Courses & Programs
CONTACT US
- Institute of Human Rights and Peace
Studies Mahidol University
Salaya, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand 73170 - (+66) 2-441-0813-5 ext.1116
- (+66) 2-441-0872-73
- ihrpoutreach@mahidol.ac.th
General Questions
The Global Campus Asia Pacific (GC Asia Pacific) is the regional arm of the Global Campus of Human Rights, a global network of universities specializing in human rights and democratization education. GC Asia Pacific endeavors to be the strategic hub for the advancement, interconnection, and coordination of key resources and expertise in the area of human rights in the Asia Pacific region.
The Asia Pacific Master of Arts in Human Rights and Democratization (APMA) is a 12-month intensive, interdisciplinary graduate program, under the coordination of Global Campus of Human Rights, designed for those seeking greater understanding of regional and global human rights and democratization 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.
The study program engages in human rights education, research, capacity-building, advocacy work, and strengthening linkages between the academe, students, human rights organizations, experts, and practitioners.
One year (12-months intensive study)
students take up eight courses over the two semesters. These courses include:
Human Rights Norms and Mechanisms I and II
Dynamics of Human Rights Violations
Human Rights and Democratization Theory
Critical and Emerging Issues in Human Rights and Democratization in the Asia Pacific
Human Rights and Democratization Research Methods
Human Rights Intensive Course (focus changes yearly).
In addition, students are required to take up an Applied Research course where they get to choose whether to conduct an internship with a human rights organization or write an applied research paper in cooperation with a human rights organization.
Find out more about our curriculum structure in our website at
Class Activity
The class setup will be a lecture method with the interactive discussion, presentation, and QnA session between students and lecturers
The main learning activities will be lecture activity, however the program also offers several interactive activities methods related to human rights and democratization, such as guest-lecturing, interactive presentation, discussion, workshop, research presentation, seminar, etc.
Yes, we do. There are many practical activities which students can explore, such as NGO visitation, campaign project activities, fieldtrip, and internship. (Please note that all these activities are only possible during pre-covid and may be resumed after the pandemic situation drastically getting better. In the meantime, all these activities are remain conducted online).
As APMA is an international program, all the learning activities will be conducted using English as the medium.
The main lecturing method are team-teaching, tutorial classes, and guest lectures.
International Exposure
Annually, we received numerous applications from the applicants across Asia-Pacific region. The students typically coming from at least 17 nationalities across Asia-Pacific region, and even outside of the region, such as US, France, and Germany.
In line with our student’s composition, our lecturers not only are Thai nationals, but also across the globe, such as Australia, Germany, Indonesia, UK, etc. Moreover, students will also get chances to have guest lecturers and tutors from several different countries, as well.
Yes. During the second semester, the students will have to travel to one of APMA partner universities. Students then proceed to their chosen partner university (Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines, Kathmandu School of Law in Nepal, University of Colombo in Sri Lanka, or Universitas Gadjah Mada in Indonesia), where they take their remaining courses. Aside from that, annually selected students will get a chance to join global classroom conference, coordinated by the Global Campus of Human Rights HQ and hosted in one of the Global Campus network regions.
Our partner universities are Ateneo de Manila University (Philippines, Kathmandu School of Law (Nepal), University of Colombo (Sri Lanka), and Universitas Gadjah Mada (Indonesia).
Yes, students are required to travel and study with partner university during the second semester. Given the pandemic situation, in the meantime we are not required students to travel as most of our partner universities will conduct the study online, as well. However, when the situation significantly gets better, the travel requirement will resume.
Same with Mahidol University, partner university will take part to offer courses as per curriculum structure. Aside from that, the student will have their major thesis advisor from the partner university to guide them through the thesis writing.
Yes, annually selected students will get a chance to join global classroom conference, coordinated by the Global Campus of Human Rights HQ and hosted in one of the Global Campus network regions.
Financial Aid and Scholarship
Yes, The European Union (EU), through the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights, is currently offering full and partial scholarships for students from the Asia Pacific region to study in the APMA programme.
Yes, if you are meet the scholarship eligibility, you are welcome to apply for scholarship during your APMA application.
To be eligible for the EU APMA Scholarship, students must be a national AND resident of any of the countries in Asia-Pacific region. Please see the eligible countries in our website at
Yes, there is no separate application process. Applicants to the program must indicate in their program application form that they are also applying for the EU APMA Scholarship. Please take note that applicants applying for the EU APMA scholarship have a different deadline than self-funded students. Scholarship applications sent in after the stated deadline will not be considered for the EU APMA Scholarship.
The scholarship will cover the Full Tuition Fee, Monthly Allowance, Travel Expenses that occur by the program, and health insurance.
The scholarship coverage period is only for twelve (12) months starting from August of the academic year. If recipient does not complete the degree in 12 months, recipient will shoulder any further costs to complete the study programme.
We have the thesis processing allowance around EUR 100, granted when the scholarship holder is preparing to complete the thesis to cover costs of the thesis editing, page layout and binding.
No. If you are not a citizen and resident in on our eligible countries, you will not be applicable for scholarship.
Recruitment
For the August 2022 intake (AY 2022-2023) application is currently open by 3 January 2022.
- 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.
Required Documents:
- Completed 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)
More information about application requirements, please kindly visit our website at
For the scholarship application, the deadline is on 30 April 2022 and for the self-funding application, the deadline is on 31 May 2022.
a. IELTS Academic with a score of 5.0 and 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 enroll in.
You may request for the English requirements submission if you meet of the condition below:
- 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
Yes, you are eligible for the program. However, during your application process, you must send as the copy of your bachelor’s degree certificate (originally and/or translated in English).
Yes, the application is open to all academic background. But you have an academic and/or professional background in human rights, it would be an asset.
Yes, you are still required to update and resubmit all the required documents to us, as we will redo the whole admission process.
You can still apply for the APMA program, but you will not be eligible for the scholarship
Please send us your application documents to our email at ihrpoutreach@mahidol.edu before the deadline with the email subject “APMA2022(space)Application(space)Your Name.
APMA and MAHR
There are several key differences among two programs. Please kindly see the table below:
| APMA | MAHR |
| 1-year intensive master program | 2 years master program |
| Coordinated under the cooperation of Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies, Mahidol University and Global Campus of Human Rights | Coordinated under Institute of Human Rights and Peace Study |
| Students will be required to travel and study with partner university during the second semester | Student will only require studying with Mahidol University in Thailand |
| Suitable for the human rights practitioner who seek a degree for a short time. | Suitable for academia and HR practitioners who wish to deepen the human rights issues in Thailand and Asia in a research manner. |