of displacement.
• The root causes of poverty and inequalities
• The role of intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations at both the international and local levels and their work with refugees
• Culture, integration and diaspora
• Security and foreign policy
• Issues of gender in forced migration, humanitarian work and the international refugee regime
• Various research methodologies and approaches relevant to the field of refugees and forced migration studies
• Various social science disciplines to the study of refugees and forced migration

 

Global Refugee Studies is situated at Aalborg University Copenhagen.

• Full degree students begin September 1.
• Guest/exchange students begin September 1 or February 1.

The teaching at Aalborg University is based on research and is organized at two levels which are both related to the framework of the specific semesters:

• Lectures, seminars, and courses
• Group-oriented and problem-centered studies

The pedagogical model at AAU is based on problem-centered studies organized around written projects with the students working in groups of 2 to 6 members from the study program. As the starting point of a project, the group, in cooperation with a supervisor, formulates a problem/topic of a theoretical or practical nature within a given framework. Under tutorial supervision students then collect, collate, and analyze data and discuss possible solutions. The end product is a well-designed project-report written by the group members.

Project work generally accounts for 50% of the study time while the other 50% is devoted to lectures, seminars, and workshops. The main courses are related to the themes of the semesters while others serve as a direct input to support the project work.

At the end of each semester, the project report is evaluated by the supervisor of the group together with an external or internal examiner at an oral exam. The project presented is a comprehensive report, the number of pages depending on the number of group members.

Read projects written by students at the Global Refugee Studies

International organizations, law and development

• International relations and international law in a refugee context (15 ECTS)
• Methodology and methods course (5 ECTS)
• Project work (10 ECTS)

Refugee- and displacement issues

• Topics within Mobility and Displacement, Culture, Identity and Politics (15 ECTS)
• Applied methods for humanitarian and development work (optional)
• Project work (15 ECTS)

Individual study abroad program, project oriented module (internship) or mobility semester 

In the third semester you have several different options: a project-oriented module (internship), studying abroad, or a mobility semester at AAU in Copenhagen

•  Further studies at a foreign university (30 ECTS)
• Internship in an institution or organization in Denmark or abroad (25 ECTS)
• Mobility Semester (courses and project work) (25 ECTS)
• Thesis Preparation (5 ECTS)

Master thesis

• Project work (30 ECTS) 

View the curriculum here: Curriculum for the Master's Programme in International Relations, 2022 (aau.dk)

As Global Refugee Studies is a specialization of the IR program the link will take you to the IR curriculum. Please see § 18: OVERVIEW OF THE PROGRAMME for more information about GRS.

During the third semester, students choose between a minimum of 3 months internship in an international organization in Denmark/abroad or a study period at a foreign university or research institution. Internship or studying abroad is arranged individually. Both internship and studying abroad must be related to the field of the study program.

As a student in the IR program, it is your own responsibility to find an internship either in Denmark or abroad, but there is help available from the international coordinators, the Career office, and the International Office at AAU.

See the International Office website here. 

In addition, GRS has formal connections with a range of organizations such as the various UN agencies, NGOs like CARE and IBIS, and also grassroots organizations, and we continue to increase our international partnership relations with host organizations around the globe.

Your study period abroad must be at a university or research institution in collaboration with Aalborg University. In cooperation with the coordinator at Aalborg University and the university abroad, students must choose relevant courses/seminars in accordance with the courses/seminars in which they already have participated at Aalborg University.

Aalborg University has exchange agreements with a number of international universities, which you can find listed right here: AAU international office. 

Students must apply for preliminary approval with the study board before departure. Upon return, students must apply for credit transfer.

For some students it may lead to PhD studies or a career in teaching and research, while for many others it will open the door to a professional career in a number of areas in which development and international relations is a central component, such as:

• Business and industry
• International trade
• Government and international service
• Civil societies/NGOs

Typical job opportunities are in international and national government organizations and non-governmental organizations where analytical work and strategies concerning refugee and migration issues are central.