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International Business Law - Climate Change & Sustainability, Master Degree, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

the Netherlands

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Study options for this course

The award	How you will study	Study duration	Course start	Domestic course fees	International course fees
Master Degree	Full-time	1 year	September	EUR 2694 per year	EUR 24830 per year

About International Business Law - Climate Change & Sustainability, Master Degree - at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Understand the implications of law in the international arena

International Business Law is a full-time, one-year graduate programme in law (LLM). It is taught in English and consists of several compulsory courses and optional courses that explore different fields of international business law.

The courses are taught by both legal practitioners and academics. Many lecturers at the Law School of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam also work in practice as lawyers or as business counsels. The curriculum is structured to form a comprehensive programme. The initial mandatory courses provide you with a general legal foundation, and the following courses develop your knowledge in more specific areas of law.

You will complete the IBL Master's programme by writing and defending a Master's thesis. You will select the topic of the Master's thesis in cooperation with a supervisor who is a lecturer at the Law School. The topic of the Master's thesis must relate to one of the subjects taught during the academic year. A Master's thesis requires between eight and ten weeks of research and writing.

Some students opt for a student internship at an international company or law firm located in the Netherlands. Normally, such internship is extracurricular (i.e. no ECTS credits are awarded).

International classroom

The IBL Master's programme is designed as an international and dynamic graduate programme. The relatively small number of international students in the class guarantees a highly interactive character of the courses. Students as well as lecturers coming from different countries and different legal cultures strongly contribute to a special and a truly global character of the IBL Master's programme. It all offers a unique intellectual atmosphere for group discussions, presentation of views on legal matters and exchange of ideas that are enriched by diverse national perspectives.

Although the IBL Master's programme is an internationally oriented programme which attracts students from all over the world, this programme is also very attractive to Dutch students. First of all, together with a Dutch bachelor in law degree the IBL Master's degree provides for the so called civiel effect. Moreover, seen the far-reaching internationalization of businesses nowadays, it is crucial for a lawyer or an in-house legal counsel to draft various legal documents in English, as well as to understand the legal systems of other countries and other international developments in (European) law.

Learn more about International Business Law - Climate Change & Sustainability, Master Degree - at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

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Entry requirements

You can apply with an academic Bachelor's degree in Law (LLB) or equivalent.

If you do not have such a degree, but you have a sound academic background and considerable experience in the field of law, and you can substantiate this, then you can also apply.

If you have a degree from a University of Applied Sciences, you need a completed relevant premaster to apply. The faculty does not offer a pre-master for this master.

We use the UK Naric comparison system and the Nuffic comparison and validation programmes to assess your application.

Proof of sufficient proficiency in English

VU Amsterdam requires all international applicants to take an English test and to submit their score as part of the application. Exceptions are made for students who have completed their secondary or academic education in the Netherlands, UK, Ireland, Canada, USA, New Zealand or Australia or who have obtained an international Baccalaureate or European Baccalaureate diploma or have earned a Bachelor's or Master's degree in an accredited English-taught programme in the EU.

You must have passed the test no longer than two years before you start the IBL programme, the following minimum scores apply for this master:

IELTS: minimum total score ≥ 7.0, minimum score per test section: 6.5
TOEFL iBT: minimum total score ≥ 100, minimum score per test section: 22
TOEFL Paper-delivered Test: minimum total score 68, minimum score per test section: 22
C1 Advanced (CAE): minimum score B
C2 Proficiency (CPE): minimum score C

The proof of English proficiency can be submitted after the application deadline, but must have been received by the faculty before the start of the programme. Without an English proficiency test score which meets the specifications mentioned above, or a waiver, you cannot start the programme.

Fees, Funding and Scholarships at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Need financial assistance? Read about scholarships: Scholarships for Master's programmes

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Masters Webinar

Each year, we organise an online session for aspiring Master's students that covers everything you need to know about the application process and beyond. This year, the International Master's webinar took place on Tuesday, October 15, at 16:00 (CET). You can watch the recordings all year.

During the webinar, you will have the opportunity to:

Discover what it is like to study at VU Amsterdam;
Learn everything you need to know about the admission and application process;
Get the latest insights on scholarship opportunities;
Hear first-hand experiences from one of our current international students about being a student in the Netherlands' dynamic capital city.

Bachelors Webinar

Each year we organise an online session for aspiring Bachelor's students that covers all you need to know about the application process and beyond. This year, the International Bachelor's webinar took place on Thursday 24 October at 16:00 (CET). You can watch the recorder version all year.

During the webinar, you will have the opportunity to:

Discover what it is like to study at VU Amsterdam;
Learn everything you need to know about the admission and application process;
Ask all your questions about the housing market in Amsterdam;
Hear first-hand experiences from one of our current international students about being a student in the Netherlands' dynamic capital city.