Applicants to the LLM in International Law (not the MA in International Law): please click here
Admission decisions are based on the quality of the overall application file.
Our selection committees give priority consideration to academic achievement and motivation. Academic achievement is documented using transcripts and recommendations. Motivational factors should be clarified in the letter of motivation.
The evaluation committees will take into consideration the difficulties encountered by many students around the world due to the COVID-19 health crisis. Academic achievement in spring 2020/fall 2021 semesters, and its impact on overall performance, will be evaluated in that context.
As our students come from more than 100 different education systems around the world, we do not set minimum grade point average requirements. All eligible, complete applications will be evaluated. However, our selection process is competitive: we admit about about 40% of applicants, overall.
Please note the application deadlines carefully: incomplete applications will not be evaluated. Submit your documents well ahead of the deadline, to allow resolution of any technical problems before the portal closes.
Please address all your application-related questions to the Admission Office at prospective@graduateinstitute.ch
Technical questions
If you encounter a technical difficulty with your online application, please e-mail IT support at servicedesk@graduateinstitute.ch
Many problems can be resolved simply by refreshing your web browser page and removing cookies from your browsing history
Complete the online application form
Application link: available from 10 October
You can toggle between the English and French versions of the application form, by clicking the language at the top left corner of each page
Pay the application fee
15 November and 15 January deadlines: CHF 100
1 March deadline: CHF 200
Provide contact details for two or three academic referees
on the application form
Upload all your supporting documents before the deadline
Prepare your document files in pdf format
Please do not send any documents by e-mail or post
Validate your application by clicking on "Submit"
After validating your application form, we invite you to join our Facebook group, created specially for our applicants. Our team will use this group to provide support and answer your questions, in addition to e-mail, phone, video chat, online information sessions and campus visits. Moreover, this group allows you to exchange with other applicants during the application process.
Your complete application will be assessed by a committee of professors who will evaluate, in particular, your academic performance, letters of recommendation and motivation letter. The committee’s decision is final.
Please note that you will be eligible to apply during the last year of your current study programme, conditional upon your obtaining your final degree by the start of our next autumn semester.
Only for PhD applicants seeking the Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship
All master and PhD programmes
Only for master programmes
PhD applications will not be considered in the late round
Interdisciplinary master in international and development studies:
Specialisation tracks will be assigned as closely as possible to admitted students' preferences, per academic rank and spaces remaining after the regular admission round
* Referees will have an additional week to submit their reference letters
** Confirmation (accepting an admission offer) requires payment of a CHF 1,000 pre-registration fee, deducted from the first tuition invoice.
The housing reservation portal will open on 20 March 2023
Admitted students can apply for housing after they confirm their admission
They will have priority access until 20 April 2023
Please note:
* Institutional accreditation by aaq.ch or the designated accreditation agency in the county of operation, subject to current policies
The Institute has an English-French bilingual policy. Most of the classes are taught in English. Students can participate and submit written assignments in either English or French.
All students must have an excellent command of English, allowing them to comfortably satisfy the academic language requirements of a rigorous graduate programme: manage a large volume of challenging scholarly texts, produce frequent, extensive writings in compliance with graduate-level academic standards and in a variety of styles, and make constructive, candid and respectful contributions to discussions in and out of the classroom.
Applications can proceed to evaluation without an English proficiency certificate, but with a submitted confirmation of an upcoming testing appointment. Any resulting admission offers will remain conditional upon verification of a qualifying, official English proficiency certificate by 30 May 2023.
Recognised tests and scores
Tests must be within their validity period. If the test certificate does not indicate an expiry date, then the test must be no more than two years old at the time of submission. Tests that expired more than 12 months before the application deadline need to be taken again. Results must be submitted via a secure channel, available for online verification, or by post in a sealed envelope directly from the testing organisation.
TOEFL (Test of English as Foreign Language)
IELTS or IELTS Online (International English Language Testing System): 7.0 with no individual band below 6.5
Cambridge English: minimum score 180 (C1 Advanced - CAE or C2 Proficiency - CPE)
CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages): C1
Exemptions
Knowledge of French is not an admission condition, a graduation condition, or required to enrol in our programmes. The Institute values diversity, and encourages applications from students who have no or only basic prior knowledge of French.
These intensive and weekly courses are organised by the Institute, free of charge. They are compulsory and credit-bearing.
The above conditions do not apply to students whose mother tongue is French; or who have a secondary or post-secondary diploma taught entirely in French; or who have spent a minimum of one academic year studying at university level, full-time, entirely in French; or who can produce a French language certificate equivalent to a DELF B1 level.
